opinions on my lights?

[jonsbabykake]

right now on my 29g long i have this light fixture:

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-AquaSun-Fluorescent-24-Inch/dp/B0002DIRAU]Amazon.com: Zoo Med AquaSun T5-HO Double Light Linear Fluorescent Hood, 24-Inch: Pet Supplies[/ame]

and these lights on it:

Zoo Med Coral Sun Actinic 420 Coral Bulb T5 High Output 24 Watts, 22-Inch
Zoo Med Ultra Sun Trichromatic Super Daylight Bulb T5 High Output 24 Watts, 22-Inch

they are about 6 months old now so i was advised to change them out.

what i was thinking about getting since im NOT getting a new fixture right now, that i was going to get these bulbs from reefgeek.com:

24W Aquablue Special T5 HO Fluorescent
"ATI 24W Aquablue Special T5 HO Fluorescent bulb combines the properties of a full-spectrum bulb with an elevated blue color peak producing a bulb with an approximate color temperature of 15000K. Recommended Use: as a stand-alone bulb or in combination with Blue Plus, Purple Plus, True Actinic or other supplemental T5 bulbs."

AND

24W True Actinic 03 T5 HO Fluorescent
"ATI 24W True Actinic T5 High-Output Fluorescent bulb produces a violet-blue light that is designed to maximize fluorescence in capable corals and make livestock colors pop. Color spectrum peaks at 421nm. Recommended Use: as a supplement to metal halides or in combination with other T5 bulbs. Can also be used for dawn/dusk applications."

do these new ones sound good or should i get different ones from that site??

 

[kbuser92]

No, definitely the ATI. I would recommend getting a 4-bulb later, though.

Also, make sure you acclimate everything to the new bulbs.

 

[jonsbabykake]

how do i acclimate to new lights?

 

[kbuser92]

Change them a wewk apart.

 

[jonsbabykake]

thanks what i was thinking in my head, thanks for ur help!

 

[little_fish]

I wouldnt use that method personally. I would either change them a month apart or drop the photoperiod to just a couple of hours and increase the amount the lights are on by half hour every day until you are back to the full photoperiod. If you dont have any corals, you dont need to reacclimate the fish to the change in lights.

 

[jonsbabykake]

for corals right now i have green striped mushrooms, a single mushroom thats the same base color as a green striped, a new bitty double headed richordia frag, 3 button ployps and a shriveled up little kenya tree.

i might do the month apart method instead because im really bad at remembering turning on and off the lights at the same time all the time...in that case, which one should i change out first? the blue or the white?

 

[little_fish]

Doesnt really matter, and for those corals you might as well change them a week apart. But when you get into LPS or SPS corals, you will want to be more sensitive. And i would suggest investing in a timer.

 

[jonsbabykake]

i will have to look up what LPS and SPS mean lol

i had a crappy ol timer but my kids dropped it in a bucket of water i was changing out of the tank and yeahh...but yes i would like to get a new one and will see about it soon! if i have enough room on my powerstrip that is!

 

[little_fish]

LPS=large polyp stony coral
SPS = small poly stony coral

The corals you have now are considered soft corals

 

[jonsbabykake]

the hubs wants a sea fan/gorgonian (sp?) im guessing thats stony. i myself prefer the softies.

thanks for ur help little_fish, with all of my newbie questions :)

 

[little_fish]

no that is a softie. However be very careful of what you buy because the really pretty ones are non-photosynthetic and are extremely hard to keep. If you check out my build, i have one of the photosynthetic varieties which is really easy to keep and I really like it. As a general rule of thumb, the NPS gorgs will be brightly colored with small (usually white) polyps that only come out at night. The photosynthetic ones will usually be brownish, with their polyps extended all the time.

 

[jonsbabykake]

great..the one he wants is purple lol. i will make sure to tell him the difference so we dont waste money. ill look up some of the soft ones for him to see if theres any he likes.

 

[little_fish]

Check these out and see if you can find the one he wants:
Sea Fans: Sea Fan Corals

 

[jonsbabykake]

oh i forgot! i just got a monti frag..that has to be hard coral right??


the purple whip is probably the most colorful hes gonna get so ill make sure thats the one we go for.

 

[jr7168]

wow good read and info was passed here thanks for the info