ok MH pros, i need some quick help!!

jonthefb

jonthefb

Active Member
ok all you metal halide pros, i need some help.
i need to replace the bulbs on my 135 reef. i have three 250watt halides that are 65k there right now. i was wanting to replace them with 1 20K in th emiddle, and 2 10Ks on either side. i also have two 160 watt vho actinics. the light set up was purchased from custom sea life about 2 years ago. i have no idea what brand the ballasts are, but was going to use a 20K german mogul based bulb for the center, and two iwasaki 10K moguls on the left and right. i have to place this order tomorrow and need some help. i was also considering three 250 watt 10K blueline bulbs and opinions/suggestions/reccommendations guys and gals? any help is greatly appreciated!
good luck
jon
 
slowest is fastest

slowest is fastest

Member
I agree with BigMac except that if you continue to use the 160 watts of actinic VHO and add the 10k Bluelines you may find the tank a little to blue....IMHO
SiF
 
jonthefb

jonthefb

Active Member
bigmac, the light i was considering was an ushio, sorry, wasnt too specific on that. yes they are just regular old magnetic ballasts. do you think i would gain anythign by having the one 20K corallife bulb in the center as opposed to running all three 10K's? also the three 10K manfacturers i am lloking at are
250w10K aqualine bushke, mogul base, crisp white color, 99.90
250w10K blueline, mogul base, blue/white color, 89.90
250w10K ushio, mogul base, crisp white colore, 99.90
250w10K corallife, mogul base, blue color, 99.90
250w20K corallife, mogul base, blue color, 109.90
any experience with one versus the other? i am pretty excited about upgradign from 65 k to 10k and wish i could replace everythign and go hqi, but i think nthnat would be a little too expensive!
thanks again big mac!
good luck
jon
 
jonthefb

jonthefb

Active Member
thanks sif, but thats kinda the efect im trying ot achieve. i think anything right now will be an improvement to what came withthe set. do you think i should use 10K's that are more whitish? have you had any experience with the bluelines? sorry to ask so many questions, i just want to get this right. how about ab, or ushio, any luck with those at all?
thanks again!
jon
 
oceanaquarium1

oceanaquarium1

New Member
Hi...just logged in for first time and saw this thread....I have a 135 reef with power compacts as follows: two 96w Actinic 03's....and four 96w 10000k's. Each pair can be turned on/off
separately. Combination looks great when all 4 or just 2 of the 10k's are on with the 03's. Neither setting looks too blue.
Realize these are fluorescents...hope this helps
Dom
 
broomer5

broomer5

Active Member
Hi jon,
Tell ya what - I'm so new to the metal halide thing - I don't think my experience would be considered reliable LOL :p
But .....
I like various colors in the tank. This is what my eye appreciates - not necessarily the corals though.
6500-7000K lamps are yellowish - but some corals really dig this spectrum. Acroporas being one.
It's always best to try and balance OUR color preferences with the tank inverts preferences - at least that's how I like to look at it.
I've got the PFO Dual HQI 250 watt ballast running two Ushio 10,000K lamps.
These lamps running alone apprears a very bright crisp white to my eyes.
I find some of the colors are sort of "washed-out" in many of the inverts.
I run VHO actinic AND Aquasuns in combination with the metal halides. But not all day long.
Lights come on/off at different times of the day - and the MH's actually light one end of the tank first, then both are on, then the other end is lighted.
Sort of moves across from left to right throughout a 6 hour period.
VHO actinics vary as well - as does the AquaSuns.
This I feel gives the tank corals a lot of various light spectrum, and comes from two point of source spots, and continuous lighting from the VHO.
Plus - I love the different colors and appearances that the corals take on under these different arrangememts.
Something like this would be cool in your larger tank as well - if you're interested in doing things that way.
The lamps DO NOT all have to be the same.
You can light it a lot of different ways.
See ya
 
