MH bulb choice

[manix man]

Hello to all, well I'm new on here and live in the UK.

So my first ever question! Replacing my metal halide bulb what would be people opinions on the best colour temperature.

In the UK I have available
10000K
12000K
14000K
16000K
20000K

At present I use 14000K with 2 addition Actinic t5's. Would I be best to go down to 10000K with the actinic's I use to get the best sps coral growth? Would the colour of my tank go very Yellow with the 10000K or because I have the antinic's it would keep it look fairly the same?

 

[dvanacker]

The defacto standard around here is 20k Radium. After that it is usually 20k XM or any other blue bulb. Some people still do like warmer K bulbs but the majority of SPS reefers like a 20k bulb.

Keep in mind that ballast can play a big role in the way a bulb will run and look.

 

[manix man]

The defacto standard around here is 20k Radium. After that it is usually 20k XM or any other blue bulb. Some people still do like warmer K bulbs but the majority of SPS reefers like a 20k bulb.

Keep in mind that ballast can play a big role in the way a bulb will run and look.

Oh I see, so what do you think of these tests where they say sps corals grow better under 10k ones. I'm not saying thta is right and your wrong or anything it's just that I have heard a few times best growth for sps corals is nearer 10K.

I certainly like the look of the higher blue colour ones, over in the UK probably the main player in the MH bulbs for reefs is Arcadia. I can have a look around for the types you guys use there may be a supplier over here.

I'm using a german made pendent so you guys probably won't be familiar with it. Also on top of this they don't make pendents anymore..

 

[dvsclownfish1]

i have a mix of radiums and 12k reeflux over my 240 and cant honestly tell the difference and at almost half the cost am thinking of going to 12k's when its time to change the radiums

 

[JMalone81]

I like 20k radiums.

 

[reefsahoy]

hello and welcome to RC, My bulb of choice is EVC 20K DE HQI. It's cheap, gives a nice crisp blue not the milky blue i see some bulbs give. It can run with or without the t5's atinics and it still looks outstanding. i get good growth keep inmind, my tank is only 20 inches deep. when time for replacement, i will without hesitation get the same bulb. the bulb is hard to find even online but i will hunt it down till i find it.

 

[GhostCon1]

I have a 250w 20k Radium SE driven by a Lumatek Select-a-Watt 250w ballast set on HQI setting, and I have to say I absolutely love the look of it, you can tell the blue is there but the bulb is bright that it looks natural. Very happy with my choice.

 

[Reef Bass]

20,000K Radiums!

 

[elijaher]

6500k will give you the best in growth. Really depend on you sps or there real small like frags size.

 

[manix man]

Gosh you can go as low as 6400k and you get great growth. I didn't realise that I'd heard about 8000k. Though saying that I think 6400k would be too yellow for me - looking at the tank if you know what I mean.

You US guys really like these Radiums, never heard of them in the UK before joining here. The UK market is really ruled by Arcadia and as a result I can get an Arcadia 150w DE 14000k for say £33 each where as only a few UK suppliers sell these other types you guys talk about and they tend to be £50+ each.

I'm a bit undecided on the K value at the minute. As I'm only using 150w MH's I'm just edging towards the 10000K / 12000K to get the best lumen/par out of them but I don't want to buy crap bulbs which might have no benefit over the 14000K I use at the moment.
Also my balast isn't electronic so I here that some types work better with electronic then others.

Do electronic balast make much difference, I hear they save energy and are a lot more quiet? Could I replace my balast inside the pendent with a electronic if it makes a lot of difference?

So keep any info coming - it's great getting all your feedback thanks