Which Kelvin amount is better?

Marlinman

I have a 120g 48x24x24 tank and an 8x54w t5 retrofit fixture. 2 of the bulbs are for dawn and dusk and 6 are for daylight. Currently I have 4 x 420 blues and 4 x 10K daylights. Which way would you go if the sky was the limit? I have various corals mostly soft.

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Kellsindell

Honestly, it's all up to you. I think you may want to get two 20,000k bulbs to get the full blue effect from your corals, but you can mix and try what ever you want. I'm at work now, and i have the link at home, but there's a guy that has just about every type of bulb combination with ballast and how it'll look over a tank. I'll send later if i can find it.

Marlinman

I would like to see that thanks.

onefish2fish

i have an icecap retrofit that ive built which is currently 4 bulbs total but when i upgrade shortly it will be 6 with the other ballast i picked up

currently i have 12,000k,10,000k and 2 actinics. ill prob. be doing two 12ks,two 10s and 2 actinics when i have 6 bulbs or something along those lines. it truely is personal pref.

keep in mind the lower the k you go the faster corals (and algae) will grow however they look bland.
the higher the k the slower they grow but the more the colors pop.

if i was in your position i would find a local reefing club. seeing your from florida im sure there are a few. my club is $12 a year and we hold group buys (one being for bulbs) and meetings to meet some great people with the same interest. its worth looking into, not to mention people are usually happy to sell/trade cheap coral frags.

Kellsindell

Hmm... i guess it's only for MH, still interesting though. I'll see if i can find another like this but with T5 setup. I think Sanjay made one.

Marlinman

Thanks for all the help. I like the idea of mixing in 12K-15K in a little to add color and take the starkness out of the 10K's.

Kellsindell

Cool, the coloration is up to you. It is your tank after all, so it should always reflect your personality and not someone elses.