Lighting

[hardaur]

Hey folks, I'm getting ready to start replacing my bulbs and haven't been particularly happy with what I've had so would like to get some other opinions.

System is 105G DAS, lights to sandbed is probably in the ballpark of 2'.

I currently have:
2x250 16,000k MH
2x54w 420nm T5
2x54w Red Wave (unsure on exact temp).

I'm heavily into blue right now so growth isn't what I want it to be, and colors aren't all that great either (not bad, but would like better if possible). So I'm going to try and be balanced on the color vs growth.

I'm thinkin:
2x250 10,00k MH
2x54w ? (420nm? White Actinic?) T5
2x54w ? (stay with red wave, something better?)

It's all on the table (sans new hardware at the moment, 2nd kid due in June ; ). What do you think I should do? If nobody responds I'll probably go with 2x420nm and 2x red wave, but I'm thinking there might be something better.

Thanks!

G

 

[mtraylor]

Well since no one has answered, I guess I will give you my two cents worth. First of all I would like to see what brand of bulb you were using so I could give you a better reccomendation on bulb choice and color.

Now keep in mind, the color spectrum that you enjoy viewing is totally up to the individual. Some people like to view their tanks in white light and some in blue. Now me, I'm totally into the blue spectrum so my opinion will be based on that.

My opinion is that the bluer the light, the better the corals look. So if you do not like the color of your corals then I would suggest you get a Radium 20K bulb, or the AquaMax 14K which has the same spectrum. So from a 20K view, the higher the Kelvin usally the less PAR you will have so the growth will be slower than maybe what you have now. If you want to offset that then go to 400K, but the heat from that may make you have to purchase a chiller.

Anyway, I would toss the red spectrum and go with 4-420nm T5's.

That being said, from my experience when someone is buying bulbs, their mind is usally already made up especially if they have seen a tank that has the light they want to model. Good luck in your choice.