[The Grim Reefer]

Hey Kyle

For lamps the current blues are as good as the Giesemann Actinic Plus as far as initial PAR output but I couldn't tell you if they will have the longevity

For new lamps try this

Front
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Pro Color
ATI Blue Plus
GE 6500K
ATI Actinic Blue
ATI Aquablue

As far as the splash shield leave it in place. If your tank was taller I would say pull it but for a 16" tall tank you already have enough to grow acros in most of the tank.

Don't mess with the fans. I don't think they have a particularlly good cooling scheme with the fans at one end only but reversing one would be a bad idea IMHO. Turning both so they pull the hot air out of the fixture might actually work better BUT that would likely cause the fans to fail a lot sooner. If it were mine and I wanted to hot rod the thing I would add fans at the other end as well and cut some vent slots in the top above the ballasts so air would be pushed in from the ends and out the top past the ballasts so the ballasts are cooled too.