slowest is fastest

slowest is fastest

Member
Sorry jon I do not have any expierence with the other bulbs. I started using the 400watt 20k radiums with VHO actinic support after replaceing the 10K Bluelines and will probably never switch....I like the color a lot. I have heard that the 250 watt Radiums are not as blue as the 400's but with your VHO's probably wouldn't mean much.
Sorry I can't help more.
SiF
PS FWIW I still get the best color in my all VHO tank ...LOL:D
 
broomer5

broomer5

Active Member
forgot to mention.
If you don't find the colors appealing to you after purchasing the MH lamps - you can play around with the VHO lamps in different combinations for supplemental spectrums.
It's amazing how replacing just one VHO bulb will make such a difference in the colors. That's what I like about the MH / VHO combinations. Lots of options.
 
jonthefb

jonthefb

Active Member
well i just spoke to the rep from champion lighting, and he said to look at either the 250 watt 10K ab bulbs or the ushios. he said that there is a noticable difference between the ab/ushios and the blue color of the bluelines, but i am really looking for an overall blue appearance to the tank, and liek you said, broomer, i cna play around with the vho's if need be
sif, how didd you like the look of the bluellines? did you supplement with any other bulbs?
thanks again guys
jon
 
slowest is fastest

slowest is fastest

Member
The Blueline themselves were "blue enough" for me but it seemed to make the reds and yellows duller in the tank. I think this would not be a problem using the VHO's to compliment and I personally think the 10K Bluelines are not a bad choice.
No matter what you decide you will have to replace(change) them sometime...who knows maybe by then there will be another 10 or 20 bulbs to choose from...LOL
Lighting is a matter of personal preference when it comes to color. I think you have an advantage with your setup in being able to alter slightly with the flor. I would suggest firing whatever MH bulb you go with first then buying the VHO bulbs to further get the effect "YOU" want.
SiF
 
azonic

azonic

Active Member
If you are looking for a blue look, do NOT use the Ushio 10k. They are supposed to be crisp white but they are very yellow IMO. I use the uhsio 10k 400 watters on my tank and they are way too yellow....im adding 4 vho super actinics around christmas time.
 
jarre

jarre

Member
Broomer - Just give it time and you'll be able to write up MH posts like you do the ALK, PH, CA posts!! :D
 
fishfood

fishfood

Member
What about the Vion Z6 bulb?
I also need to decided on a bulb for my 250w over my 26gal tank. So far i've been looking at the AB, Ushio and someone told me to check out the Vion Z6 bulbs.
 
jonthefb

jonthefb

Active Member
ok guys, let me update you all. well the lfs that i was workign at typically orders stuff from champion lighting, and i was gonna have to have the order in by yesterday to get my bubls. the owner of the lfs, however had been informed that there was an aqua medic wholesaler (they also now produce the ab bulbs after a merger with aqualine bushke.) 20 minutes away in a small town called loveland. the owner, my boss, was interested in an aquaspce light, 3*250W HQI with osram pc's to supplement actinics, so we were on the phone with the wholesaler all yesterday morning. i asked the guy if aqua medic and ab were the same and he said yes, so i asked hiim if he had any 250W mogul base 10K MH's laying around the warehouse. he had a whole pallet and the wholesale price of them was 75 bucks a piece:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: this was great considering i was gonna pay 99.90 from champion plus shipping. i asked if we could come over and check em out and if he could fire one up for me. so the owner and i cruised over to loveland, and he fired up the bulb. ohhh my god. these things are gorgeous!!!! he also informed me that their 10k bulb is actually rated at 13k so it will be a littel more blueish but still have that crisp white look. i took three of them, my boss picked up a damaged 3*250w hqi mh aquaspcae light for 800 bucks, and we got a ton of other stuff, so now i plan on running the 3 250w ab bulbs with the two 140 watt vhos. i will take some before and after pics of the tank when i go home over vacation and then will post them when i get back, but man am i excited, and today hopefully were gonna go to the shop and move the show 150 and put the aquaspacelight over it! but man aquamedic has some nice products. we got to see the 6 foot tall industrial skimmers they carry, a plankton reactor and lots of other cool stuff! definately worth a look!
good luck
jon
 
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