Radium MH Bulb Questions

gio28

gio28

Active Member
hi everyone, im due to replace my MH bulb in a month or so and had a few questions about them.
i currently have no corals but plan on getting some real soon. Right now I have a phoenix 14K and although i like the color it puts off, at the same time it looks like my tank is washed out. I was looking at the 20K radium bulb and noticed that it gave corals more of a pop.
I wanted to know if having a 150watt radium bulb over a 36 gallon bowfront would suffice for a variety of corals if i place them accordingly. Like SPS and LPS at the very top and mushrooms closer to the bottom.
So basically, will this bulb put off enough PAR to keep corals all the way up to SPS if i place them right? and if it makes any difference, my light is fixed at 8 1/2" above the water, so it might affect PAR values.
Thanks.
also, if anyone has any pictures of their tanks with the radiums over them, post them please (and what supplemental lights you are using if you have any) thank you.
 
jackri

jackri

Active Member
You have plenty of light to place anything in your tank IMO. From there it's a matter of what you find the most eye appealing. Radium does pretty good growth on the 20k's too from what I've heard.
 
scsinet

scsinet

Active Member
The Radium 20s are awesome lamps. I've got two reef tanks and I've switched to them exclusively. They outperform anything else I have used.
 
jackri

jackri

Active Member
Interesting, thanks.
I'm thinking about changing my phoenix out of my pendant on my frag tank for a 20k radium and see how I like it come bulb change.
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/323790/radium-hqi-bulbs
I still run them and will not switch for now. I have put up (6) 3watt actinic LED's for some twighlight time before and after the halides.
 
gio28

gio28

Active Member
thanks for all the replies everyone.
I think im gonna go ahead and try this bulb out. i would prefer that it burn bluer so i don't find myself wanting to get actinics later on. I know it has to burn in and all before i can make an accurate judgement. I have an ARO ballast (which is electronic) and i heard that these bulbs burn bluer on electronic ballasts. Does anyone know anything about this?
By the way, your tank looks amazing spanko!
 
gio28

gio28

Active Member
Originally Posted by meowzer
http:///forum/post/3218136
GIO!!!!!!!! Where the heck have you been?????
lol...yup I haven't been on in a longgg time. School and few other stupid things have been keeping me busy, so I basically put my tank on hold for a while. But now im back finally
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Originally Posted by gio28
http:///forum/post/3218138
lol...yup I haven't been on in a longgg time. School and few other stupid things have been keeping me busy, so I basically put my tank on hold for a while. But now im back finally

WELL...I am glad it is just normal life events that have kept you away...and VERY glad you are back
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
Thanx Gio, tank has changed a bit since those pics.
Take a look here if you want.
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/332430/spankos-bio-cube-what-in-posidens-name-is-he-up-to-now
 
gio28

gio28

Active Member
whoa...its an even more amazing tank now! I really like the flameback angel you have in there! i've been wanting to get one for my tank once it gets more established.
 
gio28

gio28

Active Member
ok, i have another question...i hear that the 150watt DE bulbs run more on the white side compared to the other models. If this happens does anybody know of any good actinic supplement lights they recommend.
in particular, i would like LED lights to supplement the radium. The strip kinds that are easy to mount and last like 50,000 hours are what i had in mind. But the only thing is that they would have to be able to make a difference over the radium to notice the bluer colored water. also, if there are any that actually put out some PAR then that would be great too.
any ideas? thanks.
 
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