mh & t-5 lighting questions

[badsmitty]

I'm looking at changing my bulb set up & I'm looking for suggestion, I'm looking for a 14 k look, using MH & T-5's
I have a 300 gallon tank, mostly sps's & zoa's
I'm running 6 250 watt MH'S Radiums bulbs single end's & I'm thinking about changing to the phoenix 250 watt 14 k single ends

I'm also running t-5's / I over drive all the t-5's with Ice Cap ballast
I have 2 t-5's in the middle of the tank, I'm planning on using 2 ATI blue plus
2 on each side of the tank, I'm planning on using 1 blue plus & 1 aqu blue on each side,& 4 t-5's in the front & 4 in the back of the tank, I'm planning on using 2 aqu blue & 2 blue plus in each 4 bulb fixture
thanks for any input Jim

 

[BADGUS]

So you want to go from 20K to 14K?Well the phoenix 14K's are nice and crisp with a hint of blue.

 

[saleenpwr88]

Phoenix bulbs are nice...but I would suggest running them on a HQI ballast, on a Electronic ballast they are very blue IMO.

 

[badsmitty]

I already have Electronic ballast, so I'm planning on using them, I'm trying to go a little more white than the radium's to get a 14 k look, my blues & greens look great, but I'd like to get more pop from my purple's & pinks

 

[poidog81]

why don't you throw a fiji purple t-5 bulb in there. That'll get you your red/purple pop.

 

[badsmitty]

what I'm looking for is someone who knows t-5's & can help out with what bulb combination will work best to get the 14k look I'm looking for with the MH's

 

[BADGUS]

Agreed,fiji purple bulbs will bring out the reds and purples.Do you have alot of SPS to need 6MH bulbs?

 

[crooks]

Why are you running so much light over your tank? What reflectors do you have those radiums in? Have you ran a radium on a hqi ballast?

 

[badsmitty]

my 300 gallon tank is almost all sps corals
I'm using Electronic ballast & prefer to use what I have already
like I said, I'm trying to get my purples to pop, otherwise the tank is doing great, & with all the light that I have on my tank, my chiller almost never goes on, I run the MH's 6 hours a day & the t-5's 10 hours

 

[poidog81]

don't change anything before you get a few fiji purples to try out first. I think they'll give you what you're looking for.

 

[badsmitty]

I'll give them a try, thanks

 

[saleenpwr88]

If you are planning on running the Phoenix on an E-ballast and looking for look a little whiter than your Radium on an E-ballast I wouldn't go with the Phoenix. It will probably look just like the Radium actually. The difference in ballasts makes a huge difference, since you have 6 of them I wouldn't want to be replacing them either

 

[crooks]

what reflectors do you have your mh in? What are the dimensions if your tank?