Upgrading to metal halides (what bulbs)

[gc1962]

I am in the process of upgrading my tank to metal halides SE type and was wanting to know what would be a good bulb to go with to give my tank good color. The halides are 250 watt. Which would you guys prefer? The tank is a 90-gallon tank and I am going to have two 250 watt lights. Thanks

 

[veni vidi vici]

i wouldnt recommend Hamilton lamps,i have 2-250w SE 14ks that came with my Hamilton pendants and they burned in differently.One looks more like 10k and the other looks fine.Ive been told its a quality control issue at manufacturing plant.

 

[tx reef]

What brand ballast do you have? Electronic or Magnetic?

 

[veni vidi vici]

Originally Posted by TX Reef
What brand ballast do you have? Electronic or Magnetic?
if your asking me? i have Hamilton M58 magnetic ballast with Hamilton Reefstar mogal reflectors

 

[gc1962]

They are elecronic ballast.

 

[veni vidi vici]

Originally Posted by gc1962
They are elecronic ballast.
You may be correct,the info on the ballast i have, came from Sanjay Joshi and not from Hamilton....i couldnt find specs. on Hamiltons site.

 

[tx reef]

Originally Posted by gc1962
They are elecronic ballast.
What brand? This is important for matching the bulb......

 

[gc1962]

Coralvue ballast

 

[tx reef]

Get either a Reeflux 10k or 12k.
The 10k will be ice white and the 12k will have a slight blue tint to it. If you are looking for fast growth in coral, get the 10k.

 

[azfishgal]

I have two 250W SE CoralVue 14K bulbs, but I have IceCap Ballasts. I LOVE my lights and no the 14K is not to blue (looks that way in pictures, but in reality it's a very nice balance). Because I'm using 14K bulbs I don't need actinics.

 

[cubsfan]

I have hamilton 14k with an aro ballast and they look great.

 

[tx reef]

Reeflux bulbs are much better than the standard coralvue bulbs.......

 

[azfishgal]

Originally Posted by TX Reef
Reeflux bulbs are much better than the standard coralvue bulbs.......
What makes them better? I love my CoralVue bulbs but if there is something better out there I might want to try it when it's time to change my bulbs. Like I said my current ones are 14K and I LOVE the color. Would Reeflux 14K be any bluer or whiter than the CoralVue? I do have the Mini-Luminarc reflectors though so I do believe that helps a lot with my lighting. Thanks for your input.

 

[tx reef]

I don't know about the 14k......I have only used the 10k & 12k.
The 12k is plenty blue for me.
The Reeflux bulbs have a higher PAR rating on a Coralvue ballast than the standard Coralvue bulbs.
Coralvue makes the Reeflux bulbs......