Halide Q & A
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Hello,
I purchased a 37g column system over a year ago that has a 175w light on it with 2 55w PC actinics. I know it's time to change the bulbs, but I don't know anything about MH. The bulb that's in there is stamped MH 175W/U/14k. Other than that, I have no idea what brand it is or anything like that. Personally, I think the color of the tank is too blue. I tried to swap out one of the actinics with a 50/50 bulb, but that looked too yellow and I lost a lot of the red color in there. So I was wondering if changing the bulb to a 20k and then trying one or both 50/50 would make a difference? Or just give me your advice as to what to put in there. I have access to Ushio, Blueline, XM, AB, SPS and Iwasaki bulbs. Please help! Thanks. Should also say that I went to Sanjay's site, but as I don't know anything about MH, couldn't make sense of it really. I know my bulb is single ended, but no clue what DE, SE, etc is. Shielded, unshielded, how to tell? |
i have a 4' long 20"deep 18" wide aquarium, have been running a 400 watt single ended MH with xm 10000k bulb about 16" off the water the reflector is just your run of the mill reflector. have been able to keep xenia, hammer coral, shrooms, zoos, etc., but having a hard time with sps have lost a lot of frags. too much light, not enough, or something else? water params test ideal. Have 2 koralia 4s on opposite sides as well as a maxi1200 with rotator and my return, i think i have flow covered as far as i can tell. your help is very much appreciated.
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use a 10000k bulb more like natural sunlight not the cool blue color
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I have heard that the depth of water will cause a bulb to loose its strength. Will a 150 watt 10000ºK HQI double ended metal halide bulb be efficient enough to keep a mixed reef in a tank that is 24" deep?
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10K bulbs are great for growth, but are terrible for color. The best color temps for a good mix of growth and color are the 14K and 15K, if you are going for colors that really pop and enhance the fluorescence you would want to use 20K bulbs. Same for actinics, if you want color that pops then you would want a mix of 420nm and 460nm actinics, the 50/50 and daylight bulbs add more white light in the 10K - 12K range. It all really depends on personal preference and what corals you are keeping. Another thing to consider is that the type and brand of ballast also makes a huge difference in the actual color temp produced. There are a tn of threads on here to learn about Halide lighting, do a search for Sanjay and Lighting.
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If you're not sure about the color you want and have a little extra cash try this. There are some very inexpensive bulbs available on ebay, about $20.00 shipped. You can experiement with them for color ideas and then go from there. There are threads about pros and cons of these bulbs, but just to try them for color and then go to more expensive bulbs.
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I dont know, I have been kind of strayed away from MHs. In the long run they are expensive but the best. I prefer T5s to halides but thats just me.
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I prefer MH over T-5,so far I see MH is the closest thing to natural sunlight that coral on the wild are growing under.
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t5 or mh
have used all forms of lighting over 22 yrs and mh has given me the best results by far you can get the most standard ballast and sockets that are now fairly inexpensive to maintain of course after the initial bank robbery first setup.
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These is some sort of lighting they use in the warehouse and on the street that look very similar to MH for aquarium,I wonder if they use similar magnetic ballast?
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trial en error.
You're going to be watching your corals closely to see what the appropriate height your lighting should be.... depends a lot on each coral and your water clarity, type of substrate, black painted back panel, etc... every tank will have different factors playing into the correct configuration so you might as well take a weekend and don't stop fiddling until everything looks happy. |
thanks everyone
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well i am unsure, but black usually absorbs light. so i would guess with lots of black background you would loose some of the light that is bouncing around in your tank. my back is blue though.
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i have got to upgrade my lights. my question is this... why would i choose 400w MH over 250w? i've selected my pendants (2), ballasts and bulbs but haven't decided on the wattage. ideally, i want lights that will support anything i decide to put in the tank. i have my eye on a couple of clams and i really like the LPS corals. so... 250 or 400? what's the general consensus????
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i think the deciding factor is probably the depth of your tank. anything over 30" deep you will probably want to go to 400 watts, and if you have a 48" long tank like i do you will probably want two, i only have one, and am starting to think about getting another.
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standard 48"x24"x24" 120 gal. yes, either way i'm getting 2 lights. i don't think 1 will provide adequate coverage
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this is true, i personally keep my sps kinda centrally located at present and my lps and finally softies as you move away from center. i also have anemones which i thought liked brighter light and they hang out on the outskirts and are quite happy. works really well for a mixed reef i think.
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I am sure that some light will be reflected back into the aquarium by the glass sides, most of it must escape otherwise i dont think we would be able to see inside the tank. As for the black back i dont think it would make much difference if it was painted on the outside of the glass as the photons would interact with the glass before the paint. If the back was colored with acrylic i am sure it would absorb more light than if it were clear. thats my 2cents |
I changed my light configuration from 2x150W MH 14000k plus 2xt5 antics
. to 2x150w MH10000k plus 4t5s (2x antic and 2x11000k) The color is crap but the corals LOVED IT, and started growing like crazy (SPS dominated tank) and from what i read so far 10k is the most natural temp........... and then i read that: http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2008/12/aafeature1#h1 What do you think??? I am back to where i started although my tank seems to disagree... What do you think?? |
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