MH color?

[manuelc33]

Is there a beneficial reason for the color which your
MH produces? I am not very smart when it comes to
MH :roll: I just recently aquired one, and it was not
made for aquariums. The only thing is that the light
gives off a more yellowish daylight sort of tint. I do
not know exactly what the color is, since it does not
say on the bulb. I want to use it with my PC setup,
so basicly I want to know if there are any reasons why
I could not use this setup?

Please let me know if I sound dumb :wink:

 

[albert7753]

Okay here we go -

Mh lights give off diffrent colors by the kelvin ( I MAYBE WRONG )

175, 250, 400w

10K - White
12K - blueish
14K - also blue but more noticeable
20k - Blue ( cant get anymore blue than this )

if its yellow you must have 6500k ( really yellow )

What you are looking to get from Metal Halides is the PAR they give off.

 

[manuelc33]

I just like the Blue/White tint
And I want the color of my corals to POP!
I want to be like :shock: wow thats nice! :lol:

Do I have to have a mogul socket to have a 12K bulb?
The setup I have is a enclosed fixture with built in ballast
and a medium base.

 

[psteeleb]

you will get better growth in the 7-10k range but IMHO it looks more natural and the colors look better in the higher blue ranges

so there is a trade off - some people go with both

 

[ChuckLawson]

@manuelc33 wrote:

If you can use it along with your current PC setup, then you it's a lot easier (to me anyway) to get a good "combination" -- you can go for the "less blue" halides, to encourage good growth, and then supplement that with actinics in your PC fixture to bring out the blues and the colors on fluorescing animals. This also lets you do "sunrise/sunset" combinations by turning the different lights on or off in sequence.

If that's what you're going to try, you might want to start by getting some flavor of actinic/blue bulb (there are some different options) for the PC fixture, and trying it alongside the MH. If the color is still too yellow at that point, then you can step up to a higher color temperature of metal halide bulb, perhaps in the 10,000K - 14,000K range.

I just finished setting up mine with a "Reeflux" 10,000K bulb (250 watt), and a pair of T5 actinic tubes, and I'm real pleased with the combination -- warm colors are a lot better than they were under a 20,000K XM, and yet I still have all of the blue and fluorescing highlights.

 

[Ivan]

@psteeleb wrote:

I'm currently going with both. I currently have a 14K and a 10K so I have a good balance of color to go along with four VHOs. I have not used the VHOs in awhile, and now I'm contemplating removing them and going with two whites and one blue (in the center). My only issue with that is I have a glass center brace that would sort of minimize my blues going directly into the water. I also have to consider the extra heat.

Decisions, decisions ...

 

[manuelc33]

Ok, so I guess I will put two actinic bulbs. Along with the MH light, which is only a seventy watt bulb. And it really is not that yellow, but its not blue. Which does not make much sense. Thanks guys for the lessons

 

[sublime-1]

Something that I havent seen pointed out is this: And you may already know this, but the driving factor in the color temp of bulbs is the subject and the depth at which they naturally occur.

Obviously, the creatures we keep in our tanks are used to being in much deeper water than your 12 - 24 inch deep aquarium. Thus, the maximum you're usually going to have the light, from the subject, is 18 -24 inches or so. As opposed to say, 8 - 12 feet.

Now, as the sunlight shines down on these critters in nature, the light is defused thru the ocean water and certain colors in the spectrum are intensified while others are filtered completely out. That's why it gets bluer, the deeper you go. Actinics, for instance, simulate light at a wavelength that only occurs in deeper water, or during less intense daylight (e.g. a cloudy day, the 8 foot water would have bluer light, much in the same way you turn on your actinics first, and off last to simulate dusk and dawn.)

This is the reason for the different colors, in bulbs. To simulate natural daylight for specific depths, and thus, specific creatures.

That is why someone may recommend a specific bulb for an SPS only tank, wheras a hard coral tank may require something completely different.


BD

 

[nvillacci]

Most of your SPS, Acroporas, Porites and Montiporas thrive in the shallows. So if your keeping those, you pretty much want to use 6500K to 10000K bulbs.

People love to say corals look natural in the blue halides.. I beg to differ, you tend not to see neon colors when you go diving

Now, if your keeping any of the LPS corals, you will want to go with a higher kelvin. I have actually seen LPS corals like brains and even some torches etc die slowly under the high par outputs of 6500Ks and even 10000Ks.

They didnt evolve to be in direct sunlight and will die.

Try to emulate what your corals evolved to live in, shallow water = 6500K to 10000K, deeper waters = 12000K to 20000K.

If you dont personally like the yellow of the shallow water halides, add some actinic supplements to the mix, it will kill yellow tinge and add more par to your tank.

Nick