Which MH Bulbs??

[rtoycrow]

Well i have pretty much decided on buying a retro metal halide setup instead of the t-5 but i am confused on what light bulbs i will need. I am going to get the icecap retro-fit kit. I am thinking of buying two 400 watt setup unless someone tells me different. You can get the 400 watt setup with different bulbs. 6500k, 10000k, 12000k, 14000k, or 20000k. I didn't know which ones to get? Should i get both bulbs the same? Two different bulbs. I am planning on keeping some corals not sure which ones yet but nothing too hard. The lights will be going over a 240g tank. Thanks

 

[yerboy]

You will want both bulbs to be the same K rating so one side of the tank isn't a different color then the other. I prefer 14k or 20k bulbs myself but it really depends on what you want. If you go with 10k bulbs you would most likely want to add some type of actinic lighting.
What are the dimensions of your 240? I'm assuming its 96 x 24 x 24 if so you would need more then just 2 bulbs over the tank.

 

[spiderwoman]

I'm running 3 400W bulbs on our 150 which is 72 inches long. You'll need 1 bulb for every 24inches of the tank in order to do an even coverage.
Your best bet is to check Sanjay's Lighting site to see what the PAR and other values are for your ballast combined with different bulbs.

 

[rtoycrow]

Yeah my dimensions are what you said. Should i get the 400 watt or the 250 watt setup? I will probably go with 14000k bulbs.

 

[wangotango]

Originally Posted by rtoycrow
http:///forum/post/2913819
Yeah my dimensions are what you said. Should i get the 400 watt or the 250 watt setup? I will probably go with 14000k bulbs.
The 250w should work if the tank is only 24" tall, but the 400w would not be overkill IMO.
Check out Sanjay's lighting site for the best bulb/ballast combination.
-Justin

 

[stanlalee]

If this set up has egay or no name bulbs go with the 20k bulbs because the 20k will look like name brand 14k and the 14k will look like name brand 10k and the 10k will look like name brand 6500k. Besides with 400w there is no reason not to go with 20k unless you just dont like the blueish look. the 20k 400w set ups I've seen dont seem to be as blue as the 150-250w 20k set ups. in fact if it has no name bulbs upgrade period. before you buy it make sure you find out the ansi code of the ballast (M135 for pulse start, M59 for probe start or if its electronic which I doubt) so you can buy a bulb that suits the ballast. It this happens to be a double ended 400w set up which I also doubt it should come with an electronic ballast (otherwise its a 430w HPS ballast, not really its intended use).