Lighting-How to make blue snow blue

[NumberFish]

Hi I purchased a used 90 gallon setup and have the coral call blue snow on my live rock but it is not very blue. It is almost gray with a hint of purple. I am running a 48" t5 vho light kit with 4 bulbs (2 mwave super blues, 1 Ati blue+, and 1 Ati coral +). What do I need to change I want the blue snow to be very blue and fluorescent greens to be bright green. Right now they are a bit washed out. What would you recommend? Thanks!

 

[glb]

Maybe add some blue led's?

 

[NumberFish]

how will that help? I already have so much blue already that I think it is washing out the blue in the coral. Wondering maybe if I need more actinic? My placement is:
SB > back
SB
C+
B+ >front

 

[kschweer]

Any pictures?? Not sure what type of coral you are referring to.

 

[NumberFish]

Here's a pic. In the foreground is a kenya tree and the blue snow is in the background. Everything just seems washed out!

 

[NumberFish]

Oops forgot to post the pic.

 

[Sabellafella]

Clove polyps?

 

[NumberFish]

huh?

 

[NumberFish]

Okay so I figure I have too many blue bulbs. So what should I replace it with to make the corals pop?

 

[NumberFish]

anyone?

 

[rockskimmerflow]

You're on the right track with actinic spectrum. You're limited on bulb combinations with only 4 bulbs in the fixture, but you could definitely swap one bulb for an ATI true actinic. I usually recommend a 2:1 or 3:1 ratio of blue to actinic bulbs.

I usually spec 2 Blue, 1 pink/red, and 1 actinic bulb in 4 lamp fixtures for a balanced spectrum. It won't look as washed out since the actinic adds pop without much visually blue light.

My best advice is to buy a couple different bulbs and play with combos to see what you really like.