Coral coloration

[mjstover]

in a 20 gal tank. Will there be a big difference in coloration of corals switching from a 150 xm to a 250 xm. I am thinking about making the switch thats why I ask

 

[o.c.d.]

Changing the Kalvin in your bulb will change the look of the corals changing the watts will give more light penitration.You may burn your corals that are used to 150w.I went from 150w to T5s and the coloring was really different,but I had 14 bulbs to adjust to watever look I wanted. what is the Kalvin on the bulbs your running?

 

[mjstover]

right now it is a 14k I am going to change it to a 20 i think... not sure... I was also thinking about just adding maybe a T5 actinic. Would that help at all to bring out those really nice growth tip colors.

 

[mjstover]

I also though that the more intence the light the more colors you will bring out

 

[mjstover]

would it be a good Idea to add T5 and go to a 20k. Will this bring out the brighter colors

 

[mcneilwh]

I went from 14ks to 20ks and am now at 12Ks. 250w. After reading through all of the tanks of the month, I decided that the tanks with Reeflux 12ks had the color that I wanted. I had some Hamilton 14ks that came with the fixtures, but did not appear to be the same bulb type and must have been switched at the store. Some of the corals were stressed so I switched to Ushio 20ks. The blues and the greens came out but the growth was slowed way down for the red and yellow corals. I then switched to the Reeflux 12ks and I am really happy with the results. I now get good color and great growth for all color corals.

The amazing thing is that the Ushio 20ks and Reeflux 12k look almost exactly the same color to my eyes.

 

[mille239]

I second the reeflux 12k's!!!!! excellent color and growth.

oops. sorry to hijack. if you are just switching intensity and not temperature, can yuo raise the new fixture up to say 15" above the tank and slowly lower it a little at a time over a month or so? that would be the best way to acclimate your corals to the more intense lighting.

 

[MeuserReef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11409571#post11409571 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mcneilwh
I went from 14ks to 20ks and am now at 12Ks. 250w. After reading through all of the tanks of the month, I decided that the tanks with Reeflux 12ks had the color that I wanted. I had some Hamilton 14ks that came with the fixtures, but did not appear to be the same bulb type and must have been switched at the store. Some of the corals were stressed so I switched to Ushio 20ks. The blues and the greens came out but the growth was slowed way down for the red and yellow corals. I then switched to the Reeflux 12ks and I am really happy with the results. I now get good color and great growth for all color corals.

The amazing thing is that the Ushio 20ks and Reeflux 12k look almost exactly the same color to my eyes.

What type of ballast (magnetic vs. electronic) are you running your Reeflux 12Ks on? I have the PHX 14K 150s on my 30 now but am looking at the 12K Reeflux 250's on my new 90.

 

[mille239]

I am running mine on ARO electronic ballasts.

 

[mcneilwh]

Hamilton manufactured units which I believe are magnetic. I went with the Hamilton’s because of the dimpled reflectors to minimize hot spots, which I still have and the corals love them. I also went with double ended. I read something a while back about double ended 250w putting out the same light as 400w single ended. I don't have a light meter but I know that my tank looks just as bright with two 250w double ended as another reefer with two 400w single ended using the same 12k Reeflux. As a bonus I just use two 4in fans to cool controlled by my Neptune controller. Even during the summer the Neptune controller only turned off the lights about 5 times, and the temp never went above 80F with the house temp set at 74F. Now in the winter with the house set at 68F the tank barely makes it above 79F with only a single fan on for about 4 hours. This is for a fully enclosed canopy.

 

[2thdeekay]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11409571#post11409571 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mcneilwh
I went from 14ks to 20ks and am now at 12Ks. 250w. After reading through all of the tanks of the month, I decided that the tanks with Reeflux 12ks had the color that I wanted. I had some Hamilton 14ks that came with the fixtures, but did not appear to be the same bulb type and must have been switched at the store. Some of the corals were stressed so I switched to Ushio 20ks. The blues and the greens came out but the growth was slowed way down for the red and yellow corals. I then switched to the Reeflux 12ks and I am really happy with the results. I now get good color and great growth for all color corals.

The amazing thing is that the Ushio 20ks and Reeflux 12k look almost exactly the same color to my eyes.

Can I ask what reflectors you're using with the 250W Reeflux 12K's? I'm needing to replace some lamps, and am using the ARO electronic ballasts. Thanks!

 

[OceansWonders]

Your running a 250watt on a 20??