MH Color Temperature opinions

reefer_fez

reefer_fez

New Member
I have been searching the web for the lights I want for my new tank. I'm kindda confused because I want to set up my tank as an SPS tank but I dont know what color temperature to go with. I want to be able to keep healthy corals and have them grow. What do you guys think I should go with? 6,500K, 10,000K, 13,000K, 14,000K, 15,000K, 20,000K, etc. On your own experience what should I get? Also what kind of wattage should I get them? Post a pic of your SPS tank if you have one please so I can guide myself. Thanks a lot for any inputs.
 
buzzword

buzzword

Member
Fez if you are getting a 210g tank I would reccomend 400w MH's. As to K rateing I have 10K MH bulbs and have seen great growth in all my SPS, but I don't like how bright/harsh the lighting looks even with actinic PC supplementation. I am going to change over to 20K bulbs next. 15K was an option until I found out they had a very low PAR rateing. It also depends on if you have Mogul or double ended lamps. IMO get double ended, more and better choices for bulbs that last longer than mogul. 10K are very white/yellow and the higher K the more blue to the light i.e. 20K. You will get better growth out of 10K but better coloring out of 20K.
Here are some pics of my 10K with PC actinics. Hope that helps.



 
reefer_fez

reefer_fez

New Member
Buzz:
Your tank looks awesome. Thanks a lot for the advice. It really helps. I really want some blue coloring in my tank. So you think I should get double ended bulbs huh? I guess I have to find a new retro kit now. the one I was looking at had Mogul bulbs. Any ideas where I can get it from? Thanks a lot!
 
buzzword

buzzword

Member
Fez shoot me an e-mail.
Fromoe thanks. Struggling to keep him alive right now he has ich. Going on 2 weeks maybe I can get him past it but I doubt it.
 
marcus71

marcus71

Member
refer shoot me your email and i can give you pics of 15k 2x250 hqi double end
MarcusCarcus71@yahoo.com
i have an older sony dig camera, i cant resize or get 500/500.
so you will see the difference between the 10k and the 15k. I found that the 20k is too much blue, it hid all the coraline.
 
ryansholl

ryansholl

Member
Marcus. Google has a nice, free, program for viewing and editing photos. It is called picasa. Just open it up and open the help window, search for "resize" and use the export option and we can all see your photos
 
matty0h_52

matty0h_52

Member
whats the demmensions of the tank. usually 400w is over kill depending on the depth of the tank. i have a 170 with 4x250w mh. and thats 2x20k 1x15k and 1x 13k. the only reason i went with different type K rateings is because i wanted to get a nise wide spectrum of light. oh yeah and remember SPS has a harder time growing under 20k lighting thats another reason why i went with the 14 and 13
 
E

eaglefan

Guest
I have 10k mh's and i to see very good growth. If you off set with actinic vho's you don't have the harsh yellow.
 
reefer_fez

reefer_fez

New Member

Originally Posted by matty0h_52
whats the demmensions of the tank. usually 400w is over kill depending on the depth of the tank. i have a 170 with 4x250w mh. and thats 2x20k 1x15k and 1x 13k. the only reason i went with different type K rateings is because i wanted to get a nise wide spectrum of light. oh yeah and remember SPS has a harder time growing under 20k lighting thats another reason why i went with the 14 and 13
My tank dimensions are 72Lx29Hx24.
 
reefer_fez

reefer_fez

New Member

Originally Posted by eaglefan
I have 10k mh's and i to see very good growth. If you off set with actinic vho's you don't have the harsh yellow.
I'm trying to avoid all that yellow color. That's why I wanted the help on this matter. Thank you very much.
 
matty0h_52

matty0h_52

Member
Originally Posted by Buzzword
Sorry to highjack the thread but, Matty what brand bulbs are they? And are they mogul or double ended?

mogul...now youre testing me on brand....
13k- Megachrome Marine
15k-XM (allmost looks like a 20k)
20k-Radium-
 
matty0h_52

matty0h_52

Member

Originally Posted by Reefer_Fez
My tank dimensions are 72Lx29Hx24.
i think 250w will be fine. i think people really underestimate the power. go with 3 you will be impressed
 
oceana

oceana

Active Member
i use 3x400watts radium MH.(20K)
i use the term 20l lightlybecasue most 20k bulbs are MUCH higher in rating. ocne the bulb turns more blue then yellow people start calling them 20k kind of missleading really.
i use no actinic other then for dusk/dawn effect. when MH are on no actinics are one. radium bulbs are my favorite becasue they are not nearly as blue as some of the otehr "20K' bulbs. i get a very crisp ice white/blue color. the corals color is awesome.
i my case i get great growth out of the sps i have and the soft and lps grow like weeds.
if i had 10 k they would grow faster but they would not look even half as good.
the biggest problem i have with the radiums is they make it a real pain to take nice pics. the camera see alot more blue then your eyes do . even my best camera has trouble with it sometimes
you do need three bulbs and IMO you should go with 400's. when i had 250's thigns went great but when i got 400's it was like i could see the corals growing lol theypenetrate through my sand bed. when you look under my tank in the stand you can see it glowing under there. they are great!!
so I told you all that to tell you this. i like radiums lol

 
reefer_fez

reefer_fez

New Member

Originally Posted by oceana
i use 3x400watts radium MH.(20K)
i use the term 20l lightlybecasue most 20k bulbs are MUCH higher in rating. ocne the bulb turns more blue then yellow people start calling them 20k kind of missleading really.
i use no actinic other then for dusk/dawn effect. when MH are on no actinics are one. radium bulbs are my favorite becasue they are not nearly as blue as some of the otehr "20K' bulbs. i get a very crisp ice white/blue color. the corals color is awesome.
i my case i get great growth out of the sps i have and the soft and lps grow like weeds.
if i had 10 k they would grow faster but they would not look even half as good.
the biggest problem i have with the radiums is they make it a real pain to take nice pics. the camera see alot more blue then your eyes do . even my best camera has trouble with it sometimes
you do need three bulbs and IMO you should go with 400's. when i had 250's thigns went great but when i got 400's it was like i could see the corals growing lol theypenetrate through my sand bed. when you look under my tank in the stand you can see it glowing under there. they are great!!
so I told you all that to tell you this. i like radiums lol
Oh man...That is one great looking tank. Thanks a lot for the info....
 
murph145

murph145

Active Member
i run 2 - 250W Double Ended HQI bulbs with a 20K rating on my 100 gallon reef.... the effect is really nice but a lil too blue in my taste alone and especially when taking pics...
so i decided to supplement the MH with another 180W of 10K PC lighting which kind of kicks out some of the too blue effect....
heres a pic u can see how it looks
 
buzzword

buzzword

Member
Murph, that is NICE! I think that may be the direction I go when I change bulbs in the next 2 months. Thanks for the pic.
Oceana, what type ballast due you run the Radiums on, want to know if I can run them on my ballast.
Thanks
 
matty0h_52

matty0h_52

Member
Originally Posted by oceana
i over drive them a bit with sola ballast. magnetic pulse start.
I think the pulse start really arnt over driveing anything there only meant to fire and burn to the specified bulb. you want over drive then HQI is the name of the game. Some have said that 20k will apear more blue hooked to a pulse start ballast as the HQI will make the bulb apear a little whiter because its driveing and burning the bulb brighter and harder.
 
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