No I think they were my main problem. I'm going your route and doing T5s... with maybe a reef brite or something similar down the road to supplement and get a little more of that ripple effect. Did a 4 bulb ati retrofit kit from BRS (actinic, 2 blue plus, 1 coral plus). Only 2 bulbs running so far cuz of a bulb casualty during shipment... but I'm already liking it a lot.
Saw they had led t5 bulbs... any experience with those?