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best m.h bulb for sps
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I had problems with Sunburst, mechanically and result wise. The bulbs just didn't produce good color.
I'm using Blueline bulbs and am very happy with the color of the light and the corals, however I've had 1 defective one, and 1 shatter in the last 8 months - I woke up this morning to the broken bulb. I'm going to give the Ushio's a try next and see how those do. I hear they are pretty good, and have a higher PAR output than alot of other bulbs in the 250W range.
I'm using Blueline bulbs and am very happy with the color of the light and the corals, however I've had 1 defective one, and 1 shatter in the last 8 months - I woke up this morning to the broken bulb. I'm going to give the Ushio's a try next and see how those do. I hear they are pretty good, and have a higher PAR output than alot of other bulbs in the 250W range.
I've used 250 watt HQI DE 10K's, 400 watt Iwaskai's, 400 watt 10K's and 400 watt 20K Radiums...
If I had to use just one I would use the 20K (for now).... I use 3 bulbs over my 150 and have used all the bulbs listed above in different combo's . I feel that 2x400 watt 20K with a 400 10K in the middle gives me the best results, overall.
If I had to use just one I would use the 20K (for now).... I use 3 bulbs over my 150 and have used all the bulbs listed above in different combo's . I feel that 2x400 watt 20K with a 400 10K in the middle gives me the best results, overall.
Louey":pjakis8v said:Would a tank lit with 400W 20K radiums be good for SPS? Say, one bulb every two feet of tank length. Would you need supplemental actinics with the radiums. Anyone know how this looks. Sorry, but I've never personally seen a tank lit this way.
Louey
Louey,
Most of the guys I know here in the So Cal area run just the 400 watt Radiums on the their SPS tanks. Some people feel these lights are too blue, some don't. The Ballast has a little to do with the way these bulbs look. Also, some people see colors a little different then others
Hey Bar,
I have used just about every spectrum of mh's, but in my opininion iwasaki 6500 is the best. The color of the Iwasaki might be a little yellow but in truth it put's out a lot of blue light although not visible to the human eye. I have also noted the accelerated growth of my sps corals w/ the Iwasaki. Lastly and more importantly, the iwasaki's high light output stimulates my sps's to change to beautiful bright vibrant colors (ex. red acro's w green tips, blue gemifera's, a red tabletop w/ baby blue tips, and etc. etc.). In conclusion if you want natural bright color sps's not ones enhanced by light w/ blacklight quality, go w/ the Iwasaki.
PS. they also cost less and last twice as long.
Tom
I have used just about every spectrum of mh's, but in my opininion iwasaki 6500 is the best. The color of the Iwasaki might be a little yellow but in truth it put's out a lot of blue light although not visible to the human eye. I have also noted the accelerated growth of my sps corals w/ the Iwasaki. Lastly and more importantly, the iwasaki's high light output stimulates my sps's to change to beautiful bright vibrant colors (ex. red acro's w green tips, blue gemifera's, a red tabletop w/ baby blue tips, and etc. etc.). In conclusion if you want natural bright color sps's not ones enhanced by light w/ blacklight quality, go w/ the Iwasaki.
PS. they also cost less and last twice as long.
Tom
thanks you all for the answers.
i know that iwasaki have the higher PAR from all the other.
and i realy like to try the iwasaki.
right now i have 14000k bulb and the color is very nice
im afraid that when i will buy the iwasaki the color of my tank
will be yellow/green even if i use actinic.
what should i do ?
i know that iwasaki have the higher PAR from all the other.
and i realy like to try the iwasaki.
right now i have 14000k bulb and the color is very nice
im afraid that when i will buy the iwasaki the color of my tank
will be yellow/green even if i use actinic.
what should i do ?
I run the 250w Iwasaki over my 29g with only normal actinics. Without the actinics there is definately a yellow tint. I would have preferred VHO supplementation to take even more of the yellow out.
My preference to tank lighting is white more than blue though. So, my next project is going to use the Ushio 250w. My LFS has both the Ushio and Radiums over tanks and I don't prefer the 20k look. It's almost too dark for my taste and thats the 400 watters. But, that's all personal preference IMO.
If you go the Iwasaki route I would definately recommend Actinics to go with it.
My preference to tank lighting is white more than blue though. So, my next project is going to use the Ushio 250w. My LFS has both the Ushio and Radiums over tanks and I don't prefer the 20k look. It's almost too dark for my taste and thats the 400 watters. But, that's all personal preference IMO.
If you go the Iwasaki route I would definately recommend Actinics to go with it.
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