Best color MH temp for growth if you don't care about looks?

[dannieboiz]

I'm putting a 175w MH in my stand above the sump. My sump is going to have a frag chamber and one for a fuge.

What's the best color temp if I just wanted everything to grow like they're on steroids?

[bertoni]

If the corals want a lot of light, the Iwasaki 250 W 6500 K bulbs with good reflectors are hard to beat.

[dannieboiz]

I'm only going to use 175w.... the water level is only 12" high, the entire sump is 18" high, the lights is going to be mounted 16" above the water level

what about 3000k bulbs?

[beyondx4]

MH fixtures down in the sump? Wouldn't you be at risk for a fire?

[dannieboiz]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7873849#post7873849 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by beyondx4
MH fixtures down in the sump? Wouldn't you be at risk for a fire?

No, it's no difference than having the MH over your tank if you think about it.

[Steven Pro]

Aqualine-Buschke and Ushio have high PAR 175 watt lamps.

[dannieboiz]

but what is the best TEMP. color for coral growth? I've seen MH bulbs going down to 5500k or some 3000k. Since it's going to be under the sump, it doesn't have to be some high end bulb or anything. I can always lower the lights down to 6" above the water if needed.

[theatrus]

For Corals, probably 10k, such as the XM10k. Some SPS corals will lose coloration and brown out under such light though. But they'll grow fast :)

[dannieboiz]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7874265#post7874265 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by theatrus
For Corals, probably 10k, such as the XM10k. Some SPS corals will lose coloration and brown out under such light though. But they'll grow fast :)

You've brought up a very important factor here. Since the frag tank is going to share the same water as the display just different lighting, this is a good chance to test my 250 HQI 10k XM with VHO and T5 sup,

I think I'll do that, i've always had good experience with XM bulbs. I may even venture into a 5500k or a 6500k bulb just for fun.