Best MH Bulbs

Bacchus_fl

Bacchus_fl

New member
I am currently running 400W Mogul Based XM 15K. I am thinking of going with 20Ks and Atinic VHOs. There are obviously allot of brands to choose from though.

Not sure what everybody else is running as far as brand. XM are the least expensive which has its advantages but I also want to optimize my growth and colors.

Any Suggestions?
 
I don't have mine up and running yet, but am Running the Hamilton 14k's. Donovan (Juice) wrote up a small review on the orca site, I will try to see if I can find it.
 
To my eyesight personally 20k bulbs with actinic VHOs are a bit too blue but thats really a personal preference.

When I set up my 125g if I stick with MH (contemplating saying screw it and getting LED lights) I'd probably do 10ks with actinic VHOs just for the sake of having the whiter spectrum for growth and the vhos would also pop the color.

I think waterfaller has a tank with lights that are similar like that - whiter MHs with blue actinics and I think it looks lovely.

The super blue tanks just distort color too much for me is all but it could very well just be my eyesight and preference.
 
What are you looking for MORE? Growth or (for lack of a better term) pop or maybe colorful corals.. IMO on the whole 10k (or 5500k) and actinics get a better growth long term. The higher spectrum bulbs seem to produce a more colorful coral. As for brand names...I have used and really like the Coralvue product...especially the Reeflux bulbs . Again , just my opinion
 
I am looking for MORE growth becuase I have some frags I would like to grow up a bit. At the same time I am looking for more color. I was having problems with my corals browning out. Now I have my water parameters in line so I am sure the color will come back but I would like to help it out. They have already started to get their color back a little bit.

I am running a standard PFO ballast.

I will definitely check out your links as well. Hopefully they will help me decide on brand.
 
i would check with lazaro torres (sp) and daddy jax i think they are really happy with reeflux.
im running xm 20ks thinking of switching to the reeflux 10ks though because of the peek in the 450nm range.
 
Well based on what Donovan posted the Hamilton 14K or the Aqualine 10K are the best choices.

I tried looking them up on your link Pacific Reef but I don't understand how to read all of that yet.

I would like to know though if you feel like explaining.

Thanks
 
Hey Jason
I use Hamilton 14K and I experience great color with moderate growth. 10K's will give faster growth with some loss of color unless actinic supplementation is added.
I have tried XM, Coralvue, Reefgroand others but find the Hamilton tried and true with good life expectancy. Ready for some frags and phyto yet?
Good Luck
George
 
If you are going to run VHOs anyway then go for the 10K they will give you the most growth and the best PAR. PPFD is a measure of Photosynthetically Available Radiation abbreviated as PAR. So you want to select a bulb with the highest par. SE is single ended Mogul. And a standard 400w Magnetic ballast is coded as a M59. Thus you need a bulb that has a built in igniter in order to fire the bulb on your ballast. Most German bulbs do NOT have the built in igniter (Radium, Geisemann, Ushio, Aqualine Buschke). So you have to stick with other brands like XM, Coralvue, Reeflux, Hamilton, EVC, etc.

Also make sure you have a good phosphate remover. Some of the Phosphate tests are not 100% accurate. Phosphates in the water could lead to corals browning out. I had a problem with this!

Here is a good link to a thread that Sanjay wrote on lighting. If you have time I would skim through it until you see some comments on the bulbs you are looking at. I was in the same boat when looking for a bulb. They are all so different.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=590771

Good luck,
Tom
 
I just replaced my 250w Ushio 10k's with 400w XM 20k's. I'm extremely happy with the result. I had tried XM 20k's in the 250w, but it wasn't bright enough, so I went back with the 10k's. Unfortunately I only have room for 2 VHO's, so I wasn't able to really blast the tank with Actinic supplementation, and this caused a lot of my corals to look brown.

I was really happy yesterday when I fired up the 400's, the 20k's looked awesome! And you can't argue that XM is the best bang for the buck!
 
From what I understand, 14k's are almost the same efficiency as 20k's, which overall is not great in comparison to 10k's. 10K is the way to go if you want growth. the color will be a little less than the 14K or 20K, but I think it is well-worth it. You still get great colors, just sometimes not as deep. If you're running VHO also, then 10K is what I would use if I had the money to switch right now. I am using 14K XM and a 15K Phoenix and they are great lights, but again, I don't see the growth like I would with 10K.
 
Thanks for the explanation Pacific Reef. I did add a phosphate reactor and Phosban GFO media. My PO4 is still a little higher than I wanted but not critical like it was. I have reduced my feeding so hopefully that will be enough to get me below .03.

I also only have room for 2 VHOs so I am worried that I won't get enough Atinic to color up my corals with the 10Ks. I like the idea of going with the Hamilton 14Ks but the PPFD value is almost half of the 10Ks. I know this probably sounds really stupid but Does that mean my corals would growth almost half as fast?

Also George I am definitely ready for some phyto but I am going to wait until I get my water quality and lighting where I want them before I add anymore corals.
 
Well the good news is that the Hamilton 14K is almost twice as much par in the 400w version for your ballast than if you ran the Hamilton 14K in a 250w ballast. So it is almost the same par as running a 10K on a 250w ballast. Since you have a 125g according to your sig. I'm guessing its about 24" tall? That should be enough light to keep clams really happy on the bottom too.

Most people like Chris for example jump to a 400w ballast when they add more blue to the bulb such as a 20K to help regain lost PAR. I forgot one last link for you that shows pictures!!:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=254667

If I could add my 2cents, I would say any bulb on a 400w ballast with that tank depth will give you good growth.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10675382#post10675382 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Pacific Reefs
Well the good news is that the Hamilton 14K is almost twice as much par in the 400w version for your ballast than if you ran the Hamilton 14K in a 250w ballast. So it is almost the same par as running a 10K on a 250w ballast. Since you have a 125g according to your sig. I'm guessing its about 24" tall? That should be enough light to keep clams really happy on the bottom too.

Most people like Chris for example jump to a 400w ballast when they add more blue to the bulb such as a 20K to help regain lost PAR. I forgot one last link for you that shows pictures!!:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=254667

If I could add my 2cents, I would say any bulb on a 400w ballast with that tank depth will give you good growth.
Click to expand...



Awesome link, thanks btw.
 
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