Lighting help (bulb color?)

[Pheeshes]

we're getting our 75 set up and we went with the 48" nova extreme pro. it's working out pretty good so far. i was just wondering if there are bulbs we could change to for a little different color. the bulbs that come with it(3 - 10000k sunlights and 3- 460 actinics) completely change the color of the room and they are a little harsh. we didn't notice this until we lit it up with the water and sand in it. anyone have any suggestions?

we also are going to start out with just fish, but we do plan to add some fairly easy corals eventually. so we want to keep it so we can still have that option.

also, slight side note. is there any way to change the wiring so we can just run one fan at a time unless the tank gets too hot, like set it up on a temp switch so the second set of fans only turns on if the tank gets over 81-82?

 

[reeffreak]

There are a lot of bulbs out there that will change the look and still benefit corals.What look are you aiming for?Is it too blue or not enough.

I would at least change one of the 10k with a 6500k and one of the 460nm with a true actinic(03 420nm).The fans are really put in place to cool the bulbs.The cooler the bulb the more efficient they run.I don't see a way to have one off unless you want it permanently off.

 

[Pheeshes]

well, it's alittle too blue and i'm hoping that we'll get used to the harshness. alright here's what i'm thinking

ATI Blue plu
UV Aquasun 10k
ATI pro color
GE 6500k
UV super actinic
ATI Aqua blue 12k

but i'm thinking with the 12k it willbe just as blue as it is now, should i go with another 10k maybe or possible anoter 6500 or even a 3000?

 

[Pheeshes]

i think a big part of it was that the brightness shocked my wife. the room we've got the tank in isn't particularly bright, especially at night so to have that much light in there was different. add to it the fact that the tank lights, or tanning bed as we like to call it completely changed the look of the whole room it was kind of overwhelming. i'm sure we'll get more used to it over time, but i think we can make it alot better with some different bulb colors.

 

[reeffreak]

First,give yourself a little time to adjust to the color.When I first got the Nova,I too thought it was to blue but as time went on it didn't seem blue enough.

The pro color is a daylight so you will have 4 daylights and only two actinics.The aquablue isn't really blue.,its crisp white with just the slighest blue hue to it.Honestly,to me your list will be washy.It will definitely give you a more red/orange/yellow tinge if thats what your aiming for.

 

[Pheeshes]

i didn't realize that pro color was a daylight, haha. i'm going to try to get my wife used to it and i think that in after a while it won't seem so harsh. another thing i think it was so bright and harsh is that we only have a little track light in the living room to light the whole room and it was at night. so it seemed really bright and practically lit up the whole room. would have have any recommendations to replace the pro color with or what do you think would work well without being too blue.

i know that colors are kind of personal taste...i don't mind the colors and i would even say i like them. so i guess i am hoping to make it a little less blue and still look good if possible.

 

[reeffreak]

I don't think any bulbs will make the tank any dimmer.I was in shock when I got my T5's.Not only did it lit the whole room like the clubs I use to go to when younger,it lit the front yard through the window.You will get use to eventually.I would go with another blue plus instead of the pro color.When/If you decide on new bulbs check with Reefgeek.com.I probably mentioned this before but they are really helpful with bulb choices since they seen them all.

 

[fishbait]

have you tried removing the legs from the fixture and placing it directly on top of the tank? that will keep the light from shining into the room so bad. I have the same fixture. trust me, after your'e eyes adjsust in a week or so, you won't think it's blue enough.

 

[hotimportknight]

Its true, my friend just got that fixture and it seemed really bright blue. But after the bulbs break in it gets to be more a pure white color and still pops colors amazingly. I would just leave the bulbs you have and let them run for a little while. God I wish I had that fixture but I bought my regular nova extreme right before the pro came out..

 

[ladypheesh]

Thanks for the advice everyone! I think my husband Pheeshes loves them just the way they are, but he asked because I gave him a hard time about them being too harsh. I'm pretty picky about lighting fixtures, etc. in our home, and this is basically going to be the focus of our living room, so I wanted it to be perfect.

Looks like I will give it a couple weeks and try to get used to them = )

 

[ladypheesh]

we ended up taking the legs off and putting the fixture right on top. It helped a lot by directing the light down in to the tank instead of out in to the room so much. Hopefully it doesn't heat up too much. We don't have them on right now because we have live rock only, and don't want to encourage the algae growth.

The only thing is, it is pretty inconvenient now, we will have to completely remove the light for feeding, etc. Does anyone have any clever setups with a similar fixture? We also have eggcrate on top of the tank because we have a cat.

 

[fishbait]

the only creative thing that I can think of is to install an adjustable hanging kit. when you need in the tank just raise up the lights.

 

[reeffreak]

I notch out a small 2''x3'' hole out of the eggcrate.Big enough to feed the fish without having to lift the crate up.Another small eggcrate slightly bigger than the hole itself is tied to eggcrate covering the hole.Its now a twist or flip latch.

 

[ladypheesh]

I think that sounds like a good solution, freak.

I'm not a big fan of having holes in our vaulted ceiling so hanging won't cut it for us. That would be sweet though, to just crank it up when we needed to!