What is the BEST Metal Halide Color for Corals?

[ShilohPSU]

I have an outer orbit light: 2 X 150W DE 10k MH and 2 X 130W 460/420NM Dual Actinics. I've been using this light for years and have successfully grown various corals and inverts. I have always bought the 10k metal halide bulbs, but I'm thinking of switching to the 14k. The 14k MH pictures I've seen make the corals look more colorful than my 10k. Do corals prefer a more white light like 10K? A mixture of white/blue light like a 14k? Or blue light like a 20k? I'm not going 20k no matter what because it makes everything look too blue and dark, but I think 14k would look nice... Any sugguestions or advice on what color light corals like?

 

[graveyardworm]

The whiter colors tend to have higher PAR and are better for growth, but like you noticed colors tend to be a bit poor. At the bluer 20k end colors appear brighter but with some growth rate sacrifice. I prefer it somewhere in the middle and found the Reeflux 12k have real nice color. I'm running all SE fixtures though and am not sure whats available for DE bulbs. Many DE people swear by the Pheonix 14k for color and growth, but I'm sure there are many others that work just as well with a nice appearance.

 

[Henry Bowman]

The whiter colors tend to have higher PAR and are better for growth, but like you noticed colors tend to be a bit poor. At the bluer 20k end colors appear brighter but with some growth rate sacrifice. I prefer it somewhere in the middle and found the Reeflux 12k have real nice color. I'm running all SE fixtures though and am not sure whats available for DE bulbs. Many DE people swear by the Pheonix 14k for color and growth, but I'm sure there are many others that work just as well with a nice appearance.

FWIW - I Couldn't have stated it better !

 

[sanababit]

higher the kelvin ~20k better the colors
lower the kelvin ~10k better the growth

sana

 

[soulsigma]

higher the kelvin ~20k better the colors
lower the kelvin ~10k better the growth

sana

X2 :thumbsup:

 

[bassking16]

Might Help

Might Help

I run 2x250w MH's along with 4x54w T5's. I just switched from 10K no-name bulbs to 14k Phoenix DE bulbs. My T5's are 2x Actinic, and 2x 10k whites. I have to say that the colors are amazing. Everything floureces really nice, and has an overall hint of blue tint now, but not too much. I absolutely love it. I can't say much for growth since it has only been a week though, but I have heard pretty good things with these bulbs. I always thought my 10ks were really yellow, and didn't look that nice at all. Growth was good though. I'm with you as far as 20k bulbs. 20k would have been too much blue, and most of my corals are still pretty small colonys or frags, so I was looking for good growth lights as well.

Overall, if you are looking for a nice medium between 10k and 20k, I would recommend the Phoenix 14k bulbs. Awesome color, and supposedly good growth as well. We'll see about the growth in a month or so.

 

[reefsahoy]

i run 250 WATT EVC 20K's with t5's and i can turn off all supplements and the 250's rock. my tank is only 20" deep so i don't think the corals will grow slow with the 20k'S. at first the tank was really blue until the bulb burned in. now it looks white with a slight blue tint and colors pop. here is a close up of one of my corals. the tank doesn't look as blue as the picture suggest but the coral does look that purple. This picture came out of the camera and no photoshop was done. I had changed from Uhsio 10K and i love this bulb cause i can and do run the HQI all by themselves without supplements. This way i save 200 watts x 10 hours/day on t5's.

 

[Denadai]

I like XM 10K with actinic or Gieseman 14.5K coral

 

[dmorel]

I remember reading on here a thread a while back on a similar subject where it was suggested that different coral colorations did better under different spectrum in terms of showing their colors.

I *think* I remember someone saying something along the lines of blue corals showing their true colors under whiter spectrum which I found counter intuitive. I don't know if there is any truth to that, but I would be curious to hear from others if there are particular colors that do better under different kinds of lighting...

