Searched but just want to make sure before i order

F

Fastlight

Semper FI
I have a 4x24 t5 i want to put over a 29 gallon.
I want to go with ATI and I am about to order my lamps.
2ATI blue plus
1 ati aqua blue
1 ati purple plus
then I searched here and came across the combo that another memeber suggested

best combo hands down
from back to front

ati blue plus
ati aqua blue special
uvl super attinic
ati blue plus

Should I go with the super actinic or the puple?
I would like to order today so any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.

Also gonna get a Octo BH 100 skimmer....thoughts? any better at a comparable price?
 
I can't help you with your bulb selection but, if your getting a HOB skimmer the octopus IMO is the he's you'll find. I've been running the bh-100ss on my 75g for about 6-8 weeks now and it's constantly pulling out nastiness.
 
I use the Purple Plus and it brings out the reds and pinks really well. It also helps to bring out the purple a bit too. It's meant to compete with the Fiji Purple.
 
Since you have a four bulb fixture then go with a growth bulb-the ATI Purple+ or the similar KZ Fiji purple.Both have excellent PAR.

Skip a true actinic bulb altogether.
 
what do you mean by a good grow bulb??!! OK so I want the purple? the 2 blue pluses are actnics right? So then wouldnt the 4th bulb (the aqua blue bulb) be a grow bulb? or is that another actnic? Lights are so darn confusing. And I dont want to order bulbs from differnt sights. I am sticking with aqua cave....because of other items i am buying and free shipping over 175. So out of ati, uvl, and geismann. PLEASE HELP! lol . i remeber the day it used to be actnic label and 10000k label now everything is fancy and I dont know what is what.
 
No,the blue plus are not true actinics.They have the highest PAR of any bulbs including daylight.They make excellent choice to replace actinics or use for the dust/dawn effect.Consider them a 20k bulb and you wouldn't be to far off.Bulb choices alos has to do with what look you are going for,a white/blue balance or maybe you prefer something with a crisp blue hue.

This would be my choice for not only PAR but because a crisp 14k looks best to me.

ATI blue+
AT Aquablue Special 12000k
ATI blue+
ATI-purple+ or KZ Fiji purple.
 
I have the ATI Purple + and I'm not that impressed with it... The only colors I REALLY notice a huge diff in is the brightness of the orange/red in my fish (Clownfish, Flamehawk) I don't notice a huge diff in the pink/purple/red/orange in my corals...

To me I would much rather have the UVL Super actinic. The amount of color it brings out is outstanding! REALLY vibrant! Mostly to corals most all colors but most noticeable with green. Almost brings them into a neon brightness.

I have 6 bulbs over my tank now and I incorporated the same info you got together and went with 3x ATI Blue +, 1x ATI Aquablue Special, 1x UVL Super Actinic, and 1x ATI Purple +. And to me personally I think the Super Actinic is a better asset for me the color it produces is more important than PAR (However I do have 6 bulbs not 4, so PAR is still high) reguardless, I would still stand by the advice you took from cageburn's post ;)

To maybe even further my argument try checking out some members pictures they take (Like cageburn's) and contrast some with actinics, and without.

I think it really comes down to what's more important coral growth (PAR) or a more visual stimulation... I think missing out on actinics would be be missing out on a lot of color. The ATI Blue + do give some but nothing compared to what the actinics do.
 
Going with the uvl for now. Im not sure how adequate this 4 bulb system will be for my reef system so I may just end up saving up for a bigger light system later. Hope fully 4 t5 with individual reflectors will get the job done for most of what i want, and right now I am not looking to much into sps...

also just dropped about half a grand today. and im not even close. i still have salt, sand and rocks to get! lol forgot how expensive this stuff is!
 
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I had 4 bulb T-5's with dual reflectors for a while 2x Actinic and 2x 10k's stock bulbs. And I could keep most anything except the really high demand sps, I had some lower demand sps even do fine under it (but grew slow) so I think you should be fine :)

Either way; "Your gonna like the way it looks, I guarantee it" ;D
 
I got my lights in today! Super excited. Question is I ordered it this way.best combo hands down
from back to front

ati blue plus
ati aqua blue special
uvl super attinic
ati blue plus

When I ordered these I didnt realize the lights would be so blue! The uvl super actnic I knew was an actinic(didn't realize how purple they are!) Are the ati blue plus actinics also? So Do I have 3 actnic bulbs and only 1 "day light bulb"? And I ordered ati because I wanted high par because I can only do a 4 bulb system, but boy it sure doesnt seem 96w of lights is gonna be enough for corals?! Lights are the hardest concept for me to grasp!

On a side note. I was thinking of getting an led strip with 10000k leds not so much for lighting, but because I love the shimmer affect. Anyone have any recomendations? and this would probably also help with me thinking my tank is too blue.
 
That's enough for low and moderate light corals in a 29 gallon tank. The Blue Plus bulbs have the color of actinics, but the properties of a daylight bulb. Sorry I can't help with the LEDs -- I don't use them on my tank. :(
 
I would stay with soft and LPS corals Fast.

The Plus+ are typically use in place of actinics but they are not true actinics.Think of them as 20k and you would be close.They put out the most PAR of all T5 bulbs including the normal white daylight bulbs.Still,I think it would of looked better with the Purple+ or Fiji Purple me and somebody else suggested.

Several members here use these for shimmer effect.
EX-8012 Premium Aquatics
 

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