metal halide bulb choice

[hoopty]

I am going to be setting up metal halides on my 75 gal reef. Would it be better to use 10k bulbs or 20k bulbs??I will be using 2 flourescent actinics for blue light.

 

[nicky1.8t]

my bro has 10ks i love how they look nice and clear with a slight blue tint

 

[nicky1.8t]

welcome to the site btw

 

[calvindo]

go with 10k's... i recently bought 20k bulbs and end up switching back to my 10k. the 10k is much brighter...

 

[jacksonpt]

The lower the kelvin value, the more usable light you'll get from a bulb (6500 > 10k > 20k). The higher the kelvin value, the bluer the light will look, and the more vibrant your colors will be. If you are going for appearance, go with the 20k bulb. If you are going for light quality, go wtih the 10k.

 

[nm reef]

...and I've decided to go with 250 watt 65k Iwasakis...along with super actinic VHO's for suppliments(on a 100) I nearly went with 10k's but I think the 65k's will suit my purposes just fine.
It really comes down to personal preference...they all surve as great sources of light.:thinking:

 

[j21kickster]

im getting ready to try a 250W XM 20K- ill post some pic and let you know how it goes

 

[spsfreak100]

I'm quite fond of the 10,000k Ushio's.
The following site may be of some use to you. It goes into detail about the spectral analysis of metal halides.
http://www.personal.psu.edu/faculty/...omparison.html
Take Care,
Graham

 

[fender]

I've used 10k XMs and 10k coralvues. Both are excellent bulbs. The coralvue is a litte bluer than the XM - and about $10-15 cheaper.

 

[shouse]

I love my 175w 10k (13k spectrum) Aqualine bulbs. For a 75 gallon tank what would u all suggest for actnics. Definitely VHO, but i'm not sure the wattage of the bulb. I'm looking at either one or 2 48" VHO's, no idea about the wattage. I dont want to add TOO MUCH watts to my tank and overdue it but i still want a nice blue light. thanx for future advice.

 

[zen]

I have 2 - 250w MH's with 20k ....and I'll never get anything different!
as far as the question about wattage on VHO 48" ....it's probably gonna be 110 watts.

 

[nm reef]

Just wanted to edit my lighting choice...after running the 250 Iwasakis with 2x110 actics for a week I just could not tolerate the green/yellow color so I switched ballasts and bulbs. I'm now running 2x400 10k Ushios with 2x110 actinic VHO's...much better color.