Best Kelvin Ratings for MH ballasts

[garth7]

What is the best bulb (in terms of kelvins) for a MN ballast? I am just now wanting to get into corals and have had saltwater fish for over 3 years. I foudn the following ballast on E-bay any ideas or suggestions??? Do I need actins with any bulbs?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7725590229&rd=1&sspagename=STRK:MEWA:IT&rd=1


Thanks a bunch guys and gals!!!!
Doug

 

[Brenden]

You can run 14k bulbs and will not need antics. 10k is best for corals but you will want to supplement it with antics. I run 14k bulbs in my fixtures. It is a good median. Be cautious of off brand equipment.

 

[fishfreek]

What your going to find is that when you ask something like 'best kelvin' your going to get many different answers because nearly everyone will have a unique view as to what they like best. I have a 20K XM bulb over my 20 gal and I like its color alot. I have no other lighting over the tank other than a single moon led.

Others will prefer 10K MH with actinic PC or VHO where as others will like something inbetween.

Then you have a wide array of visual color differances using the same specitrum bulb but different brands. This is most evident here. http://www.cnidarianreef.com/lamps.cfm

 

[greenmaji]

yea.. this is a loaded question.. lol
there are alot of oppinons on this one..
its been said that high light coarl and critters do best with 6500K but its known to be very yellow (needing a good punch of 03 to hide it if you dont like it) 10,000K being better then the higher K's.. the lower the Kelvin the more PAR/light the bulbs put out most generaly..
other then that its a matter of preferance with the color of the light.. alot of SW aquarist really dig alot of blue.. Ive seen 20,000K and they have put out a new 50,000K bulb and people suplementing that with lots of 03.. how fast the coarls grow compared to lower K's I wouldnt know but man that would be blue if not purple.. LOL

 

[DragonForce]

I personally picked a 10k bulb with some actinic to give it a nice blue finish and I also hear you want 6500k for maximum coral growth. For me 6500k was way to yellow. Even the 10k is fairly yellow. I think next go around I might pick a 14k or a 12k. The coralvue 12k looks really nice.

 

[garth7]

Yeah I have read that the 10,000 is better for coral growh and the 20000 has the look appeal. I will maybe have to see about getting some actins to go with this kit.

What did you think of this guy's ebay price? I didnt know if this is worth the money or not.


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7725590229&rd=1&sspagename=STRK:MEWA:IT&rd=1


Doug

 

[fishfreek]

Overall it looks good to me. The person has a large rating on them with lots of positives. The ballst box is going to be large because it will contain two ballasts within the same box.

 

[DragonForce]

That looks like a great price to me. I spent about 130 bucks on building my own setup so that looks like a great deal. I really wouldn't go with the 10k unless you are going to give a decent punch of actinic.

 

[garth7]

I was thinking about the 14000K bulb on this set up. The light wont look as yellow. I was also going to add some actin pc's or vho later.

doug

 

[Brenden]

Do not know if you got my PM or not but I found you a price of $305 for two 250w coralvue retro kits including shipping.

 

[garth7]

Yeah I got that pm. Thanks for doing that by the way. I just got a little too hasty when I seen the ebay auction. Won't the250 watt burn up the tank though? There was someone else looking for new lighting. I forgot who it was they may be interested.

 

[greenmaji]

what size tank garth7?

 

[garth7]

This is a 55gal long. I hope I did the right thing. I got the 14k bulbs.

 

[Brenden]

You will be fine. If you decide you do not like it a different bulb is not much.

 

[Phyl]

I have the CoralVue 14ks over my display. There is a ReefSomething bulb out by CV that is supposed to do AMAZING things for the colors of SPS. The lower the (6500) K the better the growth, worse the coral coloring. The higher the (20K) K the better the color, slower the growth. I think I would like the ReefSomething bulbs (10k, I think, but they are kinda blue as I recall) with actinics if necessary. The coral colors using this thing are nothing short of STUNNING.

 

[MT79]

There is a ReefSomething bulb out by CV that is supposed to do AMAZING

I have a pair of Coral Vue "Reeflux" 10K's-I LOVE them! They are alot brighter( about 35% more PAR) than the 14k's I had and the color is still pleasing to the eye-especially w/ actinics. My corals are loving them as much as me- the blues and purples really pop w/ these lamps.

 

[Brenden]

MT79: They only offer that bulb in a mogul base correct? I was debating on going to 10k from 14k. I currently have 14k mogul but they are being replaced with sun replicator 14k's. I was debating on changing to 10k

 

[MT79]

I'm not sure if CV makes DE "Reeflux" lamps or not. Darin at captivereefs.com got my set for me. I'm sure if you post in his forum he could help you out-the 6% discount he gives AA.com members helps too lol. As I said I like these much more than the 14K's.

 

[Brenden]

My current coralvue retros came from darin.

 

[MT79]

My current coralvue retros came from darin

I have the same kit. CV lamps work best by far on CV ballast for whatever reason. Looks like your set if you go w/ the "Reeflux" lamps!