Best 6500k halide bulb????

[scoobysnack77]

was looking into buying a 6500k bulb for acro growth. any brands i should look into?

 

[TwistedTiger]

Iwasaki, just remember at that spectrum it will be very yellow. You will need to supplement if you want a better look or any fluorescence.

 

[scoobysnack77]

Iwasaki, just remember at that spectrum it will be very yellow. You will need to supplement if you want a better look or any fluorescence.

I have 4 strips of reef brite XHO blue LED's. That'll do right?

 

[Reefing Madness]

You don't want that color for Acro growth, wrong spetrum. You want 20k 250w Halide. ( don't know the size of your tank )

http://orphek.com/ingredients-good-coral-growth-color/

 

[scoobysnack77]

You don't want that color for Acro growth, wrong spetrum. You want 20k 250w Halide. ( don't know the size of your tank )

Ingredients for Good Coral Growth and Color

I have 2x 250 watt metal halide 20k radiums over my 75gallon sps tank now. And the colors are great but growth is VERY slow. i read some info on lighting that was pretty on point. here is what they said about kelvin

• The 6500 Kevin lamps have produced the best terrestrial plant growth and generally the better freshwater plant growth (as this Kelvin lamp generally has more of the infrared nm spike needed by "higher" plants, but still has some of the 425-500 nm blue).
  This Kelvin Lamp can also work with SPS, LPS placed high in the tank water column (nearest the lights) based on the symbiotic zooxanthellae needs found in these corals.
  For more depth penetration, blue actinic can be added, such as AquaBeam Reef/Fiji Blue LEDs to balance out 6500K lamp if used in marine reef tanks.
  
  Please note that saltwater absorbs slightly more light energy than freshwater due to the higher density of the water, so 6500K lights will not penetrate as deeply and are not a good choice for depths over 12 inches despite some Reef Lights such as the "AI Sol LED" utilizing this Kelvin Temperature output in their reef lights.
• The 9000-10,000 Kelvin lamps also achieve good growth rates, although slower than the 6500 K bulbs in shallow aquariums. 9000 to 10000K bulbs have produced excellent growth with soft corals and LPS, although slower paced SPS growth.
  The 10,000K can be a good choice for achieving PAR for better depth penetration than a 6500K bulb (such as 12-20 inch or even deeper aquarium).
• The 14,000K light/lamp, will penetrate even more than the 10,000K light while still providing useful PAR (this would be the highest "Daylight" Kelvin temperature I would recommend and still expect good growth in corals, see PAR section). An excellent daylight color for tanks between 15 and 30 inches in depth.
• The 20,000 K light/lamp is more blue yet, and brings out all of the fluorescent pigments in many corals making for a very nice appearance. However the many tests and observations show that when used alone, except in tanks over 24 inches, the growth rate of SPS corals can be slowed or even come to a standstill with 20,000 K lamps.

this came from this article Aquarium Lighting & Light Information | Reef & Planted | PAR PUR

 

[scoobysnack77]

As of now i know that 20k radiums give the best color I've ever seen in SPS. so knowing that with my own tank as well i wanted to switch to a bulb for JUST growth. then when i get my corals to a larger size i know i can switch back to 20k radiums for color. just stumped as to whether i should do a 6500k,10k or 14k for accelerated growth?

 

[Chris L]

The XM 10K bulbs or the Ushio 14K bulbs may be a good in between. Sanjay (light guru) uses the 400 Watt Ushio 14k fyi. I have used the XM 10k 250 watt HQI in the past and liked it a lot on its own.

 

[scoobysnack77]

The XM 10K bulbs or the Ushio 14K bulbs may be a good in between. Sanjay (light guru) uses the 400 Watt Ushio 14k fyi. I have used the XM 10k 250 watt HQI in the past and liked it a lot on its own.

i was gonna go with 6500k but i kno they don't penetrate very deep into a tank. if u had to choose between 10k and 14k, which ones would u go with?

 

[TwistedTiger]

I ran mh for years back in the day. I tried many different bulbs depending on what I was trying to accomplish at the time. 65k, 10k, 12k, 14k and 20k, I've tried them all. It was my experience and the experience of reefers I knew and read about that the 65k gave the best growth. Imo, the 20k radiums gave the best color. However you can get fantastic growth out of any of the bulbs listed if your parameters are in good range and very stable. I have the best growth I've ever had in my 18 years of reef tanks now and I'm using t5's only. Bulb spectrum doesn't automatically relate to growth rate. If you want to accelerate growth you need to be looking at your entire package.

