150 watt MH bulb/cycles/coral positioning

RacingTiger03 · May 2, 2010

I got my first MH setup over the weekend, that I had been dying to get for awhile. It is the Corallife w/ 2 150watt double ended bulbs. I love the color of the stock 20,000K bulbs, but what is the best PAR rating for a 150 double ended bulb with the color of the stock bulbs? (white with a tinge of blue, and even a little more blue would not bother me as long as the PAR is good!)

Also, for actinics.. With a 20,000K is there a need for supplemental actinic? I currently am running just a single T5HO actinic to support and keep the dawn/dusk affect. I will still run it either way since I am running two four hour cycles with the MH on, and one 4 hour of just actinic in between with a 1h lead before the halids come on the first time and 1h follow up after the second time of the MH.

As for corals with this setup, for say acros how close do they need to be to the light source? With my T5's I was putting them about mid-ways up and it was OK, but I never got great color from it, higher up and it would bleach though *shrug* Where should they be with halides?

I'm new to halides obviously.. and if not for the awesome shimmer affect I would have stayed with T5s.. and debated LEDs.. that was just more money than I wanted to spend for now

Sorry for the multitude of long questions.. but thanks for any answers!

RacingTiger03 · May 4, 2010

no one has any input on bulb recommendations, need for actinic supplement, or where to keep acros?

wow.

condor · May 4, 2010

acros in the mid to high area, actinics kind of wake and get the coral ready for night, and i would raise the light up if you can and cut back your photo period by at least 3 hours and slowly week by week lower the the light and add the time back, hqi 150s can be just a bright as a single ended 250w

TJ15 · May 5, 2010

For PAR, go with a 150 watt 10K. Ushio would be a good choice.

If you get good growth though from your stock halide bulbs, the 20Ks, stick with them. That will save you money and you wont need to suppliment them with actinics.

If you do use the 10K, you will more than likely want to use the supplimental actinics.

RacingTiger03 · May 5, 2010

Thanks guys, thats what I was looking for. I cut the photo-period back from 12 hours, so the 3 hours is already gone (didn't have to worry about heat with T5s lol). I will slowly add back in the middle to where there will only be a 1-2hour outtage in the middle rather than 4. That should take about a month at ~ 1 hour per week right?

So with 20,000K I don't need to supplement? Good to know.
How about with a 14000K? I have heard great things about the pheonix 14000K double ended and may try that when the 20,000K color shifts. If I do need to supplement a 14000K, how much supplementation would I need? would 2 48" T5HOs work? Or perhaps a single 36" reefbrite bar?

And how come no one ever mentions the lightning sound when the MHs arc on? LOL