MH HQI bulb suggestion 10k or 14k..pic included

[scuba guy ron]

Hello all.

I am at the point where I need to change out my bulb on my 150 watt sunpod. It is currently housing a 150 Watt 14000K Metal Halide Bulb - Current USA Powerpaq, Double-Ended bulb. I have posted a pic of the tank below. I also run a 40 w sattelite with a 460nm and 420nm actinic bulb for visual presentation. My zoas really pop! but the tank comes off looking a little too blue. If I switch the MH to a 10k will I still get this pop with my actinic supplementation?

 

[kawicivic]

if you have actinic supplements I am guessing you will still get good color if you switch to 10k however it will be different. i suggest asking around a local forum looking for an old 10k bulb to get a better idea of what it would look like.

 

[scuba guy ron]

was hoping i could find out here..lol

 

[Fcamdog]

A local reefer where I'm at is running just a 14k bulb, no other source of lighting, and his tank is doing great. I also think it looks awesome too. He has a mixed reef tank and all of his corals are growing very well.

Fcamdog

 

[kawicivic]

your corals will still look nice but what I think looks nice and what you think looks nice could be two different things. I run half 10k bulbs and half actinic t5s and I don't mind the look however many people would consider that too white. If it was me i would have no problem running a 10k w/ actinic supplementation... I would not run a 10k by itself unless it was a frag tank.

 

[scuba guy ron]

I really dont have many options with regard to supplementation other the the dual sattelita 20 inch

 

[scuba guy ron]

well I decided to stay the same only different. By this I mean I went w/ a 14k bulb again but instead of staying with currents bulb I tried the Phenix. I have to say there is quite a difference. Even with my actinic supplementation the phenix bulb is much whiter. I mean much whiter. There is really no comparison.

 

[IridescentLily]

I think the Phoenix 14k is my fave bulb next to the Radium.
If you take a look at Seapugs tank below, those corals are under Phoenix 14k with 420nm and 480nm actinic supplementals just like yours.
By the way I REALLY like the colors of your corals in the pic!

 

[Guygettnby]

my 2 favorite bulbs would be,

1. pheonix 14k
2. radium 20k

but if you think that what you have is too blue right now i can pretty much bet these two bulbs will be way too blue for you. but on a good note you probably would not need atinic bulbs if you use one of those two halides i mentioned.

 

[Darejohn]

I like 20k

 

[Darejohn]

or 21k giesmann megachrome, super bright blue with exellent colors for sps