Question for T5 Owners

[goisles1]

Been searching around for a good bulb layout for a 6bulb T5 Setup. I have a 36inch T5HO fixture (Current Nova Extreme Pro) with STOCK bulbs. This has been running for 8+months now and I know I need to replace the bulbs soon.

I'm curious what bulbs others are using as I plan to replace ALL 6 bulbs.

Can anyone recommend a nice setup for me. I searched and found 1 thread on the subject but I'm sure there are MANY people with a 6bulb T5HO setup.

EDIT - This is for my REEF Tank with alot of Soft Corals, some LPS and an Anemone

Thanks in advance

 

[Zer0]

Why not just get the same bulbs you have been using on that fixture? You don't have to get it straight from the manufacture either. Just look up the brands of the bulbs that they use and look on ebay or other discount sites. That's what i would do. If the bulbs your using now are supporting the livestock that need light in your tank.. why would you want to get any other ones? Then you would have to consider light acclimating the coral.. because all different lights have different outputs i believe.

 

[roka64]

I agree, hellolights.com comes to mind for bulbs.

 

[JustOneMore20]

I have the same fixture with stock bulbs and plan to eventually replace them with better bulbs.

ATI and UVL brand bulbs are supposed to be really nice. I plan to use 2 UVL super actinic, 2 ATI blue plus, and 2 UVL Actinic white. There is a picture of someone's tank here who has that bulb combo (as well as other combos).

 

[Zer0]

Wow, that tank looks freakin amazing. That looks like a nice lighting combo then. Nice find JOM.

 

[JustOneMore20]

Thanks. I found that thread while shopping for light combos....and I need pics to decide what I want. I have it bookmarked for when I decide to buy new bulbs.

 

[Zer0]

I just bookmarked that page as well. If my tank stays up for good, i will definitely consider that bulb combination, heck.. that's probably what i would go with to be honest. Thanks again for finding that page. I'm sure a lot of people would find that combination quite amazing as well.

 

[goisles1]

Thanks for the replies

Would have replied sooner but work got crazy.

Yeah.. that exactly the type of info I was looking for. The Current Stock Bulbs are suppossedly low end on the quality scale. I've read that some people do some pretty cool combos with better bulbs and was just curious what was out there.

JOM20 - That tank link your provided is nice. My Tank does not have the POP that the tank in that pic does. That was just what I was looking for.

 

[melosu58]

Moved to General Hardware and equipment discussion.