What bulb to choose??????

[lotsoftats]

what is the best all around bulb to use with hamilton magnetic ballasts?

they are 175w and I will be using lumanbright minis for reflectors

they will be for my 58g oceanic.

thanks....mike

 

[redfishsc]

For pretty much any 175W MH mogul base, the Iwasaki 15,000K bulb will beat the pants off of other bulbs.

Do a bit of research on that bulb, it puts out a very surprising amount of PAR more than nearly any other MH bulb (definitely more than any other bulb I've seen test results from).


I'm pretty sure a magnetic ballast will fire them just fine.

 

[lotsoftats]

I will research them thanks for the suggestion

mike

anybody else?????

 

[Entropy]

15k Iwasaki hands down. It is the best 175w bulb I have seen. I would be running one right now if I didn't have a 250w ballast. I have actually been thinking of trying to trade my 250w IceCap for a 175w so I can run the Iwasaki again.

 

[lotsoftats]

did a little research and from what I read they are very very white how many t5's would I need to balance out the color?

Also I will be using 2 of these over the 58g it is I think 21inches tall and will have a 3 inch sand bed so how far above the tank should they be placed?

I think I read somewhere that about 16" was about the perfect height for the lumanbright mini's....Does that sound about right?

 

[redfishsc]

To offset the white color of the Iwasaki 15K, you really would only need two T5's (36" or 48"), but be SURE to get Icecap or similar parabolic reflectors--- retro kits from Reefgeek are great for this.

4 T5's would be a good option as well, if you like "really blue".

I would use one ATI Blue+ and one UVL Super Actinic (UVL in front, it makes coral color really pop!). These two bulbs are a superb combination of color--- blue and violet.


In a 4-T5 setup, put one of each in front, one of each in back.


If you are wanting to grow mostly SPS, and can afford it (and have room!) go with a 4-tube system with the two Iwasakis.


However, if you are looking for a mixed tank (including some SPS for sure!) you can do just fine with two T5's and two Iwasakis.

 

[lotsoftats]

thanks redfish very helpful stuff there...The tank will be a mixed reef...I have came to the conclusion that there are so many nice corals
out there that there is no use for me doing a specific kind of tank.

I have thought about doing a specific region mixed reef....ie: japan,aussie,indo...etc.

 

[Entropy]

I ran my Iwasakis with 2x110w URI super actinics. The color was amazing (IMO). To be honest, on a PFO ballast, the Iwasakis are pretty nice stand alone (unless you like a lot of blue).

 

[chefzif]

I would go with ushio 14or 20k with super blue atinic geisman bulbs or go with reef flux 12k MH if you wannt a nice blue hugh to accent the coral and still get optimum growth

 

[redfishsc]

Entropy, I've heard a lot of folks talk about how nice the 110 VHO's look--- and I agree, they really do shine nicer than today's T5 actinics.


The Giesseman T5 actinics are supposed to be a close second, though.

 

[andyrm66]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14972595#post14972595 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by lotsoftats
did a little research and from what I read they are very very white how many t5's would I need to balance out the color?

Also I will be using 2 of these over the 58g it is I think 21inches tall and will have a 3 inch sand bed so how far above the tank should they be placed?

I think I read somewhere that about 16" was about the perfect height for the lumanbright mini's....Does that sound about right?

I just read this, good info here.

http://ottawainverts.com/2009/02/11/now-featuring-lumen-bright-reflectors/