4-bulb combo recs?

[WannaRace]

Hello everyone,

I've got the 36" Nova Extreme's over my 30-gallon tank. They haven't been changed in about 1 1/2 years :shock: My tank recently broke out with a purple hair algae problem which I suspect is from the weakened light output. Tests show that all other basics are under control. Can anyone confirm this?

Can anyone recommend me a good 4 bulb combination in order to really bring out the colors of the corals and help SPS growth? Thanks for any help!

BTW, I've already tried contacting Reeffreak but he hasn't been on in over a month

 

[ndepratt]

i like the geismann bulbs, you could simply do 3 aquablue+ and 3 actinic+, or you could even swap out one of the actinic+ bulbs for a pure actinic to get a bit more blue into the tank to make the colors pop a bit more.

 

[daugherty]

i would say 2 ati aquablueplus a aquabluespecial ge 6500k

 

[WannaRace]

Thanks!
These combinations you guys recommend will be better than what comes with the fixture originally? I don't even know what brand bulbs it came with...

Is it fairly common for weakened light output to cause algae outbreaks?

 

[ndepratt]

either one would for sure :P

I'm not a big T5 guy, so i'm not as up on my combos as others :P

 

[yote]

Either of those 2 combos will look great and give good growth.
And yep,old bulbs will cause algae growth.As the bulbs age,the spectrium shifts more to red,which favors algae.

 

[Melonbob]

ATI two aquablue special and two blue+

or Aquascience, 2 -15k, 2 - 22k

awesome

 

[WannaRace]

Thanks everyone for the recommendations.

On another note:

I have the 36" Nova Extreme T-5's with LED (lunar lights). The LED's have burnt out or shorted out, I'm not sure how. Has anyone had problems with this? Or was I the lucky one :mrgreen: How about replacing these..I see that Drsfostersmith has replacement LED's but I don't know if I need a single LED strand (there are 3 LED's though) or the LED transformer? I'm not technically inclined so if someone could help that would be greatly appreciated!

 

[yote]

I never had any problems with my moon lights burning out.But those LED bulbs are supposed to be good for 500,000 hours.
I'd get in contact with Current on that one.It might be something simple,but it might not be too.

 

[Melonbob]

mine are dead on my extreme

 

[WannaRace]

Melonbob, after how long? Mine must have shorted because they were gone after about 4-5 months. I'm trying to clean up my tank real nice now, I don't know if Current will do anything about it since the lights are now 1 1/2 years old.

 

[Melonbob]

About a year, first one died, the other two after another month or so