Halide Q & A

BlueCorn · 08/14/2008, 03:49 PM

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...hreadid=624185

seaspy · 09/20/2008, 10:53 PM

Hello,
I purchased a 37g column system over a year ago that has a 175w light on it with 2 55w PC actinics. I know it's time to change the bulbs, but I don't know anything about MH. The bulb that's in there is stamped MH 175W/U/14k. Other than that, I have no idea what brand it is or anything like that. Personally, I think the color of the tank is too blue. I tried to swap out one of the actinics with a 50/50 bulb, but that looked too yellow and I lost a lot of the red color in there. So I was wondering if changing the bulb to a 20k and then trying one or both 50/50 would make a difference? Or just give me your advice as to what to put in there. I have access to Ushio, Blueline, XM, AB, SPS and Iwasaki bulbs. Please help! Thanks.

Should also say that I went to Sanjay's site, but as I don't know anything about MH, couldn't make sense of it really. I know my bulb is single ended, but no clue what DE, SE, etc is. Shielded, unshielded, how to tell?

jblincoe · 09/23/2008, 11:51 AM

i have a 4' long 20"deep 18" wide aquarium, have been running a 400 watt single ended MH with xm 10000k bulb about 16" off the water the reflector is just your run of the mill reflector. have been able to keep xenia, hammer coral, shrooms, zoos, etc., but having a hard time with sps have lost a lot of frags. too much light, not enough, or something else? water params test ideal. Have 2 koralia 4s on opposite sides as well as a maxi1200 with rotator and my return, i think i have flow covered as far as i can tell. your help is very much appreciated.

troyman · 09/28/2008, 04:09 AM

use a 10000k bulb more like natural sunlight not the cool blue color

moremsgplease · 10/08/2008, 03:30 PM

I have heard that the depth of water will cause a bulb to loose its strength. Will a 150 watt 10000ÂºK HQI double ended metal halide bulb be efficient enough to keep a mixed reef in a tank that is 24" deep?

cybrsufr · 10/12/2008, 03:54 PM

10K bulbs are great for growth, but are terrible for color. The best color temps for a good mix of growth and color are the 14K and 15K, if you are going for colors that really pop and enhance the fluorescence you would want to use 20K bulbs. Same for actinics, if you want color that pops then you would want a mix of 420nm and 460nm actinics, the 50/50 and daylight bulbs add more white light in the 10K - 12K range. It all really depends on personal preference and what corals you are keeping. Another thing to consider is that the type and brand of ballast also makes a huge difference in the actual color temp produced. There are a tn of threads on here to learn about Halide lighting, do a search for Sanjay and Lighting.

lkirkt · 10/23/2008, 09:16 AM

If you're not sure about the color you want and have a little extra cash try this. There are some very inexpensive bulbs available on ebay, about $20.00 shipped. You can experiement with them for color ideas and then go from there. There are threads about pros and cons of these bulbs, but just to try them for color and then go to more expensive bulbs.

cybrsufr · 10/23/2008, 09:32 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by moremsgplease
I have heard that the depth of water will cause a bulb to loose its strength. Will a 150 watt 10000ÂºK HQI double ended metal halide bulb be efficient enough to keep a mixed reef in a tank that is 24" deep?

Not really enough light. For a 24" deep tank you should have ideally 250W or 400W. Anything over 27" should have 400W. With a 150 you could probably keep some LPS and softies, but SPS would really struggle and probably not have much color to them except for brown and green

cybrsufr · 10/23/2008, 09:35 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by jblincoe
i have a 4' long 20"deep 18" wide aquarium, have been running a 400 watt single ended MH with xm 10000k bulb about 16" off the water the reflector is just your run of the mill reflector. have been able to keep xenia, hammer coral, shrooms, zoos, etc., but having a hard time with sps have lost a lot of frags. too much light, not enough, or something else? water params test ideal. Have 2 koralia 4s on opposite sides as well as a maxi1200 with rotator and my return, i think i have flow covered as far as i can tell. your help is very much appreciated.

One thing to consider about XM 10K's is that they have been shown to produce the Strongest PAR value of any bulb out there. In simple terms, with a 18" deep tank you might need to raise the light or place corals lower in the tank and gradually over the course of several weeks raise them up as they are probably getting light shock and bleaching on you.

