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New T5 lights Actinic vs Blue (1 Viewer)

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Guest

I ordered some 54w T5 bulbs one "blue" and one "actinic". they came in yesterday so I tried them out and...wow I'm inpressed. I took pictures but it doesn't really show the differences well. For those interested the "blue" bulb is just that blue. It has a lot of actinic properties but really seems to makes reds and oranges scream. my baby blue candycane seemed to just blend into the background, but my yellow tail damsel's blue was very irredescent. The "actinic" bulb is very purple to the eye. It gave things color that I thought were just brown. My zoanthids look terrific, and my blue candycane turned bright green! I ordered the lights from innovative lighting www.innovativelights.com I odered the workhorse5, endcaps, bulbs, and standoffs-all for about $125 buck including shipping. I wanted to really be diverse in my lighting specrum, that's why I went with the t5. I haven't tried VHO-yet, I thinking of adding either one 110w VHO or another set of T5. All this is in addition to the daul 175w halides.
 
OP
OP
G

Guest

Sounds like you got a great deal! Is that 2 bulbs included?

I don't see that kit in their web site. Did you get a special price? Did it come with reflectors? Are your end caps the waterproof kind or not?

I bought mine from happyreefing.com and it also used a work horse 5 ballast but it didn't have waterproof end caps. I'm thinking of buying 2 more.
 
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G

Guest

yes that included the bulbs. It wasn't a kit because I didn't want the reflectors. These are going into my canopy and I already have a reflector in it. The end caps are supposed to be waterproof but they are not as snug around the bulb as I would like.
 
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ShaneV

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You might want to reconsider the reflectors with a T5. From what I have read T5's really rely on there special reflectors (one for each bulb I believe) to do their job.
 
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G

Guest

well I'm using these for actinic supplementation. A simple reflector should suffice. If they were my primary source of light I would agree with trying to get the max light possible.
 
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