How many of you run 6500k's vs. 20,00ks??

[marine_freak]

Interested in switching my 20,000ks just wondering what people are running..... pros and cons of bulbs they use...right now I use 2 20000k radiums 400 watt on PFO ballast, and 2 4ft aquasuns URI on a ice cap ballast over 75 gallon...acro colors are good but growth is a little slow...I heard 6500k's have better growth due to higher par rating???Can any body help shed some light on the subject?? Oh when I mean slow growth about 3/8 - 1/2 inch in 8 weeks.

 

[E-A-G-L-E-S]

try a 10K first-imo
6500k is yellow=great growth/horrible color
10000k is white=good growth/can be good color
12k-15k is bluish-white=can be good growth/great color

i use ReefLux 12k's and love them, but many use 10k's with VHo actinics(or p.c.'s or T5's)

-JMO

 

[oosurfin]

i run 2-xm10k on a hamilton m58 ballasts(magnetic) and 4-55w act 03 from hellolights.com in 2 pfo reflectors( http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idproduct=PF2635. ) i love them because the pc is closer to the water and seems to not be drowned out so much by the MH. it simply gives my tank a nice crisp white look. the change from 20k with no pc to 10k with pc was a big change for me (color wise) and growth increased an incredile amount. i use my pc's only to help get rid of the yellow from the 10k and i use them manually for when im looking at the tank. i found that with the change to 10k lighting, instead of using the blue/purple of the 20k to bring out colors, that all of my corals have a better true color and not just color pulled out by the black light look. just my 2 cents

justin

 

[Cody Ray]

Many of the Asian reefers will use low kelvin bulbs combined with special spot lights to bring out the color of different corals.

 

[hawaiianwargod]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7072612#post7072612 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ChinChek787
Many of the Asian reefers will use low kelvin bulbs combined with special spot lights to bring out the color of different corals.

Just wondering....where did you get that information?

 

[marine_freak]

I am getting the consensus that most people like running 10k bulbs (more than I ever expected, or was aware of)....... actually my 20000k radiums are over driven by my pfo HQI ballast making the bulb much more white than a normal 20,000k.... I would say it is more in the spectrum of a 14k but that is just in appearence. I have no means to determine true spectral analysis. I do have a brand new pair of Ushio 10,000k bulbs also........ I may give them a try first..... I do appreciate further feedback though.

 

[Cody Ray]

That was the general feeling I got after reading through many threads about Japanese reefers. However, others use different combos of 150w, 250w, 400w DE bulbs and special 70W DE bulbs that help increase the color of selected coral heads. One reefer had several beautiful systems running bulbs close to 4500K and different spotlights.

 

[marine_freak]

I steered away from de bulbs because until recently the highest wattage was 250 watt and 400 watters still kick out higher lumens... but with the addition of 400 watt de bulbs I have thought about converting back from mogul base to a de bulb set up.

 

[ReeferMac]

I used to run 6500K's and 20,000K's on HQI, and loved it. Unfortunately my LFS stopped carrying the Iwasaki's, and I had to switch to 10,000K's. Liked it the old way better.

- Mac

 

[cward]

I've used 6.5K Iwasaki's, 10k Ushio's, 14k Hamilton's and now I use 20k Radiums on a PFO HQI ballast. I haven't seen that big of difference in growth between the 4 bulbs. If your using Radiums now it will be a big change for you to drop down to a lower kelvin bulb:eek1:

 

[marinelife]

I run a mix of 6500ks and 20000k with the 20000k in the middle of 2 6500ks, I get great color on my corals under the 6500ks. I love the mix I have.

 

[cward]

I've seen 20k's and 10k's mixed that look pretty good too.