T5 plus strip LED question

[flampton]

So I am setting up a new 36” x 24” shallow tank with some old gear I have laying around. I have a 5 bulb T5 setup that I think I’m going to run
blue plus
true actinic
Coral plus
Purple plus
Blue plus

what type of reef brite strip should I run to get nice shimmer and coloration? Do I need the XHO if I am just using it for shimmer? Any other suggestions? Oh and is my bulb choice alright? Thanks!

 

[Ron Reefman]

I think with five t5 bulbs, getting shimmer is going to be a bit tough. Maybe if you added a couple of single source lights like the Kessils?

 

[flampton]

Interesting. I’ll have to think through whether I want to add kessils since that’ll be significant more money.

 

[Ron Reefman]

The smaller the light source, the better it is at making shimmer in the tank. T5 and leds with big wide spread arrays of leds don't make much shimmer. MH, and leds that are closely grouped like in pucks do much better.