Spideybry · 10/25/2008, 05:58 PM

I dont know, I have been kind of strayed away from MHs. In the long run they are expensive but the best. I prefer T5s to halides but thats just me.

lth03 · 11/01/2008, 11:07 AM

I prefer MH over T-5,so far I see MH is the closest thing to natural sunlight that coral on the wild are growing under.

loof the doof · 11/08/2008, 03:56 PM

have used all forms of lighting over 22 yrs and mh has given me the best results by far you can get the most standard ballast and sockets that are now fairly inexpensive to maintain of course after the initial bank robbery first setup.

lth03 · 11/08/2008, 04:24 PM

These is some sort of lighting they use in the warehouse and on the street that look very similar to MH for aquarium,I wonder if they use similar magnetic ballast?

jblincoe · 11/10/2008, 01:01 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by cybrsufr
One thing to consider about XM 10K's is that they have been shown to produce the Strongest PAR value of any bulb out there. In simple terms, with a 18" deep tank you might need to raise the light or place corals lower in the tank and gradually over the course of several weeks raise them up as they are probably getting light shock and bleaching on you.

is there a standard of measurement that helps determine how high to raise my light then, as stated it is already about 16inches off the water. don't mind going higher. Have been thinking about switching to a 20k bulb anyway, just to see if for some reason this is why, most of the sps that i have bought have come from bluer tanks, i have tried the acclimation from lower in the tank. so about all my other corals, if i switch do i then have to acclimate them to the new color spectrum----how?

WhatIgot · 11/18/2008, 03:35 PM

trial en error.
You're going to be watching your corals closely to see what the appropriate height your lighting should be....

depends a lot on each coral and your water clarity, type of substrate, black painted back panel, etc...

every tank will have different factors playing into the correct configuration so you might as well take a weekend and don't stop fiddling until everything looks happy.

jblincoe · 11/18/2008, 04:01 PM

thanks everyone

JoelNB · 11/18/2008, 04:23 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by WhatIgot
black painted back panel, etc...

I've heard that if a beam of light is pointed out through the tank side, it will be contained by the glass. Is it reflected back in? or is it wasted? What effect does the black panel have?

jblincoe · 11/18/2008, 05:14 PM

well i am unsure, but black usually absorbs light. so i would guess with lots of black background you would loose some of the light that is bouncing around in your tank. my back is blue though.

hstac · 11/23/2008, 04:10 PM

i have got to upgrade my lights. my question is this... why would i choose 400w MH over 250w? i've selected my pendants (2), ballasts and bulbs but haven't decided on the wattage. ideally, i want lights that will support anything i decide to put in the tank. i have my eye on a couple of clams and i really like the LPS corals. so... 250 or 400? what's the general consensus????

jblincoe · 11/24/2008, 09:15 AM

i think the deciding factor is probably the depth of your tank. anything over 30" deep you will probably want to go to 400 watts, and if you have a 48" long tank like i do you will probably want two, i only have one, and am starting to think about getting another.

hstac · 11/25/2008, 03:13 PM

standard 48"x24"x24" 120 gal. yes, either way i'm getting 2 lights. i don't think 1 will provide adequate coverage

JoelNB · 11/25/2008, 03:30 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by hstac
i don't think 1 will provide adequate coverage

Who's to say you need a full coverage of intense light? You could have your highest light needing corals under the light and the others at the edges of the tank.

jblincoe · 11/25/2008, 03:38 PM

this is true, i personally keep my sps kinda centrally located at present and my lps and finally softies as you move away from center. i also have anemones which i thought liked brighter light and they hang out on the outskirts and are quite happy. works really well for a mixed reef i think.

tmorford · 12/08/2008, 09:41 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by JoelNB
I've heard that if a beam of light is pointed out through the tank side, it will be contained by the glass. Is it reflected back in? or is it wasted? What effect does the black panel have?

I am sure that some light will be reflected back into the aquarium by the glass sides, most of it must escape otherwise i dont think we would be able to see inside the tank. As for the black back i dont think it would make much difference if it was painted on the outside of the glass as the photons would interact with the glass before the paint. If the back was colored with acrylic i am sure it would absorb more light than if it were clear. thats my 2cents

geomanolo · 12/17/2008, 03:57 PM

I changed my light configuration from 2x150W MH 14000k plus 2xt5 antics
. to 2x150w MH10000k plus 4t5s (2x antic and 2x11000k)
The color is crap but the corals LOVED IT, and started growing like crazy (SPS dominated tank)
and from what i read so far 10k is the most natural temp........... and then i read that:
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2008/12/aafeature1#h1
What do you think???
I am back to where i started although my tank seems to disagree...
What do you think??

08/14/2008, 03:49 PM	#1
BlueCorn Retired Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,908	Halide Q & A http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...hreadid=624185 __________________ Doug [I]Dodging and burning are steps to take care of mistakes God made when establishing tonal relationships. ~ Ansel Adams[/I]

10/08/2008, 03:30 PM	#5
moremsgplease Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: St. Petersburg, Fl. Posts: 134	I have heard that the depth of water will cause a bulb to loose its strength. Will a 150 watt 10000ÂºK HQI double ended metal halide bulb be efficient enough to keep a mixed reef in a tank that is 24" deep? __________________ Ian Current Tank Info: 125 Gal.

10/25/2008, 05:58 PM	#10
Spideybry Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Philadelphia Posts: 91	I dont know, I have been kind of strayed away from MHs. In the long run they are expensive but the best. I prefer T5s to halides but thats just me. __________________ If you don't help noobs... they will grow... Current Tank Info: 83g Rimless Reef, 40g Frag tank

11/08/2008, 03:56 PM	#12
loof the doof Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: oregon Posts: 8	t5 or mh have used all forms of lighting over 22 yrs and mh has given me the best results by far you can get the most standard ballast and sockets that are now fairly inexpensive to maintain of course after the initial bank robbery first setup.

