Single 400w MH

[Walter Costa]

Hi everybody;

I was wondering witch bulb would be better for a single 400w MH system. No HO, T5 or any kind of complements.

I'll be using the new Lumenbright pendant.

The display wil be 40 x 32 x 21 and mainly SPS.

I was going toward XM 20k or Radium 20k but would like to gather some opinions and photographs if possible.

Thanks

[DT's_Reef]

Imo, a 400w radium with a Galaxy ballast is the way to go. With a lumenbright reflector, you'll get tons of light, especially for a tank only 21" tall.

Bulb choice usually comes down to:

1. How blue do you like it, or
2. How white/bright do you like it (with a chunk of blue too)

My recommendation is based on the assumption that you like the "bright white with a good hunk of blue" look. A Galaxy ballast/Radium combo will do the trick. It will overdrive the normally 360w bulb to about 430 watts. I'd change the bulb every 6 months.

If you use a ballast that drives it "correctly" at about 360w, then it won't be as bright and will look more blue....and last longer.

For me it has been exceedingly difficult to find a bulb that I'm happy with, but the Radium/Galaxy ballast hits it on the head. I don't have my new system set-up yet so I don't have any pictures. I did however hold the lighting over my existing tank just to see how it looked and it was perfect.

If the above bulb/ballast combo were not available to me, I'd probably go with a 10k Aqualine bulb with a TON of VHO actinic. Love it, but who wants to hassle with all those bulbs/tubes.

[Walter Costa]

yea, that's the problem. The way I want to set it up, a canopy will ruin the whole aesthetic idea.

That is why I am looking for a single MH solution.

Never thought on using galaxy ballast, maybe a good idea. I was going with IC.

What do you think about XM 20k?

[DT's_Reef]

You could probably find a decent number of XM 20k 400w SE pics if you search a bit.

I found a pic of a 20k radium in this thread. Very nice.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1519266&highlight=400w

[grigsy]

It depends a bit on the ballast you have or are going to use. If you have an M59 magnetic ballast, I would suggest the Hamilton 400 watt 14K bulb. Great color.

If you have an electronic ballast, I would suggest the Radium.

[Walter Costa]

Thanks for the reply.

I will try to search, but is hard to get just the MH colors.

Couldn't find any comparisons as well

[Walter Costa]

Anyone else?

[kirstenk]

The 12K Reeflux would be nice. I used XM 20K's for a long time and the switch to the Reeflux made the tank brighter while still having the nice blue appearance, no yellow.

[Walter Costa]

Hey kirstenk, do you use it with no actinics complements? Any picts?

[Walter Costa]

Enyone? Help here please!

[kirstenk]

Actinics are not necessary imo. I already had them and felt they were necessary when running the 20K. Now, I use them for added pop.

Here is a link to an article on the LumenBright reflectors and I think there are pics with the Reeflux bulbs. HTH

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-06/review/index.php

[BreadmanMike]

400w Radium on a Galaxy ballast gets my vote. :)

[AJDuran]

I'm doing the same one 400w over 36"x36"x24 i will be using a lumenbright reflector i have a 12k reflux on the coralvue ballast i like the color when i test fired it tank not up yet though