Bulb selection

[kajhurley]

I have a 90 gal mixed reef with sps at the top, acans in the middle and softies towards the bottom. I am wanting to change my metal halide and t5 bulbs for best overall coral growth and visual appeal. I am currently using 4 54w true actinic t5 and 2 15k 250w metal halide. (These are the bulbs that came with the fixture) I want to change the t5 bulbs and maybe the halides. I don't think from what I have read that the bulbs I have in place are not the correct spectrum for what is needed to see significant growth of corals. The bulbs are only 4 months old as of right now. Any insight would be appreciated. I was thinking Phoenix 14k with t5 bulbs as follows:

True actinic front
Giesemann aqua blue plus
Giesemann Aqua blue plus
True actinic back.

 

[C.Eymann]

T5 selection looks solid, halide wise, are you single or double ended? What kind of ballasts do you have?

 

[kajhurley]

Double end on hqi ballasts

 

[C.Eymann]

You know what brand of ballasts? Electonic or magnetic?

 

[C.Eymann]

If they are electronic, phoenix 14ks are good and price wise are hard to beat, however if you are really Shooting for growth look into reef lux 10 or 12k their 10k isn't as yellow to the eye as other brands are.
If you have magnetic HQI ballasts I would look for AB10000, (actually 13k) they are expensive bulbs and becoming hard to find but I have seen people have explosive growth with them.

I'm sure others will chime in with other good recommendations as well