10k MH vs. 20k MH
- Thread starter tngator19
- Start date
thegrog
Active Member
The 10,000K bulb is a pure white. The 20,000K has a lot more blue color to it. They also make bulbs inbetween the two (13,000K and 14,000K most commonly) if you feel the 20K is too blue. I have even seen a 50,000K bulb...which is REALLY blue. Meant for deep water creatures where only blue light naturally gets to.
How blue you want your tank is personal preference. It really does not matter much to the life in your tank as they get plenty of light from all of the forementioned spectrums. I would recomend a 13 or 14,000K bulb to start with. If you think it is too blue or want more white, when you do a bulb change in 8-12 months go with a different spectrum.
How blue you want your tank is personal preference. It really does not matter much to the life in your tank as they get plenty of light from all of the forementioned spectrums. I would recomend a 13 or 14,000K bulb to start with. If you think it is too blue or want more white, when you do a bulb change in 8-12 months go with a different spectrum.
tngator19
Member
Well the MH I bought has a 20k that was the reason I asked, and it does seem pretty blue. I am going to run some floresants with it so I guess i will stick with the 50/50's I have so it don't get too blue. I might change to a 14k later when it is time to change it out untill then I think I will stick with it. Thanks for the info.
golfish
Active Member
it depends on the bulbs and the ballast...I'd say that most 10K's are a bright white with a hint of butt ugly yellow. I've only seen one 10K MH that I would run without actinics. The 20K's that I have ran are a crisp white with a hint of blue. I like the 20K's but they don't offer the par or value that the 10K's offer..
I've had great success with SPS running just the Radium 20K bulbs.
I've had great success with SPS running just the Radium 20K bulbs.
msd2
Active Member
I personally use the xm 10,000k bulbs. I find them to be white, and if I want to blue it up I have actinics also. I have found the best growth under the 10,000k bulbs with my zoanthids. I have not tried any of the bulbs that are in between,but I am curious to see the output from the 15,000k xm bulbs.