New MH Bulb advice please...

[ToTaLCHaoS13]

I am going to do my first MH bulb replacement since starting my tank last year and would like some advice from those of you who have more experience than I. After doing a bunch of online reading and searching I am still somewhat confused about which brand I want to buy. I current have 10K 150W MH's and I know I am going to switch to a 14K or 15K color. HELP!!!

 

[slovan]

I assume they're DE bulbs? What do you currently have in there(brand wise)? Do you use any actinic supplementation? About how white or blue do you like your tank?

 

[mwood]

Double ended bulbs? What ballast?

PS, be sure to CAREFULLY acclimate! Learned this one personally. I had several monti caps bleach out bad when I switched from xm10k's to reeflux 10k's.

 

[ToTaLCHaoS13]

Yes, they are DE, Coralife 10K @ 150W on the e-ballasts that came with this kit:

http://www.hellolights.com/48aqprorekit.html

I have 2-96W actinics as you can see in the kit as well. I have been looking at these 15K 150W XM bulbs:

http://www.hellolights.com/15xde15hqide1.html

Thoughts?

 

[mwood]

Per Sanjay's website that bulb is going to look fairly white with little par benefit. What color do you want to see?

If you want white, AB 150w DE 10k's are white with a better par rating.

If you want blue Radium 150w DE 20k's and Iwasaki 150w DE 50k's look good.

 

[ToTaLCHaoS13]

I'd like more blue than I have now. Currently it looks slightly yellow to me. However, I think the 20K's look too blue which is why I am leaning toward the 14-15K range. What do you think of the Hamilton or Phoenix bulbs?

Also, how often should I be looking at changing the actinics?

 

[mwood]

Those bulbs aren't available on the website, however, based on other wattage bulbs...
The hamilton will look like a 20k, and the phoenix will look similar to the radium. The radium will be less blue than most 20k bulbs. The AB10k will likely look more white and less yellow than the cl10k you have now.

I'd change out the actinics every 6-9 months.

 

[ToTaLCHaoS13]

It seems to me the 150W 14K Phoenix is the way to go then. And from the other threads it sounds like a lot of people use that brand...

 

[Sk8r]

I have a 12k Reeflux that does pretty well in the blues, too, btw, but single-ended: don't know what else they make. Ushios tend to a red/yellow bias.

Start with a greatly reduced photoperiod as you put them in, and increase the photoperiod an hour a day until you're back to normal.