Best Bulbs for 2 x 250 watt MH, and T5 Fixture

[jefft321]

I am looking for the best Bulbs for my 48" Outer Orbit 2 x 250 watt MH, 4 x T5 light fixture? What MH and T5 combinations are best for LPS, SPS. Zoos, and softies.
Thanks.

[jefft321]

Bump

[jefft321]

^^^^

[champscorner]

after trying a lot of t5 combinations i finally went with 2x blue +, 2x fiji purple supplememting 2x250w phoenix mh. this comb looks pretty good but it's still not exactly what i'm looking for. Really it's about what color your looking for more white, blue, yellow.....If i was starting over again i would probably go with a more white mh(than a phoenix) such as a Iwasaki 14k or reeflux 12k or reeflux 10k. whatever you decide keep us posted as i'm still looking for that perfect color myself.

[jefft321]

Bump

[DarG]

On a 90 gallon with that fixture having the 4 T5's in addition to the dual 250 watt DE halides, you can go with just about any halides you want and then figure what T5's you want to use to help color up the tank to your liking. But you will have plenty of par with just about any bulbs you choose.
In other words, you have the flexibility to pick what you want the lighting to look like and still have plenty of par for whatever you want to keep.

You could go with two Iwasaki 14000K halides which are a bright, crisp white bulb with no yellow at all and a touch of blue. They have very good par and are great bulbs. Then you could use a couple of ATI blue Plus and a couple of UVL super actinics which would add a bit more blue tint to the color but not at all overwhelming. Youd have plenty of par and the actinic and blues should help with that color "pop" of the corals. You could go with 4 ATI blue plus T5 and skip the actinics if you wanted a little more blue.

If you want bluer, the Phoenix 14K with ATI blue plus wouyld be really blue. Plenty of par. I thought that the Phoenix bulbs looked better with super actinic supplementation. The actinic seemed to add some richness to what I feel is a washed out blue from the Phoenix. I really dont like the Phoenix though.

The Reeflux 12000K's look really nice with a couple of UVL super actincis or a super actinic and a Fiji blue. They dont have very high par but you would have plenty, especially with the T5's, in your 90 gallon. You could run two KZ Fiji purples and two UVL super actinic T5's with the Reeflux and would be a really nice white with a blue / actinic purplish tint. If you wanted bluer, you could swap in two Blue Plus T5's for the actinics or the Fiji purples. If you wanted a bit whiter, a couple of Aquablues in palce of two actinics or 1 actinic and 1 Fiji would whiten it up. You could do the saem to whiten up the phoenix (or a couple of daylight 10000K T5's). But again, not as high par as the other two but plenty of par for anything in your 90 gallon.

For a white look, Reeflux 10000K. Better par than the 12000K. Basically a white bulb with subtle blue tint but not the crisp white / slight blue look of the Iwasaki. More of a warmer white bulb. Could blue it up with ATI blue plus and UVL superactinic T5's.

These are some of the combos I have experimented with in the not too distant past (also Helios, IceCap and a couple of others).

If you could be more specific regarding if you want a warm white, crisp white, white with a hint of blue, moderate blue, very blue ...
I think that it would help others to be able to help you more.