MH bulb recommendation for 400 watt SE

[hopper]

I am planning on swapping out my dual 175 MH's for dual 400 watt MH's on my 110 gal. Currently I have Ushio 10K bulbs supplemented by 65 watt dual actinics. This combo gives off a very nice color and I have been well pleased with it. However the SPS bug has hit and I need to upgrade. I am planning on getting electronic ballasts and would like a bulb recommendation that will go well with the actinics that I have. I like the crisp white with a little blue to keep the brightness down and to help with the color of the SPS. Something with a high Par for the corals in addition to the color would work nicely.

[Jeremy B.]

Hi,

You might seriously consider the 14k/15k 175w Iwasaki. This bulb is a true 14k-15k, very crisp ice white, with no yellow and the very smalles hint of blue. The reason I recommend this lamp is that if you compare a 14k 400w Hamilton, which is going to be a little bluer than this bulb, you actually get more par from the 175w setup, at far less power consumption and much less heat output.

Now if you are wanting something more blue than that Iwasaki then you will most likely need to step up to a 250w setup, or even a 400w setup. If you're set on going with the 400w setup there really is no bulb out there that will give you better sps coloration in my opinion than a 400w Radium lamp. You will get really decent growth rates, and amazing coloration. Don't let the 20k label fool you on the Radium either, even when running on an electronic ballast it is not an overwhelmingly blue lamp.

If you have any questions let me know.

Thanks,
Jeremy