Anyone still rocking 6500k Iwasakis?

[jda]

Light has to both render color in the coral and then also illuminate them to your liking. 6500k makes corals color up really nicely. 6500k also makes them all look a bit yellow. RB diodes make coral look really good, but do not really color them up very well. This is why people compromise when they choose how to light... I go with a 14k MH in my display which both color and renders very well without supplements. I use 6500k and sometimes 10k in my frag tank since I only care about lots of output. Some people use to use 6500k balanced them with a ton of Actinics.

The best example of this are corals at a frag show... they are grown under whiter, more daylight conditions to really render a lot of great color and contrast, then they are illuminated at the show with RB diodes only. People see them under those diodes and think that this is how they look, when most of the time the color shifts when the more daylight source is kept away... they fade over time.

Another example is to look at shallow water SPS photos in the wild. These have tremendous color but look kinda bland under daylight only. If you were to put these under a 20k bulb, then they would shine like crazy... purple and pinks would radiate, some of the yellowish green ones would probably be blue, etc.

 

[shred5]

My favorite bulb of all time, I just love the look with a few blues. I would never run it alone.
I would love to see it with some royal blue leds, be it would look fantastic.

So many overdue the blue nowadays. I hate the look.

 

[Phelipe's Ocean]

Thanks guys

 

[Phelipe's Ocean]

My favorite bulb of all time, I just love the look with a few blues. I would never run it alone.
I would love to see it with some royal blue leds, be it would look fantastic.

So many overdue the blue nowadays. I hate the look.

Yeah i agree, and at least for me I have not been able to get pinks and blues to show very well under actinics my pinks look best under 14k

 

[Phelipe's Ocean]

Light has to both render color in the coral and then also illuminate them to your liking. 6500k makes corals color up really nicely. 6500k also makes them all look a bit yellow. RB diodes make coral look really good, but do not really color them up very well. This is why people compromise when they choose how to light... I go with a 14k MH in my display which both color and renders very well without supplements. I use 6500k and sometimes 10k in my frag tank since I only care about lots of output. Some people use to use 6500k balanced them with a ton of Actinics.

The best example of this are corals at a frag show... they are grown under whiter, more daylight conditions to really render a lot of great color and contrast, then they are illuminated at the show with RB diodes only. People see them under those diodes and think that this is how they look, when most of the time the color shifts when the more daylight source is kept away... they fade over time.

Another example is to look at shallow water SPS photos in the wild. These have tremendous color but look kinda bland under daylight only. If you were to put these under a 20k bulb, then they would shine like crazy... purple and pinks would radiate, some of the yellowish green ones would probably be blue, etc.

Im gonna give 6500k a try, if i run only these and no actinics do you think there will be a problem?

 

[Skibum]

I'm still waiting for a chance to do a new build with a couple of 6500k Iwasakis. My plan was to add Blues and Greens with some Radion G4's. 2 Luminarcs with 2x 250 Watt Iwasakis and 3x G4s. I was hoping the G4's could compensate for the blue spectrum here. I want really strong growth and illumination however the ultimate goal is to house the following:

I would like a pair of those and the growth to account for the subsequent eating habits. Also would like some butterflies that eat coral too ;-).

-Tom

 

[Phelipe's Ocean]

I'm still waiting for a chance to do a new build with a couple of 6500k Iwasakis. My plan was to add Blues and Greens with some Radion G4's. 2 Luminarcs with 2x 250 Watt Iwasakis and 3x G4s. I was hoping the G4's could compensate for the blue spectrum here. I want really strong growth and illumination however the ultimate goal is to house the following:

I would like a pair of those and the growth to account for the subsequent eating habits. Also would like some butterflies that eat coral too ;-).

-Tom

Im excited to see how 6500k will work out for me, good luck on your project : )

 

[OhDumb]

Early 2000's I was running 2x 250w 6500k Iwasakis and VHO's over a 90g SPS tank. If was going to replicate that tank in today's equipment I would drop the VHO's for LEDs to control the blue range better. Plus, you don't have to continually replace the tubes. I never really liked the bluer Metal Halides for some reason. The intensity is insane and the shimmer is like being in the Bahamas.

