mine are 2 20,000 K marine blue and 2 10,000K Marine white.....should i discard this combination?
What is your goal for your tank? What LOOK are you striving for?
With lighting, unless you have the option of several bulbs (6+) you'll have to make a decision that leans more towards growth or more towards eye pleasing. You can have some of both but with 4 bulbs you can't have all of both. When I started my 90g system I wanted to get as much GROWTH as I could because I was starting with small frags of many of my coral. As the tank matured I realized a few things:
A) I wasn't in the coral farming business so I didn't have to PUSH growth as much as I thought I did
B) Coral can grow TOO much and it becomes an issue... either frag or time to move coral
C) I built the tank to LOOK at so I realized I was placing too much emphasis on GROWTH and needed more on COLOR!
Once I realized what I really wanted then I started experimenting with different bulb combinations and THAT'S what the tank went to a whole new level of COOL looking.
Just for kicks and grins when I ordered bulbs I would always order one extra in something "different". That's how I got hooked on the Fiji Purple bulb and have to say it's one of my favorite bulbs for making certain coral colors really POP! That's the beauty of T5's in that you can mix n match and with just a bulb (or two) change you can totally change the over-all look and feel of your tank.
Also take note that the bulb manufacturer can play a big difference in the look of the bulb. Brand "A's" Deep Blue probably wont be exactly like Brand "B's" deep blue. Stick with the big names and you're more likely to not only get great colors but more PAR (light energy) into the tank.
NICE TANK!!!! wow.....whats that big brain shape coral in the middle!?
Yes Glenn's "Branching Hammer" is one of the nicest ones around. It's a SHOW piece for sure.