 

[shred5]

Iwasaki, just remember at that spectrum it will be very yellow. You will need to supplement if you want a better look or any fluorescence.

Yep Iwasaki... Throw a couple of actincis in either vho or t-5 and you are golden..
If you dont want to run supplemental light something around 10k like ushio or xm is great... I hate the 20k bulbs like radium they just look way to blue..

i was gonna go with 6500k but i kno they don't penetrate very deep into a tank. if u had to choose between 10k and 14k, which ones would u go with?

Kelvin has nothing to do with light penetration, it is the color of the light... Iwasakis have some of the best pentration because they are much higher par than higher kelvin lamps..

Actually what most people dont realise is the iwasaki has more blue in it than other 20 k lamps, it just has more of the other colors also..

Iwasakis also produce pretty good levels of UV.. Most sps come from shallow water and are subject to some UV.. Some of the colorfull pigments produced by some sps corals is a sunscreen used to block uv.
Some sps corals do come from deeper water and uv can be bad for these corals which have not adapted to this enviroment.

 

[scoobysnack77]

I ran mh for years back in the day. I tried many different bulbs depending on what I was trying to accomplish at the time. 65k, 10k, 12k, 14k and 20k, I've tried them all. It was my experience and the experience of reefers I knew and read about that the 65k gave the best growth. Imo, the 20k radiums gave the best color. However you can get fantastic growth out of any of the bulbs listed if your parameters are in good range and very stable. I have the best growth I've ever had in my 18 years of reef tanks now and I'm using t5's only. Bulb spectrum doesn't automatically relate to growth rate. If you want to accelerate growth you need to be looking at your entire package.

what size tank do you have and what are you growing? I've heard t5's don't penetrate very deep but I've always loves the color they bring out of SPS . I was going to do a metal halide / t5 combo with my next tank that will be a 150 gallon

 

[TwistedTiger]

I have a 120g and a 75g that share a sump. Both are 90% SPS and both lit by T5 only. The 120g has an 8 bulb fixture while the 75g has a 4 bulb retro kit. I have SPS frags growing on the sand bed in the 120.

 

[TwistedTiger]

You might ask Battlecorals (Adam) about his experience with 65k Iwasaki bulbs, sounds like he has a lot of experience with them. I know one thing, his SPS are amazing, I've ordered from him before. The pic is with his new LEDs, but he used mh until recently or so it sounds.

LEDs work guys. I hate to fluster the purists. As I once though just as you do. I am no newcomer and have had many years of experience with halides and t5s I hesitantly made the transition to LEDs this October and have been very happy with the results. Swapping a radium vho combo on my display and iwasakis on two of my four main prop tanks.

I have experienced zero negative results. In all instances. Color is great and growth is very acceptable. Not quite as rapid as with the sakis but not in any way inferior to the radium vho combo.
I actually posted this in the contest thread so I hope this doesn't disqualify me but this tank has been under led for a half year and is thriving just as it was under halides. I need no other convincing that they work. My concern has shifted to longevity at this point. Only time will tell

I think people are very quick to blame their lights for problems that they can't solve. LEDs have become a scapegoat for poor coloration and growth and even overall tank health. In my experience Sps will adapt to and thrive under just about any light strong enough to provide what they need to grow. There are so many other factors involved that light is just one small piece of the puzzle.

 

[scoobysnack77]

You might ask Battlecorals (Adam) about his experience with 65k Iwasaki bulbs, sounds like he has a lot of experience with them. I know one thing, his SPS are amazing, I've ordered from him before. The pic is with his new LEDs, but he used mh until recently or so it sounds.

thank you I just texted Adam . I tried LED's before with two AI VEGA's but they were spotty and left a lot of dead spots in the tank. Are radiums that much better? I've heard mixed emotions on them

 

[TwistedTiger]

I liked the Radiums, but for the most part bulb choice is heavily dependant on personal preference. Look up some of sanjay's (sp?) articles and tests on metal halides. Just get one the that has good PAR and fits the color temp that you like.

 

[scoobysnack77]

I liked the Radiums, but for the most part bulb choice is heavily dependant on personal preference. Look up some of sanjay's (sp?) articles and tests on metal halides. Just get one the that has good PAR and fits the color temp that you like.

ok I'll look now. Thank you. Color wise I love brighter , icy flourencent colors. Kind of like what zeovit provides. But for now I want fast growth. I'll take care of color later cuz that's not gonna be hard to get with 20k bulbs. That's why I'm looking into 65k or 10k