 

[Skibum]

Anyone know what Ballast for 6500k Iwasaki's would be ideal here? I would also like the ability to switch to 10K if necessary.

 

[Phelipe's Ocean]

Anyone know what Ballast for 6500k Iwasaki's would be ideal here? I would also like the ability to switch to 10K if necessary.

You nedd different ballasts for different kelvin ratings?

 

[Skibum]

You nedd different ballasts for different kelvin ratings?

No idea, I haven't rocked metal halides since 1993. Back then the ballasts were gigantic and hot. I think I was running 5500K ;-). I was looking at the ice cap electronic selectable ballasts. I was just wondering what others have used here who have more experience. I'm looking at the following for the next build:

2 Icecap electronic selectable ballasts (250-400W)
2 Iwasaki 6500K bulbs either 250 or 400 W
2 Cozumel Sun Hamilton Reflectors
3 Radion G4 Pros (running only blue

Not sure how this will look but I think it could work ;-).

-Tom

 

[shred5]

What was old becomes new. It would be funny if the trend went back. The iwasakis made it look like a nice warm sunny day like it does in the tropics not a ice cold day in the arctic with too much blue..

We have LFS that is on top of his stuff and he said that he is selling less led with a swing back to t-5 and halides.

 

[fermentedhiker]

I wonder if you could replicate the growth of the 6500MH with a DIY LED or something like a Buildmyled physiospec greenhouse and then supplement it with T5's or Orphek led strips for the look desired?

 

[Skibum]

I wonder if you could replicate the growth of the 6500MH with a DIY LED or something like a Buildmyled physiospec greenhouse and then supplement it with T5's or Orphek led strips for the look desired?

It's a good idea, but personally I'm not interested in trying it ;-). I know that 6500K grows corals like crazy, it's the look that isn't very nice. If I could balance out that growth and get a balance with the blues, I would be okay with that. I can still shine the LED's in the morning and at night with different looks while the MH aren't on. I was thinking this way I can just use the 6500 for growth, that's my theory anyway.

 

[Phelipe's Ocean]

What was old becomes new. It would be funny if the trend went back. The iwasakis made it look like a nice warm sunny day like it does in the tropics not a ice cold day in the arctic with too much blue..

We have LFS that is on top of his stuff and he said that he is selling less led with a swing back to t-5 and halides.

I totally beleive it, in my opinion the ONLY thing led’s have going for them is energy cost. Just think about it if LED’s had the same energy usage as T5’s and halides, no one would have switched. The only reason I can think of would be the heat factor but I have never had a problem.

 

[Phelipe's Ocean]

I wonder if you could replicate the growth of the 6500MH with a DIY LED or something like a Buildmyled physiospec greenhouse and then supplement it with T5's or Orphek led strips for the look desired?

LED’s are gonna take a good 5 more years I think before they can grow coral as fast as halides or T5’s maybe even longer.

 

[DesertReefT4r]

Never ran 6500k but I did run 10k back in the early 2000's and remember having really good growth and good color. I switched to 20k for a while and loved the look but had coloration issues with some sps. Went from 20k to 14k Coralife and Odyssea bulbs for a while until I tried Phoenix 14k and never looked back. After years more experience under my belt I feel that a large part of my color issues was from the change in spectrum. I was also fairly new at keeping sps and was constantly messing with things, adding this supplment, carbon, gfo, carbon dosing anything and everything to get my sps to color up.

 

[Centerline]

I just added a Gen4 XR15 to my spectra on a build I'm just about done with. Running 400 watt Radiums but they are a tad bit on the whiter side for 20k.

 

[jda]

Give the Radiums a chance... but you are right... I think that they are more like 14k ish. Once the rock is covered in Coralline, the tank will not look as white.

For my eyes, this is what makes a light good... actually being able to see true white while it is running.

 

[A. grandis]

Best growth and colors I've ever had was under 6500K Iwasakis back in the day!!
You need to use some blue T5s to supplement, cause it will be yellow like in a tide pool.
My tank looked just like when we for for a snorkeling ... very natural.
I'm using Radium 20Ks now and love it! Halides are halides. They will always give you what you need.