I recently purchased a 20' Current Nova Extreme Pro and should hopefully be getting it by tomorrow. I probably shouldve done this earlier but due to my procrastinative nature I never did loll. Anyway, I was wondering what kind of lighting arrangement any of you using T5s have set up. Im thinking of buying a purple bulb and swapping it out for either the daytime lights or one of the atinics. Any input is appreciated.
T5 Lighting
- Thread starter Fielder0024
- Start date
Its the 6 bulb. So none of the bulbs that come with it are very useable?
You can use the bulbs that come with it, they just aren't the best bulbs in the world. You can run them on there until they need replaced, then pick and choose what you want. But if you want a red bulb, I think you are refering to a fiji purple or an ATI purple +. I would choose either one of these and replace a white bulb in your fixture not an actinic.
Not aware of ATI making 18" bulbs for the NEP 20. You can check on UVL bulbs; I believe Nanotuners.com carries them. Might require a resizing of the bulb holder due to it being 1/4" shorter. Other option is Current USA's own TrueLumen bulbs - http://www.current-usa.com/truelument5ho.html
Good Luck!
Good Luck!
I was looking at the bulbs on Foster and Smith and I saw very few 18' bulbs.
http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+13821+13824&pcatid=13824
http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+13821+13826&pcatid=13826
http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+13821+13825&pcatid=13825
http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+13821+13824&pcatid=13824
http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+13821+13826&pcatid=13826
http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+13821+13825&pcatid=13825
The thing that confuses me with the lighting is that I see people who run all color lamps and no daylights and they still have coral growth. Arent daylight lamps required to help corals grow? Sorry if its a stupid question but lightings always been the hardest part for me to understand.
- Location
- Westchester, NY
I just ordered the 18" UVL bulbs from Nanotuners.com
I have used the Current made bulbs for over a year and they are fine.
Have not tried the ones that Foster and Smith sells. They are new just like the UVL bulbs.
Nobody else makes bulbs for this fixture, not even ATI.
I have used the Current made bulbs for over a year and they are fine.
Have not tried the ones that Foster and Smith sells. They are new just like the UVL bulbs.
Nobody else makes bulbs for this fixture, not even ATI.
- Location
- NY
Your confusion with the bulb spectrum and its correlation to coral growth is understandable. One of the predominant problems with lighting is not necessarily the bulb spectrum but often times it is the name of the bulb. I'm going to give you one example, but it is an unbelievably common problem from manufacturer to manufacturer.
D & D Giesemann bulb - AquaBlue+ is not a blue bulb. It is approx. 11k and crisp white. This is the bulb I use for my daylight, or what you seem to be referring to as my 'growth' bulb. So if someone were using (all D & D for this example) 3-AquaBlue+, 2-Actinic+, 1 Pure Actinic it would appear to the untrained person that there were no 'daylight' bulbs above this tank, when in fact there are three. Very confusing, I agree.
FYI: D & D also manufactures what they call a Midday bulb. This particular bulb is approx. 6k and appears very yellow to the naked eye, not an aesthetically pleasing bulb but also recommended by the manufacturer for growth (not by me
).In order to become more in tune with the bulb names vs appearance you need to use various brands, various spectrum, and various combinations to see which combination works best for you. It really is a very personal preference when selecting bulbs.
Hope this helps,
Russ
ryangrieder
Advanced Reefer
- Location
- Northern Jersey
A 20" fixture with 6 bulbs? Holy crow. Anyway, do you have the fixture right now. Your going to hate the bulbs it came with. I believe they come with the current USA 12k bulbs and 460nm actinics. That can't look that good. Those 12k bulbs have to be so over powering. I'd recommend taking one or two of those whites out and go with running 4-5 different actinics and 1-2 aqua blue plus bulbs. What a world of difference you will notice. Corals will pop so much more. Also much more if that has individual reflectors.
And for the purple, that's your call. I'll be honest, I ran purple all last year. I don't know why, I got tired of blue and went purple. I loved it. The corals were so much more brighter and looked amazing. I ran mostly Fiji purple bulbs. It was cool, but now I'm over the purple and want more blue again. It's all your call though and personal preference.
And for the purple, that's your call. I'll be honest, I ran purple all last year. I don't know why, I got tired of blue and went purple. I loved it. The corals were so much more brighter and looked amazing. I ran mostly Fiji purple bulbs. It was cool, but now I'm over the purple and want more blue again. It's all your call though and personal preference.
- Location
- Westchester, NY
If you want an idea of the colors with the stock current bulbs look at my tank thread
Thanx for the info man. One question that might seem stupid but what is the difference between aquablue, atinic and pue atinic. Does that mean theyre mostly blue?
Your confusion with the bulb spectrum and its correlation to coral growth is understandable. One of the predominant problems with lighting is not necessarily the bulb spectrum but often times it is the name of the bulb. I'm going to give you one example, but it is an unbelievably common problem from manufacturer to manufacturer.
D & D Giesemann bulb - AquaBlue+ is not a blue bulb. It is approx. 11k and crisp white. This is the bulb I use for my daylight, or what you seem to be referring to as my 'growth' bulb. So if someone were using (all D & D for this example) 3-AquaBlue+, 2-Actinic+, 1 Pure Actinic it would appear to the untrained person that there were no 'daylight' bulbs above this tank, when in fact there are three. Very confusing, I agree.
FYI: D & D also manufactures what they call a Midday bulb. This particular bulb is approx. 6k and appears very yellow to the naked eye, not an aesthetically pleasing bulb but also recommended by the manufacturer for growth (not by me
In order to become more in tune with the bulb names vs appearance you need to use various brands, various spectrum, and various combinations to see which combination works best for you. It really is a very personal preference when selecting bulbs.
Hope this helps,
Russ
- Location
- Westchester, NY
There are only 3 companies making 18 inch bulbs for the nova extreme pro as far as I know. They are current, uvl, and aquatic life. You can see the current colors in my tank thread now, you can see the uvl colors as soon as I get them and install them. I have no idea what the aquatic life bulbs look like. Nobody on any of the forums I have checked has posted anything about them.
Youre running the Nova on your 34G? Cuz I saw you posted a sunpod for your lighting. Just wanted to make sure I was looking at the right thread. if i buy the uvls id have to change all 6 tho right?
- Location
- Westchester, NY
Read on. I switched a little over a year ago
Saw the pics. Looks amazing. Seeing people with those lights set up gets me even more anstsy than i already am loll. Hopefully Ill have it all set up by monday
I would like to see the socket mod Chief. I am not really a diy guy but people say this mod is fairly simple. However I can not seem to find any pics of this mod.
I hope you post some.
Sorry for the thread jack.
If you go UVL, all 6 will have to be UVL as the size is different from Current's.
http://www.nanotuners.com/product_info.php?cPath=77&products_id=655
http://www.nanotuners.com/product_info.php?cPath=77&products_id=655
ryangrieder
Advanced Reefer
- Location
- Northern Jersey
kvh252 on here has a aquaticlife 6 bulb t5 fixture. it is amazing. the bulbs are very nice. the whites look more like a 9k though, not so much 10k. the actinics are very nice. looks close to a D&D pure actinic or a wavepoint actinic
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