The search for the perfect MH bulb...

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orchidsnfish

I am looking for a WHITE burning bulb. I see these tanks that are just nice and white, but I can't find a bulb to accomplish this look. I have had 20K XM's, 10K XM's, and now 15K XM's and dont like any of them. The 10K's are awful yellow and the other two are way too blue. I have tried a few other brands as well in 10K bulbs and have hated them because of the yellow look.

I have 4 60" t5 actinics. Ballasts are one dual PFO Magnetic and one 400W Icecap electronic. Really Im not sure which bulbs will work well with both the magnetic and electronic ballasts. I know the XM's are good as far as PAR (the 10K anyway), but Im just not happy with them.

Any help is appreciated. Just trying to find a crisp white bulb with decent PAR. It just seems like the 10XM blows everything else away as far as PAR on both the electronic and the magnetic ballast. Maybe I should suck it up and stick with them?
 
You might try a Reeflux 12K they are a little on the blue side. I am now running a mix of 10 & 12K bulbs with actinic to get the lighting on our 200 gal. I find that this comb really brings the color of the corals out.
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I agree with Dave - I like the combination of the 10k and 12k. I originally ran 14ks but when I added atinics it was a bit too blue.

I do thinknex time I order I will go with all 12ks.
 
@psteeleb wrote:
I agree with Dave - I like the combination of the 10k and 12k. I originally ran 14ks but when I added atinics it was a bit too blue. I do thinknex time I order I will go with all 12ks. said:
To be more exact they are 250W Reeflux 12K and XM 10K’s on magnetic ballast.
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Hamilton 14K look pretty white to me... :D When I had Reeflux 10K's they looked white too, but they made a lot of my red, pink, and similar colored SPS look dull. They tend to brighten up the blue colored corals and not any others IMO.
 
I found the AB 10k bulb to be very white. I tried the Megachrome 13k and also found it to be too white. I did get great growth with the AB bulb but it was too white for me.
 
Have you tired Ushio?
They are pretty white.
http://www.hellolights.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1411
Metal Halide Lamps - 400 watt - Single Ended - Ushio - 400W 14,000K - Ushio - 5001608
 
I'm right there with Dave. I have some double ended 12k bulbs. To the eye, they look white but when I take a picture - looks a little bluish but overall - I like the clean white look. NO supplemental light, just two 250w 12k bulbs...
 
@orchidsnfish wrote:
I am looking for a WHITE burning bulb. I see these tanks that are just nice and white said:
What type of bulbs are you running? SE's or DE's and who besides Icecap makes your other ballasts?
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@orchidsnfish wrote:
Ballasts are one dual 250W PFO Magnetic and one 400W Icecap electronic. They are SE bulbs. said:
I am using two dual 250W PFO Magnetic ballasts for my four bulbs as well.
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Im debating the 12K Reeflux or 12.5 MegaChromes. Not much reasoning behind the megachromes except I have liked about every Gieseman bulbs I've seen and they are in the right Kelvin range for what I'm looking for and I found a great price on them. Have never actually used them though so Im kinda scared.

Right now I have a 400W 10K XM with 2 250W 15K XM's on the ends. Looks like crap. I have 2 60" T5 Actinic + bulbs in and 2 60" Aquablue + bulbs. I LOVE the color the tank looks with just the t5's. If I could fit enough t5's over the tank to be workable I'd throw the stupid MH's out completely. I'm telling you, the combo of these t5 bulbs is exactly what I want in a MH bulb, but doubt I will find. :sad:
 
I have 2x 250w DE XM 15K on a Sunlight Supply dual 250W elec. ballast over my 75 with no actinics and really like the look.
 
I bought 10k Hamilton because they said they were "ICE WHITE" I have a dual magnetic 250w ballast and 1 electronic 400w and both wattages were the same and VERY yellow I hated them so I sent them back and asked Hamilton to send me 14k. Hopefully they will be more to my liking.
 
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