Lighting question (looking for opinions)

[canar]

OK

My 210

I have three X 400 watt MH.

I also have two 96 Watt Actinics.

The MH bulbs are 14K

My Blue's pop pretty good. So do my green's. Orange also looks pretty decent.

I added a few frags of pink and magenta stuff that looks all washed out.

I am trying to figure out why. Do I have so much light saturation that the brightness is doing this? Do certain color bulbs make coral colors pop more then others? They looked real pink in the tanks I pulled them out of when I picked up the frags...... Those tanks were not nearky as bright as mine either.

I was thinking of making a change in my bulb temp. I don't want to make the other colors look worse in doing this though either.

Anyone an expert on this?

Ted

 

[svb57]

I had 250w DE 14k Phoenix bulbs and changed to 12k from Rod and I am very happy with the colors.

Jim Mc

 

[mbierzyc]

what kind of 12k? I have a 150w MH (10k) and 2 65w actinic and my colors are all washed out. Not trying to hijack - just looking for the same info as you.

 

[NewSchool04]

Hey Ted, I've always found the 14K bulbs to be dull and to take color out of corals. I switched out my Phoenix 14K (250W) for a 20K and liked the over all look but too blue and dim.
I just switched to a 12K Reeflux DE bulb (I'm sure the Reeflux is what svb57 is talking about but not sure if DE or SE) and I love it. My blues are really popping, and pinks are not effected at all. My orange Monti cap still looks deep burgandy and greens are all fine.
I think this is the bulb I will be using for a long time. It's a very crisp light with HQI ballast, not dim at all.
Hope this helps.

 

[mnestroy]

Just courious, you ever figure out how much all that lighting cost you a month in electricity?

 

[reefkeeperrut]

I' also running Reeflux SE 12K's on a HQI ballst and the color is great.

 

[Rod Buehler]

there is no majic bulb to make all corals look their best. Some corals will physically color and look better under bluer lamps with less PAR, while others need the intensity of a bulb with less blue.

Generally pinks/orange will physically be "brighter/more vibrant under bulbs with less K, and blues and greens under bluer lamps.

Certain species will also do better under bulbs with more intensity and less K. Most all monties prefer the intensity of an XM10KK on a ballast that will drive them hard enough. Same with A.gemefera, humulis, efflos, hycinthus, and other corals that are typically exposed at low tide.

Ballast play a BIG role in the appearance of a bulb and how they make the corals look

All that being said, I also like the reeflux lamps. They seem to provide the best for all worlds. Which K would depend on the ballast that youre using. Most people seem to chose the 12KK.

There are cheaper lamps out there that certainly look brighter/better to begin with, but they usually lose their intensity/PAR in short time

 

[canar]

Do they make a SE version of the 12k?

 

[Rod Buehler]

Yes

 

[BenjieC]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8509236#post8509236 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by canar
Do they make a SE version of the 12k?

Yes, that's what I use on a magnetic ballast. It gives me a nice look with just touch of blue, actinic sup. isn't needed. I believe on a HQI ballast it looks alot whiter. For my taste I'd need to add some actinics to get it to look right.

 

[svb57]

I have the 12k DE 250w reflux bulbs w/ 2 - 160k VHO actinics. Driving the DE's with BLue Wave III HQI Magnetic ballasts.

Very happy with the overall look ov the coral.

I agree with Rod on "cheaper" bulbs losing thier intensity/PAR in short period. Had the Phoenix 14k and in 6 months my corals went from growing and doing well to not. Put the new Reeflux in and everything is growing again and looks great.

 

[BreadmanMike]

I would go with 20k XM's. They give a nice pop to most corals, especially if you're running any kind of purple actinic. They also have more par then a 10k Reeflux(20k XM = 128 and the 10k Reeflux= 101). Sanjay hasn't tested the 12k, but I'm sure it has minimum 10% less par then the 10k Reeflux does.

JMO

 

[Rod Buehler]

On an HQI 250 watt M80 ballast (Per Sanjay's site)

xm 20K SE = 79
reeflux 10K = 113

Different ballast will drive different lamps in different ways. It makes this lighting game very difficult to play.

http://reeflightinginfo.arvixe.com/

 

[BreadmanMike]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8512648#post8512648 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Rod Buehler
On an HQI 250 watt M80 ballast (Per Sanjay's site)

xm 20K SE = 79
reeflux 10K = 113

Different ballast will drive different lamps in different ways. It makes this lighting game very difficult to play.

http://reeflightinginfo.arvixe.com/

Correct, but he's running 400's. If they are m59's they may not even fire a Reeflux bulb.

 

[Rod Buehler]

Yep, youre right, my error, he is running 400s and I beleive hey are electronics. (reeflux work well on an m59).

Im not certain of his type of ballast..

Sanjay didnt test the XMs on th ecoralveu ballasts but I checked

Icecap
xm20=99
reeflux 10= 129

Blueline
XM20= 91
reeflux 10 = 115

reef fanatic
xm 20 =96
reeflux 10 = 137.

As you stated we are comparing 20s to 10s so the XMs arent a bad choice if you like more blue.

Lighting makes my head spin

 

[BreadmanMike]

Coralvue designed their bulbs for electronic ballasts, so if he's got electronics I would go Reeflux.

As for the m59's, it is not recommended by Coralvue to use a probe start ballast. Many people have had problems getting the bulbs to fire on them. There was a thread on this somewhere.....

I love lighting! It makes my wife cringe everytime I change mine to something new. Skimmers and lighting will put me in bankruptcy! :lol:

 

[NewSchool04]

has anyone tested how long the Reeflux bulbs are lasting? I know the Phoenix 14K has 6 months at the most, what about the Reeflux?

 

[lovereefs1]

Ted, I know we shared a couple of pink frags with you. We run 400W XM 10K's on our tanks (magnetic and HQI ballasts) with 96W PC actinics. We would agree with Rod, if you want your pinks and oranges to "pop" you are going to need whiter light. I would also recommend locating the corals as high as possible in the tank (they want INTENSE light). It may be possible that the corals may need a little longer to adjust to your tank/light. The pink birdsnest has been "baked" for a couple of years now and may just need some more time to adjust to your tank. Let me know if you'd like to stop back over and take a look or you could stop by Rod's, he always seems to have different 400W combo's going. We have tried the Reeflux 10K (very nice bulb), but went back to the XM for the par and pop. This is a pic of the stylo we picked up at Sea Schor and shared with you. We don't have a pic of the birdsnest, but it's not as bright of a pink as the stylo.