I currently have an 8 bulb T5 with some actinic LED supplement, but I feel like the light is kinda boring. It's very flat, which, while being good for coral and growth, makes the tank look dull, in my opinion.
I'm willing to sacrifice a little growth for a nicer looking tank with some more contrast and shimmer. I know that might be almost sacrilegious, but the tank is one of the focal parts of my living area so the way it looks is important to me.
Nah, that's a perfectly valid position....T5 light
is dead and lifeless.
That doesn't make it bad and it doesn't make it unnatural, but it also means you don't have to like it. ;)
IMO, T5 light is very much reminiscent of deep water light. Most of the light-effects are attenuated or missing entirely once you get so deep.....in fact, light eventually becomes directionless to corals at a certain depth....so much scattering has happened that light doesn't really pass over head anymore....it just fades on and fades off. ;)
Spotlights (and to some extent, LED's generally) bring some of the surface effects, so that's the kind of sunlight they remind me of – lots of strong shadows, wave lensing, et al.
Which, again, nobody
has to like....but it is pretty naturalistic, so why not? :)
Corals
Since your corals have a say in this, but have too many mouths to speak, I'll speak for them. ;)
Having more pucks than less will make this less of a transition for them.
Measure the lux or PAR levels at the surface of the tank under T5's and try to make your new setup mimic those level as closely as you can.
It's not a bad idea to mimic the color as closely as you can too. Maybe even the lighting scedule, including ON/OFF vs sunrise/sunset.
Even with all that "try" it will still be a transition for them...so when you make more changes, I'd stage them out to always keep the short term impact as small as you can. (Don't let color be one of the things you keep adjusting though....settle on color ASAP.)
