Metal Halide question

[beckisguy73]

I'm new to the metal halide lighting.. What is the difference between 10, 12, 14 & 20K bulbs??? I have a 6' Aquamedic fixture with 3 250w and 2 150w DE bulbs... the 150's are actinic. I want to know what would be the better bulb when it comes to replacments.. I want to pretty much grow what ever coral I choose to put in the tank..

Mike...

BTW it's going on a 220G tank that I plan to use as a coral grow out tank only with one pinstripe wrasse just to keep the corals clean..

 

[reeferpj]

if your looking for growth go with 10k a lot less blue in it but a little brighter for the coral then go back to 14 or 20 next time. the higher the number the bluer the tank

 

[beckisguy73]

thank you very much!!!!

 

[reeferpj]

no problem

 

[dawson]

But wont 14 still grow coral pretty well?

 

[s_kelley]

I had 10k 250w Ushio's and recenlty, well a few weeks ago, upgraded to 14k Ushio's and can almost not tell the difference. The 10k's just seemed to be too yellow for my likeing. Im getting about the same growth, the 14k's are just slightly less yellow.

 

[JayM]

you might want to be more specific....the aquamedic fixture should be 2x250 MH and 2x54w T-5 fluorescent bulbs, which would be your actinic supplementation.

Look at Ushio 14k bulbs for your MH, and Actinic Plus bulbs for your T-5

 

[UncleJT]

But wont 14 still grow coral pretty well?

It will, the 14KK's are a very nice balance between growth and color. JayM's recommendation above is spot on.

 

[Joel A]

use 10k's for the 250 watt bulbs, and you'll get the most growth. for the 150 watt bulbs you'll want some blue to balance out the yellowish 10k's, so go for either 14 or 20k bulbs for the 150's.

so use a mix of 10k's and 20k's. that should get you good color, but growth as well. other people will be better at recommending specific bulbs, as i've only ever dealt with single ended bulbs, so i can't help much.

 

[Joel A]

you might want to be more specific....the aquamedic fixture should be 2x250 MH and 2x54w T-5 fluorescent bulbs, which would be your actinic supplementation.

Look at Ushio 14k bulbs for your MH, and Actinic Plus bulbs for your T-5

i think he's got the all MH style light, with 5 MH's, 2x 150 and 3x 250.

 

[beckisguy73]

I dont have t5's all 5 bulbs are halides... the 2 150's are blue and the 3 250's are white...

 

[Joel A]

also, i know it's a bit off topic but you are going to want more than just 1 wrasse in that big of a tank.. having a coral tank is fine... but it needs the nutrients that fish waste provide. usually tanks don't do as well without fish and just corals... and the ones you do see like that are typically plumbed into other tanks or sumps with fish...

no nutrients in a tank=poor growth and color.

 

[Joel A]

I dont have t5's all 5 bulbs are halides... the 2 150's are blue and the 3 250's are white...

yeah, i thought so.. see my above post.

the 150 watt bulbs should have higher K ratings then the 250s in order to give off blue or actinic like light.

 

[beckisguy73]

well I do love my fish also so I'm sure I will prob have a pair of true percs also.. I have my b&w's in my bio cube 29 my GSM's in my 90G so it won't hurt my feelings to get some more clowns

 

[Joel A]

or if possible, you could plumb all the tanks together to one fishroom... that way your water quality would be rock solid.


you could also add more wrasses, as they are relatively small fish, but pretty, active, and take care of some pests. Tangs are what come to my mind personally in a tank of that size. =)

 

[JayM]

i think he's got the all MH style light, with 5 MH's, 2x 150 and 3x 250.

I dont have t5's all 5 bulbs are halides... the 2 150's are blue and the 3 250's are white...

yikes. that is a LOT of light. ::

ok, revised....I would still do Ushio 14k's for the 250W ones, and probably a radium 20k DE bulb in the 150w ones

 

[beckisguy73]

I like tangs also but my yellow is pretty mean at times and not sure if I want another mean fish...

 

[sixspeed]

But wont 14 still grow coral pretty well?

Yes dawson, 14k will still grow coral very efficiently. 10k just gives out more PAR (correct me if i am wrong), and this photosynthetic light is what powers the algae in the coral to grow. I do not know (maybe someone else will), but i would think that the difference between 10k and 14k in terms of PAR are not too far off.

 

[Joel A]

yikes. that is a LOT of light. ::

ok, revised....I would still do Ushio 14k's for the 250W ones, and probably a radium 20k DE bulb in the 150w ones

perfect for a 240 gallon though =). just don't keep cheapo bulbs and you'll be able to keep whatever you want lighting wise.

 

[UncleJT]

The OP has 5 halides? Then I'd definitely go with 3x10KK for the 250's and 2x20KK for the 150's. End of story. Gotta put my sunglasses on now.