jlinzmaier
Premium Member
I run 400w halides and I'm due for a bulb change. In making my decision for the next bulb (I'm not thrilled with my current bulbs), I'd like to use the spectral plots to determine what would be most beneficial for my corals.
Most 400 watt MH bulbs have spikes on the spectral plot around 420-460. Some bulbs drop off dramaticlly after the initial spike and have nearly no output above 550, while some continue on with moderate amounts of output through 700nm with a few smaller spikes in between.
My question is:
Is there benefit for any corals (sps, lps, or softies) when a bulb emits any significant amount of output from the higher end of the nm range, or is it better to have a single spike at the 420-460nm range with little or no output at the higher range? I'm assuming that bulbs with a single spike in the 420-460 range and little to no output thereafter will look much more blue than a bulb that has a spike at 420-460 and continues on with a significant amount of output at the higher nm ranges. Is that a correct assumption??
Jeremy
Most 400 watt MH bulbs have spikes on the spectral plot around 420-460. Some bulbs drop off dramaticlly after the initial spike and have nearly no output above 550, while some continue on with moderate amounts of output through 700nm with a few smaller spikes in between.
My question is:
Is there benefit for any corals (sps, lps, or softies) when a bulb emits any significant amount of output from the higher end of the nm range, or is it better to have a single spike at the 420-460nm range with little or no output at the higher range? I'm assuming that bulbs with a single spike in the 420-460 range and little to no output thereafter will look much more blue than a bulb that has a spike at 420-460 and continues on with a significant amount of output at the higher nm ranges. Is that a correct assumption??
Jeremy