 

[ryanrid]

The whiter colors tend to have higher PAR and are better for growth, but like you noticed colors tend to be a bit poor. At the bluer 20k end colors appear brighter but with some growth rate sacrifice. I prefer it somewhere in the middle and found the Reeflux 12k have real nice color. I'm running all SE fixtures though and am not sure whats available for DE bulbs. Many DE people swear by the Pheonix 14k for color and growth, but I'm sure there are many others that work just as well with a nice appearance.

i agree, the phoenix 14K are beatuful bulbs in the DE, i now run reeflux 12K in SE 250W which is very similar to the phoenix 14K 250W SE but cheaper.

 

[motownmego]

i like the 14k and
20k the best

 

[naldopr]

I like how the reeflux 10 look with uvl SA super growth blue look insane on this 10k I use them in my old tank now use radium and love them my growth might slow down but coloration is priceless..

 

[ShilohPSU]

Thanks for all the great advice! Now I'm going to ask for some more... So here is a picture of what my tank looks like with the outer orbit light: 2 X 150W DE 10k MH and 2 X 130W 460/420NM Dual Actinics.

Do the 10k MH and the Actinics blend together to create a 12k - 14k effect? If I do decide to put in the 14K bulbs, will there be too much blue like a 20K or greater? Has any one been in my position before and actually make the switch from 10k to 14k with a lot of actinic wattage as well?

 

[ReefTECK]

too much blue like a 20K or greater? Has any one been in my position before and actually make the switch from 10k to 14k with a lot of actinic wattage as well?

Yes. I used to think 20ks were too blue also, but I've found if you have enough wattage to produce respectable growth using 20k's, the improvement in coral color cannot be beat. I now feel like the 20k's are not to blue at all. They really don't bother me. Especially the XM 20k's have a nice overall balanced white look and great high temp phosphor bands that enhance color.

If I was in your situation (when I was in your situation) I took examples from all my favorite SPS tanks. Which was I went with 20k halides and actinic white T5's to wash out any obnoxious overwhelming blue overtones.

 

[ShilohPSU]

Sorry for hating on 20k lighting ReefTECK... I already know what's going to happen. I'll buy 14k bulbs and fall in love with the more blue lighting. Then i'll probably get addicted to it and up getting 20k bulbs. It'll be too blue for me and i'll switch out my 130w dual actinics for 130w daylight bulbs to get the same effect you have going on in your tank. I guess that i'll just have to slowly make the change. Thanks for response.

 

[nickxx4360]

I switched from 10k to pheonix 14k with no suppliment and I am very pleased. Mind you I am not a fan of a All blue Tank. Pheonix has just the right amount of blue without going over board. with that said ME personaly might try 10k/atinic blubs on the PC's. should be a perfect balance.

 

[paul_111]

I have the same fixture as you.

I had the same dilemma about a year ago -- I wanted more blue, but not "too much".
I tried 12k HQIs and actinics, but found that to be too blue. I then put in 50/50 pc's with the 12k's... The pc's washed out the 12k's. If I had the money to spend, I would have tried 14k's with the 50/50 pc's.

The color was better than 10k's, but (IMO), not better enough.

Good luck,
Paul

 

[Mattik]

I run 250W 14K phoenix w/ 2X 65W PC dual actinics. I like this setup very much. A bit whiter than when I had the XM 20K 250W DE with two 50/50 PC's.

Its only been a month or so, so no real growth resutls yet. I think I'm starting to see growth on a few corals that really did nothing for several months on the old bulbs, but more time will tell.

 

[soulsigma]

I am running (2) 250W DE 14K Phoenix with (4) 65W dual compact 50/50 and Ii is pleasing to my eyes and I have great growth. I am thinking that 20k MH and dual antics might be an greater improvement when it comes time to change out the bulbs.

 

[redfishsc]

Then i'll probably get addicted to it and up getting 20k bulbs.

You think that's something, you should see a tank with a good 14K phoenix with some 3w Cree royal blue LED's. I'm using them as an actinic supplement on my tank (only a 25g) but the 8 royal blues are quite strong.

The more blue I add, the more I like it. Fortunately I did put a dimmer on the LED array so I can tone it down if I need to. Every once in a while I'll dim them down just to see if I really like it with the Phoenix 250DE alone, or with the LED's... and always wind up with the LED's back on, lol.