recommend me my next MH bulbs

[zoom]

Here I’m it is time to get three new MH bulbs for my reef tank.
So far I got four different bulbs in four years and I will explain what i like and dislike of this bulbs.
The bulbs I use so far are.
Iwasaki 6.5 K SE
AB 10K SE
Blue line 10 K + SE
XM 10K. SE
All 250W on regular probe CSL ballast.

First was the Iwasaki bulbs, I use this bulbs for over a year never lost any intensity very bright it grow my SPS like is no tomorrow, I had to prune everything all of the time , all of my corals clams and anemones love that light. My SPS had very good coloration with these bulbs.
I had to have many Blue PC bulbs to soften the yellow cast of the bulbs; it will grow algae if you not watchful with the nutrients in the tank.
Was not much coralline algae growth in the tankwith this bulbs .
I pay $59 a bulb



AB 10K
I use these bulbs over a year.
This bulbs it had a violet blue green yellow look to it was not as bright as the iwasaki but I got fairly good growth from them .Will grow more Coralline algae than the Iwasaki.
It had a strange color to this bulbs I can not explaining it was not a uniform color to me. It will grow some bad algae to if you over feed the tank some.
I pay $99 a bulb.


Blue line 10 k+
I use these bulbs for a year I had the best color from this bulb it was blue but all the other colors was good also, but it was mostly
Blue.
This bulb was not too bright; I got some growth out of this bulb but not much. Will grow coralline algae very good. I had to keep my feeding low but not much bad algae growth with this bulb.
I had to use some 10K PC to offset the blue of the bulb.
I pay $ 89 a bulb.

10K XM
This bulb had a good overall color from all the above it Sims as bright as the Iwasakis I have this bulbs now eight months and I don't know but it seems that is loosing intensity , so I think it is a time to get new bulbs the makers of this bulbs said that they need to be replaced every 8 to 10 months.
My growth from this bulbs was least than the Iwasakis and AB's but more than the Bluelines. The color of this bulbs is uniform but the color of my SPS are not is good as the Iwasakis this is very strange to me my SPS look at there best under Iwasakis but not the overall look of the tank.
the XM Will grow Coralline algae good.
I had to keep feeding to a minimum or will grow bad algae.
I pay $65 a bulb
I will start a poll for the bulbs that I considering to get next.

Now Just be advice that this is just my experience with this bulbs it is many things in are tanks that will change the color of the animals and the color of this bulbs will look in your tank.
Try to give a recommendation for the bulb that you like i'm now looking for bulbs that will last me a year i like to get a good growth and color from my corals and anemone.

 

[cdeakle]

I personally love the XM line. More preferably the XM 20,000K bulbs.

I have a 250watt 20,000K XM with x2 65 watt pc ultra actinics on a 55 gallon tank.

I have not used a wide variety of MH bulbs but one other that I have used and hate immensly are the sunburst bulbs. I would post everything I hate about them but would rather not waste my time :lol:

 

[kevinpo]

I like the Coralvue 10,000K bulbs.
$64

Regards,
Kevin

 

[zoom]

I like the Coralvue 10,000K bulbs.
$64

Regards,
Kevin

Any problems with Sps Bleaching ?

 

[kevinpo]

None. I'm running a 400W 10,000K on my 90 gal (installed 5/17/04) and another one on one side of my 200 gal cube (installed 5/27/04). I also ran the 250W 10,000K and 15,000K over a 75 gal with excellent results. I really like the coloration of some of the SPS corals. I went over to RedeyeReef house and saw his corals (many are from my tank) I was surprised at the coloration (he runs 400W 10,000K Coralvue bulbs) so I put in a couple and the results have been very good with both color and growth.

HTH,
Kevin

 

[mojoreef]

10K Ushio

Mike

 

[SueT]

zoom, I hear ya on the iwasaki's. The iwasaki bulb is all I ever used in over 6 years of keeping sps corals. Then last january I ordered my first XM's 250w 10k's. OMG, I love them. In my new acropora frags I have more color than I ever had with the iwasaki's. My growth is better too. I am not using any actinic supplement lights.

Good luck with your decision. I first heard about the XM's last July a year ago and it took me til january to decide.

 

[CarlaW]

I'm using 400w 20K radiums. I guess I like the blue color, and my corals really seem to like them too.

 

[zoom]

I'm using 400w 20K radiums. I guess I like the blue color, and my corals really seem to like them too.

I can only put 250W MH bulbs in my hood.

 

[CarlaW]

zoom, they make 250w 20K radiums. I just put one in my 80. No bad effects since Monday, when I put it in.

 

[lizardarm]

10k ushios are the only halides i've ran yet. i am very happy with their color, and with how well they've held onto their color over time. so why ruin a good thing, yeah?

 

[WaterDogs]

I'm running 2-10k 175W 10K Ushio bulbs with 2 - 96watt PC actinics; will be upgrading soon to 250watt.

I have a question: What is the proper height to have MHs? In inches from center line of bulb to water level? Thanks for any help!

 

[CarlaW]

As far as the distance from the water with halides goes, alot of that just runs down to personal preference. Mine are 12" from the surface. My tank is 24" deep and with the sand bed, between 20" and 18" in places. Sometimes you just gotta move stuff around to find out where the coral is gonna like it the best. HTH

 

[NaH2O]

WaterDogs, I have my lights 10 inches above the water surface (tank 24 inches to a bare bottom). I wanted them high enough to try and avoid breaking from a splash. I'm not sure that there is a set "standard" for lights off water surface - but I would say most have them 8-12 inches off the surface.

Hope this helps!

 

[CarlaW]

Nikki, what are you running for lites?

 

[NaH2O]

I have 2 - 250W 10K Ushios and 2 VHO 03s for supplement.

 

[kevinpo]

I have a question: What is the proper height to have MHs? In inches from center line of bulb to water level?

That really depends on whet you plan to keep. Some Acropora species will lose their color (blue ones are at highest risk) if the bulbs are too high. I run mine at a maximum of 9" from the bulb to the water surface. Lower than 9" and it becomes difficult to reach into the tank. Above 9" and some of the high light corals will need to be placed high in the rockwork.

HTH,
Kevin

 

[lizardarm]

waterdogs,
the main thing to think about with the distance above water for your halides is safety.
as you know, they burn hot, and it only takes one small drop of water to hit the lamp and you will spend the next several weeks picking shards of glass out of your tank. the light won't be noticably affected by the air that it is passing through before it hits the water, so just play it safe. i have heard people on these forums suggest anything from eight to fourteen inches above the water. i have learned from others's misfortunes and think that eight inches is too low. i went with twelve just to play it safe; haven't had a blowout yet.
j/f/t/r/ i am running (2) 10,000 Kelvin ushios with (2) 96 watt pc actinics.

 

[WaterDogs]

Thanks for all the answers, my lights are 8.5 inches from water line so I'm in the range; no need to worry about splashes for me fixture is a Hamilton that comes with a nice UV cover plus the tank is covered too, I worry about jumpers...

Pic of canopy:

 

[lizardarm]

so waterdogs, have you not had any problems with the greenhouse/heating effect from having the top of your tank covered as well with the halides. i am assuming you mean covered with glass, and i had always heard that that can cause heating problems. i've got a canopy on my tank, so i don't worry too much about jumpers.