Yes another lighting question...

[livebait]

I've read everything I can find on light spectrums and how they effect growth, health, flourescence and I've got that pretty much down well enough to know what is good, better and best. Well down enough that I'm comfortable and not so confused anymore lol. One thing I need to know before I order the upgrade to my T5 fixture is this:
Is there a point when there is too much blue?

What I have in the cart atm is:
4 IceCap reflectors
2 PowerChrome Aquablue +
2 SuperActinic 420 nm

In the system is one t12 ho pure actinic but I don't like the purple and will most likely change to a 50/50.
Cooling isnt an issue because my current fixture is cooled by two 40mm fans with cutouts and 12 pin connections in the harness to install two more if needed.
I need to do this right the first time cuz I only get one shot. It's taken me forever to save the mulah for the bulbs and reflectors. I'll just say that my wife hates the money side of the tank so I've had to stash 5 here 20 there. Then send it all to my mom so she can order with her card and charges won't show up on mine. AH.. the tangled web we weave when we our intentions are to deceive.

 

[BigAl07]

"too much blue" is more or less up to you and your eyes. If you were doing a coral farm then you'd probably want something more in the DAYLIGHT range but for our "mixed us" tanks I look at it like this.... "Blue is up to you"....

 

[WVUReefer]

you'll lose some color in the red,yellow and purple range if you go too blue...but like he said its up to you..

 

[livebait]

By daylight do you mean the 'midday' bulbs in the 6000's K range or what 'they' call daylight in 15k and higher range. Cuz I do want good growth so that in the future when/if I'm allowed to build the 300g ply/fiberglass tank I have planned I'll need to frag existing corals but don't want to get over run either.

 

[BigAl07]

I get some AMAZING growth from the higher "K" bulbs as well as great coloration. Some coral "Farms" will grow their coral under 6500K and then a few weeks before time to "Ship" place them under higher "K" bulbs to color-up.

It really depends on the coral itself but if you're not happy with the color now you won't be happy in the long run. Find the color that pleases your eyes the most and go with it.

 

[Clownfish518]

K doesn't mean as much with T5 as it does with MH.

Other than actinics, T5 bulbs put out just as much par with the blue bulbs as with daylights. In fact so much, that I gave up on actinics and now use the ATI Blue Plus in its place. I get just as much fluorescing. My TX5 has 2 Blue Plus, 2 Aquablue, and an Actinic White for the reds. A touch too blue, so I am going to swap out for a GE 6500k - one of the Aquablues I think.

This will also maximize PAR. I would seriously think about adding the blue plus in place of the actinics, and a daylight in place of an aquablue