MH Bulb Color Question

kaholic

kaholic

Member
I need some help deciding on bulbs. I am going to be running 2 - 400 Watt and 1 - 250 Watt Halides. Description on the Radiums say "crisp blue hue" but how blue are they? I planned to get a 20k in the 250W for supplemental color and 10k on the 2 400W for growth and a nice bright white. I don't want to be overpowered by a blue tint but I don't want only a bright white light either. If I go the above route, will it be enough blue, or should I get all 20k's? Please help!
 
bigmac

bigmac

Member
It depends on the ballast your running....The Radiums are a crisp white with a touch of blue when ran on the HQI ballast. Their not so bright on and E ballast or standard M59 so they look bluer..
What kind of ballast are you running?
 
kaholic

kaholic

Member
I was planning on the the Sunlight Supply Blue Wave I for the 250 and the Dual Blue Wave II for the 2 400's. Are those good ballasts? They have a good reputation?
 
bigmac

bigmac

Member
Originally Posted by kaholic
I was planning on the the Sunlight Supply Blue Wave I for the 250 and the Dual Blue Wave II for the 2 400's. Are those good ballasts? They have a good reputation?

Those ballast are probably the nicest that I have used. The Standard ballast is going to give you a very dim look to the Radium. The 20K XM looks a lot better and runs better on the standard ballast then it does the HQI..I've ran both these bulbs on HQI, standard and E ballasts. The Radiums looks the best on the HQI but the bulbs are weak and worthless at 5-6 months. The XM's on the standard ballast is what I'm running now, I like it.
 
kaholic

kaholic

Member
Well that's good news on the Blue Wave ballasts. It's the retrofit kits and these are the bulbs I have a choice of. I'm sure I will switch come the time to replace them but what would you suggest out of these? Leaning towards the 10K Ushio for the 400's and a Blue 20k for the 250. Will that give good color without any actinic? Just trying to get a decent balance of good growth and color.
20K Radium
10K Venture
20K Ushio/BLV Blue
10K Ushio/BLV
12.5K Megachrome
14.5K Megachrome
 
bigmac

bigmac

Member
Originally Posted by kaholic
Well that's good news on the Blue Wave ballasts. It's the retrofit kits and these are the bulbs I have a choice of. I'm sure I will switch come the time to replace them but what would you suggest out of these? Leaning towards the 10K Ushio for the 400's and a Blue 20k for the 250. Will that give good color without any actinic? Just trying to get a decent balance of good growth and color.
20K Radium
10K Venture
20K Ushio/BLV Blue
10K Ushio/BLV
12.5K Megachrome
14.5K Megachrome

Hmmm. The Ushio is one of the best 10K's out there, hands down...Its a little on the yellow side for my taste and they will overtake the single 250 watt 20K..I'd do some research on the 14.5K (where the heck do they get the .5 from ) I've read some good things about those. How about 400 watt Radiums and a 250 watt Ushio?
How long is this tanks going to be?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top