Best bulbs for softie growth?

[Reefeross]

Hey all, I got a few q's for some softie vets about bulb temperature and softie growth. I switched to MH about 7 or so months ago, I bought a used unit with two 110 watt Actinic Fluorescent VHO bulbs and swapped out the old MH bulbs for two 175-watt XM bulbs. I thought for a bit about what temp to buy, and finally got 20K under the reccomendation of a few people. My corals were much happier after I got the new lighting, fully expanding and looking vibrant. But, I don't think I'm getting the growth I could be getting out of them. I've heard that 10K MH bulbs are better for SPS growth, and many people like 14 or 15K. I will be buying new bulbs in a few months, what should I go with? I like the color of the 20K's, but I would rather have high growth rates. What do you all think? Thanks, -Ross :rollface:

[Justin74]

10k does seem to be the sweet spot for growth, but a 14k would be a happy medium for gettin some blue in the tank with some growth. But you can also achieve this by going with a 10k and supplementing it with some VHO, or HO's to get the blue you want which would be even better IMO.

-Justin

[Reefeross]

Thanks, I think the two VHO bulbs I have in should counterbalance the lower MH temp, so I probably will go ahead and try the 10Ks when bulb changing time comes around.

[ACBlinky]

AFAIK 10Ks have the highest PAR and are usually best for growth. My leathers and zoas seem to LOVE being under 10K MH; it's only been a short while since I upgraded from 5x96W PCs to the new fixture and everything's really starting to take off, even though the 'daylight' photoperiod is now 6h instead of 10.