MH bulb choices and the pro's and cons?

[menace78]

I recently picked up a 3x 400wDE MH Hamilton fixture used and have no clue as to the age / type / Kelvin rating of the bulbs.
They seem to be slightly blue when warming up but mostly white when full on.
I plan on purchasing new bulbs and then I found my problem.
I have always used PC/VHO lighting and this is my 1st time with MH.

I'm unsure of the pro's and cons, and differences between 10000k/14000k/20000k/22000k bulbs, as well as manufacturers it seems.

I like the bluish look but not too overpowering like when full actinic is on, and love the iridescence.
But I would like the best for my corals as well. (mostly SPS some LPS/GSP/Mushrooms/ect..)
I use pure actinic 80w (x2) T5's for supplemental lighting.

Currently I have a light schedule of:

10am : actinics on
11am : (1x) MH on
2pm : (2x) MH on
6pm : (1x) MH off
9pm : (2x) MH off
10pm : actinics off

Any suggestions on what bulbs are best or any fine tuning on my lighting would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Krish]

Can't offer much advice on DE bulbs because I've only every used what came in my current USA fixtures, but SE bulbs, 14K Phoenix was my favorite and also probably the most popular bulb. The higher the kelvin rating the bluer it gets. 10K is usually your pure white mark. Anything up from there gets bluer and anything lower than that gets yellower. You have to be careful though because a 14K bulb in one brand could look totally different than a 14K bulb from another brand. Hopefully those running some DE bulbs can give you some ideas. With my 14K bulb, I was happy with the blue tint I had and didn't need any actinic supplemental lighting.

On a side note, to give you an idea as to how the different kelvin rated bulbs look, take a peek at this link. 250Watt Bulb Comparison. It is interactive site so mess with the bulbs and change them up on the tank in the picture you will see how the different kelvin ratings look just to give you an idea of what to expect with say a 10K bulb versus a 20K bulb etc.

 

[akunochi]

I like reeflux bulbs. I have used their 20K's I now prefer 15K bulbs. Mostly whit but the actinics will put blue back into the visual spectrum. The higher the kelvin the slower growth and lower par.

 

[CRASHFIREJOE]

I like the 14K Phoenix not only do they look good to me with good blue tint that is not overpowering with good coral growth. I use them without any supplemental lighting and they are lower in cost. If you want you can PM me and I can point you in the best price I have found at $47.99ea

 

[akunochi]

I use the XM 15K's and have had very very good growth with no supplement as well. I normall use reeflux bulbs though.

I also have a couple of those pheonix bulbs in 250 DE if you want to trade something for them...they are just sitting now accepting frags

 

[menace78]

On a side note, to give you an idea as to how the different kelvin rated bulbs look, take a peek at this link. 250Watt Bulb Comparison. It is interactive site so mess with the bulbs and change them up on the tank in the picture you will see how the different kelvin ratings look just to give you an idea of what to expect with say a 10K bulb versus a 20K bulb etc.

Awesome link. Only wish the camera shots were more even, but looking at that, I like the red and blue crispness from the coralvue 15000k.
Any idea why the Blueline being at only 10000k is bluer than all the rest? seems a bit backwards. :/

The higher the kelvin the slower growth and lower par.

This is one of the things I was really looking to hear. I want to fill in this 125g eventual and don't want to wait 50 years

I use the XM 15K's and have had very very good growth with no supplement as well. I normall use reeflux bulbs though.

I also have a couple of those pheonix bulbs in 250 DE if you want to trade something for them...they are just sitting now accepting frags

Can a hamilton ballast that was made for 400w halides run 250w halides? I have the magnetic ballasts.
If so, I would need to look into that. the 400w setup was only purchased because I got a screaming deal on it. keeping the tank temp stable has been an issue, so I have this fixture 16" above the water. going down to 250k would be ideal if possible.

 

[Maxx]

I've used XM10K DE's, AB13k DE's, (really more of a 10K and visibly more yellow tint than the XM10K's) and Phoenix 14K's.

I no longer run DE's over my reef, but I'm still using Phoenix 14K's because I get the good color (IMO), higher PAR, (Phoenix 14k's are designed to run on an HQI ballast), and they are among the least expensive bulbs on the market.

Nick

 

[menace78]

ok, I seem to be running into a huge problem with bulb choice.
Maybe I'm doing the searches wrong but I seem to be only finding coralvue and hamilton 400w DE/HQI bulbs.

Anyone have an idea of who else makes 400w DE bulbs and how to find them? or know weather the hamilton magnetic MH ballasts can run anything else other than 400w or HQI/DE bulbs?
I would have no issues going down to 250w or getting moguls and swapping to SE bulbs if it means I have more choices for lighting, and would even consider gutting the fixture and retrofitting the components into the canopy if I didn't need the tempered glass shields needed with the HQI bulbs.

Thanks for all the feedback so far and in advance for any more input

 

[Maxx]

I would suggest moving to SE bulbs for exactly that reason. Its why I moved from DE's to SE's.

Nick