MH Bulbs

[Kristall-99]

Got A question for you Metal Halide people. I was at a lighting store and they swore up and down that hortilux was the way to go. Their reasoning was that these bulbs had a better impact in the blue/green spectral range than the regular MH bulbs. Just wondering what kind of bulbs you guys used and the price you got them for.

Thanks
Kristall

 

[dezso]

This is the one I'm using now
400W 400 watt HQI 14000K DE Fc2 Metal Halide Bulb 14K
in this fixture..

Hamilton Technology ReefStar Metal Halide Pendants, 1X400W 14K HQI

The first bulb was gone in 8 month, I try to change it once a year unless dies before that

 

[thincat]

HPS (high power sodium) bulbs of Hortilux seems to only come in 4,200k and 3,000k 400watts and 1,000watt units. These would do well for growing plants but the K value is much to low for corals, anemones and clams.. They would also put out lots of heat.

 

[melosu58]

Moved to the General hardware and equipment discussion forum.

 

[ryshark]

HPS (high power sodium) bulbs of Hortilux seems to only come in 4,200k and 3,000k 400watts and 1,000watt units. These would do well for growing plants but the K value is much to low for corals, anemones and clams.. They would also put out lots of heat.

I agree you do not want these for your saltwter tank. In addition to what Thincat already said, those colors he mentioned (4200k and 3000k) would be way to yellow green looking. They told you that they would be good in the "blue" range, I doubt that. Depending on your tank dimesions, look into 150watt, 175watt or 250watt MH bulbs which are for saltwater aquariums. Look here for examples Metal Halide Bulbs

 

[Kristall-99]

hortilux 250 watt metal halide - Google Product Search

I agree they dont show a kelvin rating which was why i was asking about them. But i linked some 250watt MH hortilux.

RyShark - Do you have any preference on which bulb you like?

 

[ryshark]

hortilux 250 watt metal halide - Google Product Search

I agree they dont show a kelvin rating which was why i was asking about them. But i linked some 250watt MH hortilux.

RyShark - Do you have any preference on which bulb you like?

I think it depends on what coral you want to keep and what color is appealing to your eyes. For 250-watt, I prefer the Radiums for Single Ended bulbs and the Phoenix for Double Ended bulbs.

 

[ccCapt]

Hortilux bulbs are made by Iwasaki. They are TOP quality bulbs, but because of the color spectrum, are more suited for freshwater planted tanks.

1 of the best performing 250w MH bulb is the Iwasaki 6500K. The only problem is the bulb will make everything look quite yellow. You would need alot of actinic supplementation.

6500k 250W Iwasaki Single Ended Bulb - English

As a comparison, these are the results of a few different bulbs when using an electronic ballast.
The Iwasaki 6500k puts out 110 PPFD (a measure of PAR).
The Radium puts out 66 PPFD.
The Phoenix 10K SE puts out 94 PPFD, and the Phoenix 14K DE is 73 PPFD.

 

[ryshark]

Hortilux bulbs are made by Iwasaki. They are TOP quality bulbs, but because of the color spectrum, are more suited for freshwater planted tanks.

1 of the best performing 250w MH bulb is the Iwasaki 6500K. The only problem is the bulb will make everything look quite yellow. You would need alot of actinic supplementation.

6500k 250W Iwasaki Single Ended Bulb - English

As a comparison, these are the results of a few different bulbs when using an electronic ballast.
The Iwasaki 6500k puts out 110 PPFD (a measure of PAR).
The Radium puts out 66 PPFD.
The Phoenix 10K SE puts out 94 PPFD, and the Phoenix 14K DE is 73 PPFD.

Thanks Cccapt, thats one thing people need to know is that PAR is much more important than watts per gallon. I didn't know that Phoenix made a 10k SE bulb??? I may try the SE 14k because I don't have a ton of supplemental actinic. Thats another reason why I like the Radiums, you don't need actinic. But with those PAR levels you listed for the SE Phoenix, I will need to raise my Lumenarcs/canopy. Even my Radiums are tough to keep coral up top. But my bulb is only 6" from the water surface.

 

[Kristall-99]

well it seems i might hafta go with a radium/pheonix bulb as i dont have a T5 ballast for actinic bulbs

Is anyone able to throw a few links of some good quality SE bulbs in the 14k-20k range.

Now that were talking more color. Has anyone looked into the 22k SE bulb b megachrome. Does a higher Kelvin rating do anything to coral growth or is it mainly looks

 

[ryshark]

well it seems i might hafta go with a radium/pheonix bulb as i dont have a T5 ballast for actinic bulbs

Is anyone able to throw a few links of some good quality SE bulbs in the 14k-20k range.

Now that were talking more color. Has anyone looked into the 22k SE bulb b megachrome. Does a higher Kelvin rating do anything to coral growth or is it mainly looks

The higher the K typically the slower the growth and the more blue color. Since you have no actinic and a SE set up, I would highly recommend going with the Radiums. They are a nice crisp white with just enough blue color on my Galaxy Electronic ballast. I know the 14k DE Phoenix looks pretty much just crisp white and looks better with actinic. Go to my build thread to see the growth I am getting with Radiums. Check the last few pages of it you will see my Pink Lemonade Acro, a monti and a Garf Bonsai Acro.