Need help picking t5 bulbs

[Spechty37]

Hello I just bought a 48"aquaticlife t5 4 bulb 54w each light with built in timer for 40 bucks off of Craigslist. The light work awesome but is two years old with factory bulbs. Right now it has 2 420/460 bulbs, 1 10,000k and 1 purple I was wondering what bulbs you folk would put in it if you had to buy new ones I have the 420/460 on now and they just don't seem to make things pop to my liking maybe because they are old not sure. Ok what should I put in it. Thank you. All forgot to ask will
this light grow any kinda coral it doesn't really matter because I put it over my seahorse tank but would be nice to throw some softies in there, wow I just wrote a novel lol

 

[Frankie_Garcia]

You might want to look into actinics and 10K for corals. And that's quite a steal! Lucky you man!

 

[Frankie_Garcia]

And if you don't change the bulbs soon and are they old they could contribute to unneeded algae growth!

 

[Spechty37]

The thought the 420/460 where actinic aren't they

 

[Frankie_Garcia]

They might be. I don't know the numbers off my head for him.

 

[foster53]

420 is Actinic

 

[Rutrag]

I had a 6 bulb version over my 75. I recommend Geissman or ATI bulbs. The actinics (called Special Blue in ATI, IIRC) will bring out fluorescence, the pink or Purple Plus bring out red and orange and the white (called Aquablue Plus in ATI IIRC) do the most for growth. I used for blue, one white, and one purple in mine. Your mix will dictate the overall effect. I'd probably try one white, two blues, and a purple to start. If that's two white, switch the purple for a blue.