Not liking 10,000K MH bulbs

[dkedrowitsch]

This weekend I drove out there to pick up some supplies and decided to finally 'upgrade' from my 175W 5500K venture MH bulbs to some 10000K bulbs. All they had in 10,000K was their house name "German" 10,000K. They could tell me anything about the bulbs except they were German made and would run on my M57 ballast.

Anyway, I stuck them in and fired them up and they look SO blue. Next to the T8 atinics I have, they seem to be just as blue. I thought 10,000Ks were supposed to be white and 20,000Ks blue?

I have also noticed they seem half as bright as my el-cheepo 5500K Venture bulbs.

They have only been running for about 2 days, should I expect them to burn in to a brighter white rather then this blue? Or do all 10,000K bulbs look this blue? I would try 6500Ks except they all seem to be 150w or 250w, not 175. Although I remember hearing that it is possible to run the MV 150s on a M57 MH ballast.

So, any ideas/advice on why they look so dim and blue? I am tempted to remove them and put the 5500Ks back in.

Perhaps someone can also help identify who's bulb they really are?

Thanks in advance!
Dieter

 

[Anonymous]

I only had one set of 10kk's that were blue, they were made by coralife, I think they quit making them about 5 years ago

That said, 5500k will look a LOT brighter than a 10k of the same wattage

 

[ADS]

Are you sure they are 10K German? Radiums(20K) are blue-ish and not as bright. It should say on bulb. AB 10K's are bright white.
Adam

 

[dkedrowitsch]

Nope, 10,000K. It says on the bulbs "MH 175 10K".

The boxes have a sticker that says "000000031156" "F55 0199 0001" "175W LAMP 10,000K" "(BEI)".

When looking into the bulb, I see diamond shaped metal thingies one on each end of the inner bulb.

 

[cdeakle]

Whats wrong with the blue? Personal preference?

I actually like more of a blue lighting setup. I have a 250 watt 20,000k XM with x2 65 watt ultra actinics, the more blue the better in my opinion.

Some bulbs do take a little time to burn into there true color and intensity but don't expect a dramatic change. Can you post pics of your tank with your current lighting?

 

[Anonymous]

Most bulbs are an approximate color temp. Many even list a disclaimer on the box saying that the colors of the bulbs may not be exactly the same. Even my 3 55k bulbs all show a little different. One is very white while the other two are a little yellowish.

That said, 10k bulbs are a bluish white light. However, it should look more white than blue.

 

[dkedrowitsch]

It's not the blue that bothers me so much, it's that it's so dim. My 5500s were easily twice as bright. The tank lit the whole room. Now it's as bright as say....my old T12 40W tubes.

 

[Anonymous]

The 55ks are probably a little brighter(noonday sun). But the 10ks and 20ks put off more than enough light for your corals. Many of those corals we keep will enjoy the blue wavelengths.

 

[dkedrowitsch]

I am going to borrow a digital camera later today and put up some pictures comparing the 5500K Ventures (approx 6 months old) to the German 10000Ks (new) so you all can see what I'm talking about. Maybe I'm just so used to seeing all my bright freshwater planted tanks that the dimmer blue ocean look doesn't look right to me.

I put the Ventures back in and I'll let them run a little this afternoon before taking the pictures of them so they are fully warmed up. They will be supplementeda with my 2x 32W Atinic 420s running on your standard run of the mill electronic T8 ballast. The Atinics will be on with the German 10000Ks too. I will also take pictures of just the MHs so you can see the difference without the Atinics influencing the color.

Keep an eye on this post for some pictures in a few hours!

 

[krullulon]

interestingly enough, my 250W 10k ushio isn't nearly blue enough for my tastes. it's too white with a slight touch of yellow (about 300 hours of burn time) and makes everything look washed-out and colorless IMO, even when coupled with my 250W of actinics. i much prefer the way everything looks after the MH goes out and it's just the actinics at night -- what looks brown and boring during the day looks neon and vibrant under blue light.

a friend of mine thinks the ushios are perfect in my tank and loves the way they make everything look...

crazy, i tell ya. 8)

 

[Unarce]

the dimmer blue ocean look doesn't look right to me.

I really got a kick out of reading that. I guess it doesn't matter that it's closer to the natural spectrum.

 

[dkedrowitsch]

reefnutz: You kina took my comment out of context. Compared to all my FW experience...it is FAR from the correct spectrum that I am used to. In my new SW environment, it may be perfect. I am just not used to looking at a very blue tank. I expected a 10000K bulb that is described as being white to not be nearly as blue as my atinics.

The pictures are on their way soon. Stand by.

 

[Unarce]

I know you're used to the FW lights. Again, it just sounded funny. Like the others suggested, the bluer the better.

 

[dkedrowitsch]

Ok, here are two pics. Not the best, this digital camera insists on trying to shift the color so all my blue damsels look purple. But it at least you can see the difference in intensity.

Also, it seems now that the lights have been on for two days the blueness is starting to turn into a more very "cold" white. So perhaps the bulbs are just needing a burn-in before shifting away from blue to more white.

Dieter

 

[Anonymous]

The reason it does not look as bright is because of the blue. A 10000k spectrum peaks more to the blue/violet end of the color spectrum than what the sun (6000ishK) our eyes have evolved to pick up on those frequencies the most, so your 5500k bulbs match your eye sight alot more than the 10000k bulbs which is why you get the brighter appearance, try looking at a blue/violet light bulb, it looks super dim, compare that to a regular light bulb of the same wattage, super bright in comparison (well mostly why).

But the photosynthetic creatures don't see it that way (atleast the deeper ocean ones you want, ie not algae) since its mostly blue light that gets filtered down through the water after so many feet. So with your 10000k bulbs you have more energy from that bulb making blue light, you see it as dimmer, but the algae in your corals etc, see it as brighter, and hence grow more (or burn )

 

[DK]

You have the "standard" 10k bulbs. The Ushio 10k bulbs are much whiter and you would probably prefer those. Champion Supply has their own form under Blueline with a 10k similar to the German color blue and a "white" 10k bulb similar to the Ushio.
Personally, I prefer the white also. looks more like the shallow part of a reef when diving

 

[dkedrowitsch]

Believe it or not, but during the last hour or so of the bulbs being on today I noticed them starting to shift to a little more of a very bright white then the blue. I could even tell when looking at them next to the Atinics. Before they looked just as blue, but now they look white compared to the atinics. Maybe some folks are right and they need a few days to settle in first.

Anyway I'm staring to feel a little better about them now that they seem to be turning a little whiter.

 

[mark78]

There is no "right" bulb color. Its mostly personal preferece.

 

[Anonymous]

Agreed.

 

[Unarce]

You both would be right in a sense, if you're referring to FO or FOWLR tanks. There would be no "right spectrum" for those systems. On the otherhand, it would be irresponsible to think that lighting is just personal preference when it comes to photosynthetic inverts and plants.

If Dieter plans on keeping photosynthetic inverts in his reef, than in this case, the blue spectrum would be the "right" one to use. I have the same concern that sfsuphysics has, in that personal preference may not be the right application in some instances. Sure, you might like the bright white look of the reef when you went snorkeling before lunch on your vacation, but corals are only exposed to that for a short period. It's also when photosynthetic energy is at it's lowest.

I don't want newbies to be misled by the earlier statements.