Going blue. How fast?

S

shse666

The goals for my softie reef 90 are changing and I no longer want the dual 250 watt 6,500K DE bulbs that I have running on the tank.

Are my corals going to stress out if one day out of the blue, "pun intended" I swap 6,500K to 14K bulbs, or should I run 10K for a while?
Looking for someone with first hand experience changing the color temp on their Metal Halides.

Thanks.
 
I have switched from 10k to 20k anf nithing happened.... The higher the kelvin the deeper water it simulates... So if it is more blue it will simulate deeper waters... So you will notice less growth but better color...

~introducing fish and coral into a electronically balanced body of water since 2007~
 
They might have a pause of growth..for a short while

~introducing fish and coral into a electronically balanced body of water since 2007~
 
I changed from 2 10k 400w bulbs to 2 20k 400w on my 100g frag tank. No problems

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If anything you could add a couple hours to your light cycle. They are going to get a lot less PAR. Your corals will love it and should start to add more colors in a couple weeks.
 
Thank you guys. Much appreciated on the feedback.
Adjusting the run time on the lights should be pretty straight forward.

I feel a bit better looking at some 14K bulbs on my BRS group buy next week. :)
 
I like the radium 20k much butter than the phoenix. Its really more of a 16k with a super crisp white. The phoenix is closer to 18-20k IMHO. Matt & Lindsey ran the ushio 14k for a few months and if i recall Matt said it looked like someone had peed in his tank. (Matt correct me if im wrong)
 
ushio bulbs are really yellow, even in the higher kelvin ratings. pheonix 14ks look good but get poor par. cant speak for xm.
 
OK. Someone is getting slapped if I spend over $200.00 and my tank looks like pee...

My current bulbs are VERY yellow but that was by design and I have zero regrets. I loved the scallops, sea fan, and other NPS that we had over the past 15 months.
I'm thinking XM 15Ks. http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/xm-15k-double-end-bulb.html BRS will be the vendor of choice this up coming week.

I'm just a bit nervous about moving from the 6,500K to full 20K bulbs all in one move. I could honestly live with an interim step at 15K and look at 20K next year.
 
Waay back I used to love 400watt XM 20k. If you have no supplementation its a nice look and the par was pretty high. It was just the right amount of blue. Not sure how the 250s look though.
 
If i remember correctly the PAR number from Sanjay were SUPER low on the XM 15k. I went from 10k to 20k on a tank without blinking.
 
I have dual 250 watt MH at 6500K plus 4 x 39 watt Actinics on the reef 90 tank.
I can add some supplemental stunner bars if needed.

I'm surprised that the XMs are that low on PAR. I do not want my corals to die off, plus I have a super nice clam that I picked up from JB that needs lots of love.
 
Go double check because I dont want to mislead you and its been awhile since I looked at most of the numbers. I think you will be very happy with the Phoenix or Radium bulbs. He other you might look into would be the Reeflux 12k. I know hat 1badbluehb is running them on his tank and his tank looks great. Im running Radiums with some LED supplements as are Matt and Lindsey and I believe 1badbluehb will be moving to them when its time to change his bulbs.
 
I just checked your stats. You have a 90 with softies. There are really no MH bulbs that will hurt or even slow down your reef. Pick the color you like best. FWIW its hard to judge color from pics/vids. Go check out peoples aquariums. Most people will invite you over give you a beer and talk your ear off for 2 hours :)
 
My favorite bulb was a xm 20k out of all mine... Beautiful color and still grows good... Its a amazing bulb and i have ran these over a year and still had awesome growth

~introducing fish and coral into a electronically balanced body of water since 2007~
 
I have some reeflux bulbs that are 12k and they are new if they are the same bulbs in the fixture i just bought they are typical 10k coloration

~introducing fish and coral into a electronically balanced body of water since 2007~
 
for de you can try aquamaxx they are pretty close to radiums maybe alittle bluer or go with ushio 20k


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