I’m a big fan of the 6500k t5ho bulbs. I use
4 blue+
2 True actinic
2 6500k.
It is probably whiter than a lot of newer reefers would prefer, but the blue and actinic darken the look up quite a bit and tame the 6500k. Having been out on the water a handful of times it looks to me similar to what my eyes see at about 15-20 feet deep.
Really wish I had access to a par meter to see what kind of neighborhood I’m in.
I’ve never used the famous iwasaki 6500k bulbs. But I have used Radiums, xm10k, all manner of t5ho, and pure LEDs. I’ve always had the most stable growth from t5ho. I did have the most explosive growth from xm10k and I loved the look of them, but my bulbs frequently wouldn’t fire and would shut off randomly, despite trying several batches, and using brand new m80 ballasts. So I bailed on them because I value reliability above all.
To be honest, I’ve befallen tank tragedy after tank tragedy and have never gotten to observe a tank grow out from frags to big colonies, so performance difference between various color bulbs on t5ho has been negligible to me. I tend to just shoot for what I like the best looks-wise. Mostly from the overall ambience of the room. A blue dominant tank tends to make the room look too cold.
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