MH lighting

[Charlie Davidson]

I know Matt well, but questionis open to all!!! I am soon setting up a 18x48x12 (?) tank for clams, sps, frags, etc. I have 2 luminarc 3 I was planning on using over it... 175's going to be OK? i hate to ramp up to 250s---- butttttttttt!!! for those that have seen 400w -- 15k and 20k XMs.. (same after burn in- 20k bulb holds intensitidy longer) that is the color I like..
175s and 250 watt bulbs have a very different color, but I am not sure, I have the money to test all the bulbs ( 175 20k corallifes are not the ticket) ( neither are 10k ushio's)

 

[manderx]

well, i have yet to find a blue bulb that rivals a 400w xm20k. none of the blue bulbs seem to scale well at the lower wattages. they all get bluer and too dim at the lower wattages.

if you are serious about wanting to use 175w, think about the iwasaki 15. it's not a blue bulb, but it's brighter and whiter than most 250w 10K bulbs. i just put 4 different 250w 10K bulbs on my tank and none of them are as nice as my 175 iwasakis were. no yellow at all unless you got algae all over the glass. the clams will certainly appreciate it. of the 4 250s i just put up (xm10k, ushio10k, giesemann14.5K and reeflux10K) i am liking the reeflux10K the best. it seems a bit brighter than the others, not as yellow, and something about it is 'crisper' too. but i just put them up yesterday, maybe the others will burn in some and get better.

 

[Charlie Davidson]

were did you get the iwasaki's (feel like I am ordering some kind of fancy drink)

 

[surfnvb7]

well, if ya got the money and want to try it out, i'd suggest going with either 250w or 400w HQI ballast, paired up some SE Radium's in those lumenarcs.

i have a 250w Radium over my tank, and my colors are amazing. given, it takes alot more than the bulb to give great color.

the blue color isn't quite as over saturating as the 400w 20k XM bulb is. which is the reason why i like the radium so much.

downside is the bulb life expectancy, i've been changing mine out at ~6months. corals dont show any difference in color really, and i havent noticed a drop off in PAR (but i dont really mind it when i have slow growth as long as i have great color).

the only thing i notice when the bulb is over 4months old, is after its been on for about 6hrs, it turns to more of a white color in the tank, then when it turns on again its VERY blue like the XM20k for about an hour.

i've also wanted to try out an XM20k on the HQI ballast. wonder how that would work though.
also, i only keep my halides on for 8hrs a day to keep the bulb life going longer.

other than that i'd go with reeflux, or XM. if you've ever seen Twon8's (Anthony) tank he uses the XM20k's on magnetics in his 180g which look great. he also uses those Aquaconnects on his 90g which look stunning. not sure if he found replacements for the Aquaconnects though.

 

[Charlie Davidson]

Thanks..