Halides for dummies

T

TankBusters

Ok, I have had a Coralife halide fixture inthe past with 10,000k halides and actinic pc's. I changed out the 10,000k's for 20,000k's and the actinics were changed to daylight bulbs.
Now I talked with someone the other day and they said that 20,000 will not give the anemone and corals a nice bright color. I like the bluer look of the 20,000k's better but does anyone have an explanation on what kevin will react in a negative way with my tank. I have looked online but you need to be a genius to figure out the graphs that they show and I am not familiar with alot of the terminology of the professionals explaing things.
Any help would be appreciated and pictures of your setups with 10 and 20 k would help. Thanks.
 
It's mainly a matter of aesthetics and growth rate.

The higher the Kelvin rating the more pleasing it will be (to most reefers anyways) aesthetically and the slower the coral will grow. The lower Kelvins are vice versa.

20,000 K bulb will look great but corals wont grow as fast.
6500 K bulb will look very yellow but will give you the best growth rate.

This may be slightly over simplified, but it is a good general rule of thumb concerning Kelvin. The CRI and PAR of the bulbs/ballast is also important if you are looking for good growth.
 
I've played with my bulbs a bit.... I have dual 250W and 2 4' VHO to play with. I loved the growth with 10K but the coloration didn't do much even with actinics....

So I tried 20K's.... way too blue and a loss of true intensity of lighting. I am now trying out 14K's. They are new and before I left for this trip, were still burning in. So when i get back next week, I will see how they look. If they are still too blue, I'll swap out my Actinic VHO's for 10K or lower and try that for a time.

All else fails... I'll go back to 10K MH and figure out a way to boost the actinics.

I saw some 13K on Marine depot but they are the wrong type of mogul.. you might be able to find some 12K or 13K and try those though!

Point is though.. coloration is a trade off for growth.. its finding the combination that works. Can be expensive but once you find the combo, stick with it ;)
 
From what I have experienced, different bulb manufacturers will have different colors. Brand "A" with 20k will be bluer than brand "B" with 20k bulbs. I think the best thing for me to do is go to different lfs and members and see what they have and decide what I like and what will grow well.
 
@TankBusters wrote:
From what I have experienced said:
that would save a lot of time and money... but as was mentioned the ballasts play a role too... so try to find someone with the same ones.
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Ok, I will take that advice also. I have no experience with magnetic ballasts. I have only used electronic. What are the downsides to magnetic besides the possible buzzing?
 
@TankBusters wrote:
What are the downsides to magnetic besides the possible buzzing? said:
MUCH heavier.
Run MUCH MUCH hotter (As in I can't touch mine once they've been running a few hours.
Electric ballasts are more energy efficient (Some will debate this point)
Longer bulb life by running the bulb with a smoother power wave
Quicker startup and re-start


Those are some of the various advantages of electronic ballasts I've heard over the years...

As far as disadvantages:

Higher initial cost
Some interfere with X10 signaling

I'm sure there are others on both sides, those are just what I can think of that I've heard about off the top of my head...
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If you're not familiar with Reeflux lamps I suggets doing a search on RC - they're a 10,000 Kelvin lamp that spikes heavily in the blue ranges. It gets decent PAR ratings and has an awesome color.

They are designed to be run on electronic ballasts. The initial reports of the pink bulbs resulted from a coating placed on the lamps that no longer is used.
 
@NathanSE wrote:
If you're not familiar with Reeflux lamps I suggets doing a search on RC - they're a 10 said:
Do you know if they are probe or pulse start on the mogul base? I can't remember which is which.. probe=magnetic or electronic etc.
Click to expand...
 
Are these what you are talking about when you mentioned reeflux, that is what they said they wqere. Man, they are for sale for $400.00 and I am not in the position to buy them until the 31st.
http://www.reefcentral.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=34366&thumb=1
 
Does anyone know if ReefLux makes a 150 watt SE MH bulb? All I can find in that wattage is DE bulbs? Or does anyone make a 150 watt SE MH bulb anymore?
 
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