MH Bulbs

[guy]

What are the best MH bulbes and why?? opinions on 14K VS. 20 K MH's???

 

[fishmanfabiano]

i hear the company radium makes great bulbs, but your question seems to be more of spectrum over quality of a bulb. so heres the skinny on spectrum. light coloration is measured on whats called a spectrum scale, this scale in general goes from 0-24000. the lower the spectrum the more yellowish color effect youll see, the higher you go the more blue yopull see... i run my 75 reef with a 250 watt 14k mh bulb. the standard spectrums youll find are 6500k (btw k stand for kelvin not thousand) 6500k spectrum will give a very yellow look, but is excellent for growth, but is not very attractive for a reef tank. the next spectrum commonly avaliable is 10000k, this is more of a white coloration which is better suited for the appearence as well as growth in a reef tank, after that it jumps up to 14000k which is more or less white but with a slight blue tinge...i should mention here that corals if you didnt know are very unique animals, they have living flesh which is why feeding your corals should be done, and then theres plant life within them, all that pretty coloration you see on each coral is actually an algae that lives within the tissue, this algae is called zoeanthelle algae and this is why hoigh powered lighting is necessary to keep your reef alive. now if you run a lower spectrum, your corals will grow at a faster rate, however, running a lower spectrum will not bring out the colors you desire. its the higher spectrum (blue lighting) that makes this color really pop. so a 14000k bulb which is is the middle of the color spectrum will give you decent growth as well as show some coloration, but most people desire more color so id reccomend running either an 18000k bulb or a 20000k bulb. an 18000k bulb will give your tank more of a purpleish blue tint and your corals will still grow very nicely as well as show better coloraton, a 20000k bulb will give you a very attractive blueish purple tint and really show off what your coral has to offer color wise. then theres the highest spectrum, the 24000k bulb this is a solid blue, if you run this id reccomend running some white leds or 10000kt-5 lights with it for at least 6-8 hours a day as the 24000k bulb is going to make your corals color look the best it can, but your corals will not be able to properly photosynthesize and growth will be stunted. then you get into moon lighting which is a whole differnt ball park, 450mm is a solid blue light your corals will not look better under any lighting this is really to show off the glory of your tank, and why not do that after all, your tank is your masterpiece. so when it comes down to it its really a matter of preference, not a matter of which is better. hope this helped -matt

 

[guy]

Thank you very much, very educational didn't even know of a 24K. have been using 250w 20 K for the past few years and thgought of going to 14K with my mixed SPS and LPDS but think I will stay with the 20K and add the LED's for my viewing plasure. Again thank you.