MH bulbs

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pipermurphy

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Mar 24, 2003
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Mtns of Denver, CO
I just purchased two retro's for 175W MH lamps with ballasts. I am looking through some vendors websites and am confused about the various types and varieties of bulbs.
First off my tank is a 75gal that is 36" deep with a 5" sand bed it has 2 clowns, a scooter blenny, a cleaner shrimp& a bunch of hermits and snails. There is also 100+ lbs of LR, with some growth showing. I have just reg flour now. and am planning on mainly soft corals. The lamps I bought are mogul base.
-Are German made Ushio the best?
-what about the K spectrum? There are all over the range, what is diff between 10K+ and 20K? vs. a less K bulb?
-colors; I have seen white, crisp white, bluw/white, blue, yellow, whats better?

Any and all help would be greatly appreciated as always.
 
there are many different kinds of bulbs out there. i personally use a sunburst 12K but i will be upgrading to either a 6500K or a 10K as someone suggested to me the other night. the main difference in Kelvin or K is the color of the light. a 4700K bulb will be VERY yellow. the 6500K are still a little yellow but not as bad. now the 10000K are known to be a lot crisper white color, the 12K which i have is in my opinion too blue, which means the 20K is even more blue. now the best suggestion i can give you is go onto like marine depot site and look at the different bulbs b/c they have pictures of allot of different bulbs and their colors. i would say pick the one that is the most pleasing to your eyes.
i would suggest you pick either one of two things:
1. pick a bulb with a higher kelvin scale like the 10K or above
or
2. Pick a bulb with a lower K (10K or below) and supplement it with some actinics which will not only benefit your coral growth but it will also make the yellow bulbs appear a little more blue.
 
I'm wondering if the tank depth was a typo? 36" is pretty deep and I don't thing a 175 will do much there. A 400w would be marginal. Typical 75g size is 48"x18"x18". I like the 10k color although I use PC instead of MH. I have had PC bulbs that were 6500k and I didn't like the effect much. 10k with PC or VHO actinic looks great.
Logan J
 
First off my tank is a 75gal that is 36" deep

That is awful deep for a 75g. You probably should have gone for 400 watters, IMO 175W won't light a 36" deep tank very well. But if that's what you got...I would probably go with 10Ks (I like Ushios, although I plan on trying the Aqualine Bucshkes next year) or 6500K Iwasakis with plenty of actinic supplamentation. Possibly a couple of 96W PC "true" actinics, or VHO actinics.


-Are German made Ushio the best?

This is totally a matter of opinion, while there are obviously better bulbs in the same spectrum than others, you can't go wrong with Iwasaki, Ushio, Aqualine Bucshke or Hamilton.

-colors; I have seen white, crisp white, bluw/white, blue, yellow, whats better?

This really depends on what your keeping, corals that are found closer to the surface are gonna benefit more from a lower Kelvin bulb, while deeper water corals are going to be better suited to a higher K rating. There is also anecdotal evidence that the 6500K Iwasakis provide better growth rates (in SPS coral) than higher K rated bulbs, but the higher K rating promotes better color.
 
First off my tank is a 75 gal that is 36" deep

Yes I am a dummy, I meant 36" long (left to right) and 16" deep.

Now would placing these 2 lamps evenly 1 @ 10" from the left and the other 10 " from the right towards the back of the tank (where my LR is). In your opinion would using these 2 - 10K Ushio blulbs along with 2 actinic fluores bulbs,1 in front and 1 behind the MH work?
 
I meant 36" long (left to right) and 16" deep.

Is this a custom tank? You lost me...

In your opinion would using these 2 - 10K Ushio blulbs along with 2 actinic fluores bulbs,1 in front and 1 behind the MH work?

Very common setup and widely used in that manner....
 
Each bulb is good for about 2ft square, so I would center the bulds, from front to back and if the tank is 36" long, 9"-10" from each end. You want the small bulb inside the protective casing in these locations. Your gonna want the bulbs 8"-10" from the surface of the water.
 
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