Doubledown
Active member
Eric -
When you came by, the lights on my reef are 250 watt 12K Reeflux DE run on HQI ballasts. The FOWLR has 175 watt 10K Reeflux SE driven with standard M57 magnetics. The prop tank has a single 250 watt Reeflux 10k SE.
What I have seen:
The DE 250s on HQI took a week or two to burn in. On HQI they are much whiter than on yznhmr's prop tank (he runs elecronic ballasts). Same bulb, less blue on HQI.
The SE 10k over the prop is very white. I was expecting more blue out of it with the electronic ballast, but I like it just the same.
The 10Ks over the FOWLR run on the blue side with the M57 ballasts. I tried the 12ks and found them too blue for just fish (might not be bad for corals though as the blue spectrum penetrates water to a greater depth), but I thought that was just because they were 175 watt. I switched in the 10ks and still don't run the actinics.
My advice:
Give them another week, if you still don't like the color sell them to ostrow and buy the 10Ks.
Another option would be to switch your VHO actinics to 50/50s. That should provide a nice blend of color. I have a couple of older 50/50s sitting in the garage if you'd like to try that (I just have to pull them out of the hood they are in).
When you came by, the lights on my reef are 250 watt 12K Reeflux DE run on HQI ballasts. The FOWLR has 175 watt 10K Reeflux SE driven with standard M57 magnetics. The prop tank has a single 250 watt Reeflux 10k SE.
What I have seen:
The DE 250s on HQI took a week or two to burn in. On HQI they are much whiter than on yznhmr's prop tank (he runs elecronic ballasts). Same bulb, less blue on HQI.
The SE 10k over the prop is very white. I was expecting more blue out of it with the electronic ballast, but I like it just the same.
The 10Ks over the FOWLR run on the blue side with the M57 ballasts. I tried the 12ks and found them too blue for just fish (might not be bad for corals though as the blue spectrum penetrates water to a greater depth), but I thought that was just because they were 175 watt. I switched in the 10ks and still don't run the actinics.
My advice:
Give them another week, if you still don't like the color sell them to ostrow and buy the 10Ks.
Another option would be to switch your VHO actinics to 50/50s. That should provide a nice blend of color. I have a couple of older 50/50s sitting in the garage if you'd like to try that (I just have to pull them out of the hood they are in).
