Question on T5 supplement to MH

[kpatrick]

Along with looking at a possible 3rd MH pendant for my 125g, I was thinking about getting a t5 bulb to supplement and bring out more blue. I thought the 14k MH bulbs would be blue enough but I am wondering if a T5 would add in bringing out the colors in the corals. My question is what wattage would the T5 bulb need to be in order to see the difference if I already have (2) 250w 14k MH setups running? I prefer not to buy a T5 setup if the bulb isnt going to be seen over the MH lighting already in place.

 

[kpatrick]

Let me rephrase the question. If I add an actinic T5 light, will you be able to see the actinic T5 light with the (2) 250w MH 14k bulbs already in place?

 

[gio28]

you would probably see a slight difference at least, i think that the pure actinic bulbs give off more of a purple/blue so those would be the best if you want to make an impact on the color. the blue bulbs give off more PAR than the pure actinics but dont do as good of a job bringing out colors in corals. my vote would be get the highest wattage T5 bulb possible from UVL Super Actinic. this is all IMO. see what others day...