20K MH Blue vs. Actinic Blue + 10K MH?

[ezee]

Hi all,
I am looking for opinions about the asthetics of a tank.
Is the quality of blue from the 10K+actinics comparable to 20K blue? How different are they to the eye?
If they are similar I would probably go with the 10K+actinics for the range of color but if the 20Ks are superior then the 20K.
Any thoughts?
Thanks in advance,
E

 

[reefnut]

Well using standard probe start ballasts the 20k bulbs looks much bluer than 10k w/actinic. In most cases the 10k will give you a little better growth than 20k bulbs so being superior is a matter of opinion. I personally plan to try the 15k XM next time... with still only using the actinics for the dusk/dawn effect.

 

[mudplayerx]

I get pretty great growth with just 300watts of 10k over my 55; no actinic.... especially the pulsing xenia.

 

[db]

It's really going to depend on the MH bulb and the type of actinic supplementation. VHO is going to go give the best color as far as actinics go. I personally think that 10K with Actinic is a much better look. There is also going to be different variations of 10K bulbs as well. Some have a much yellower look while some are more of a crisp white. The yellower the bulbs the more actinic supplementation you will need. There is a major drop off in PAR when you start talking about 20K or 14K bulbs and you might want to keep that in mind. The XM 15K has very low PAR and is even lower than their 20K on a magnetic ballast. The only higher Kelvin bulbs that give out good PAR are generally DE bulbs like the Phoenix 14K. I hope some of this makes sense.

 

[buzzword]

My sentiments echo reefnuts and I was going to try the XM 15K bulbs as well... But I have a 120g which is 24" deep, will the 15K bulbs have enough par for my tank? I run 2x250w MH with 4x65w actinics at this time.

 

[reefnut]

Originally Posted by DB
The XM 15K has very low PAR and is even lower than their 20K on a magnetic ballast.
I hadn't heard that so I checked into it and sure enough... the 20k puts out more par than the 15k. This just changed my plans... thanks for the info!!
Also something I found interesting is the XM 20k SE 250s have a higher par than the XM 20k DE 250s. Seems as if XM is doing things back wards lol.
Buzzword, the 250w Mogul XM 10k puts out 137ppfd, the XM 15k puts out 55.7ppfd and the XM 20k puts out 73ppfd on M58 ballasts. You may want to reconsider also unless you are running a different ballast...

 

[ezee]

Thanks everyone, this has been helpful.
Reefnut,
Are you planning on running actinic supplementation with the 20K's?
Do you have any anenomes and will that be sufficient for them?
Thanks again,
E

 

[reefnut]

No, I don't run actinics with the 20k's. I don't have any anenomes but it would be fine for them.

 

[ezee]

Reefnut,
Thanks for the quick reply!
Later,
E

 

[bang guy]

Originally Posted by DB
The XM 15K has very low PAR and is even lower than their 20K on a magnetic ballast.
Thanks for sharing this. I wouldn't have thought that. Good info!