polish old reflector or buy new?

[joshalicialtjt]

i just got a 250watt setup with spider reflector but am adding another coralvue ballast and buying 2 new reeflux 10000k bulbs and was wondering if i should order 2 new reflectors or just settle for the one and polish the old one up? im going to order them from my lfs today because he is matching online prices so was hoping to get an answer fairly quickly if possible, thanks so much as always guys :)

[Avi]

You'd be best off having one reflector per bulb. Whether you use the old one or not depends the condition it's in. The more perfect the reflector, the better so if you can't restore it to a condition that is like new, I'd get a new one to replace that.

[joshalicialtjt]

ok got a new one

[Avi]

Good move. Good luck with that tank of yours.

[joshalicialtjt]

now im just tryin to decide what 20000k 250 watt bulbs are best because reefers are telling me to change my 10000k reeflux to some more blue light :)

[snorvich]

Well I like the 10k reeflux and the 12k reeflux if you want more blue. Nice coloration and great growth.

[joshalicialtjt]

def am being told to get more blue and go for 20k with no actinic supplementation

[Avi]

There's a lot of personal preference in which Kelvin-rated bulbs are best for someone's reef. If you object to the coloration of your 10,000Ks, then you ought to change to a higher Kelvin-rated bulb, but there's no absolute necessity to go as high as 20,000Ks. Personally, I find those too blue and IMO they obscure the true color of coral, but again that is largely a matter of personal preference. You may also lose some light intensity for coral growth if you go to nothing but 20,000Ks rather than lower Kelvin-rated bulbs. I'd agree with snorvich that you ought to consider something like 12,000K and I'd say even 14,000K. Those would give you a bluer caste than the 10,000Ks that you have if that's not satisfactory for you without having "too much" blue.