11/18/2008, 03:35 PM	#15
WhatIgot Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Coquitlam (Vancouver) Posts: 61	trial en error. You're going to be watching your corals closely to see what the appropriate height your lighting should be.... depends a lot on each coral and your water clarity, type of substrate, black painted back panel, etc... every tank will have different factors playing into the correct configuration so you might as well take a weekend and don't stop fiddling until everything looks happy. __________________ Happily Ever NOW! Current Tank Info: 95 display mixed reef w. 60 sump, 2 gal 'fuge. AP12 70w HQI mixed reef, 100 2X400w Frag Tank

09/20/2008, 10:53 PM	#2
seaspy Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: rockford, mi Posts: 26	Hello, I purchased a 37g column system over a year ago that has a 175w light on it with 2 55w PC actinics. I know it's time to change the bulbs, but I don't know anything about MH. The bulb that's in there is stamped MH 175W/U/14k. Other than that, I have no idea what brand it is or anything like that. Personally, I think the color of the tank is too blue. I tried to swap out one of the actinics with a 50/50 bulb, but that looked too yellow and I lost a lot of the red color in there. So I was wondering if changing the bulb to a 20k and then trying one or both 50/50 would make a difference? Or just give me your advice as to what to put in there. I have access to Ushio, Blueline, XM, AB, SPS and Iwasaki bulbs. Please help! Thanks. Should also say that I went to Sanjay's site, but as I don't know anything about MH, couldn't make sense of it really. I know my bulb is single ended, but no clue what DE, SE, etc is. Shielded, unshielded, how to tell?

09/23/2008, 11:51 AM	#3
jblincoe Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Olathe KS Posts: 30	i have a 4' long 20"deep 18" wide aquarium, have been running a 400 watt single ended MH with xm 10000k bulb about 16" off the water the reflector is just your run of the mill reflector. have been able to keep xenia, hammer coral, shrooms, zoos, etc., but having a hard time with sps have lost a lot of frags. too much light, not enough, or something else? water params test ideal. Have 2 koralia 4s on opposite sides as well as a maxi1200 with rotator and my return, i think i have flow covered as far as i can tell. your help is very much appreciated.

09/28/2008, 04:09 AM	#4
troyman Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: troy ny Posts: 1,025	use a 10000k bulb more like natural sunlight not the cool blue color

10/12/2008, 03:54 PM	#6
cybrsufr Moved On Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Richmond, Virginia Posts: 2,058	10K bulbs are great for growth, but are terrible for color. The best color temps for a good mix of growth and color are the 14K and 15K, if you are going for colors that really pop and enhance the fluorescence you would want to use 20K bulbs. Same for actinics, if you want color that pops then you would want a mix of 420nm and 460nm actinics, the 50/50 and daylight bulbs add more white light in the 10K - 12K range. It all really depends on personal preference and what corals you are keeping. Another thing to consider is that the type and brand of ballast also makes a huge difference in the actual color temp produced. There are a tn of threads on here to learn about Halide lighting, do a search for Sanjay and Lighting.

10/23/2008, 09:16 AM	#7
lkirkt Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Salt Lake City, Utah Posts: 57	If you're not sure about the color you want and have a little extra cash try this. There are some very inexpensive bulbs available on ebay, about $20.00 shipped. You can experiement with them for color ideas and then go from there. There are threads about pros and cons of these bulbs, but just to try them for color and then go to more expensive bulbs.

11/01/2008, 11:07 AM	#11
lth03 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: San Diego Posts: 173	I prefer MH over T-5,so far I see MH is the closest thing to natural sunlight that coral on the wild are growing under.

11/08/2008, 04:24 PM	#13
lth03 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: San Diego Posts: 173	These is some sort of lighting they use in the warehouse and on the street that look very similar to MH for aquarium,I wonder if they use similar magnetic ballast?

11/18/2008, 04:01 PM	#16
jblincoe Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Olathe KS Posts: 30	thanks everyone

11/18/2008, 05:14 PM	#18
jblincoe Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Olathe KS Posts: 30	well i am unsure, but black usually absorbs light. so i would guess with lots of black background you would loose some of the light that is bouncing around in your tank. my back is blue though.

11/23/2008, 04:10 PM	#19
hstac Premium Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: troy, alabama Posts: 70	i have got to upgrade my lights. my question is this... why would i choose 400w MH over 250w? i've selected my pendants (2), ballasts and bulbs but haven't decided on the wattage. ideally, i want lights that will support anything i decide to put in the tank. i have my eye on a couple of clams and i really like the LPS corals. so... 250 or 400? what's the general consensus???? __________________ always leanin' forward... Current Tank Info: 120g reef; 49g bowfront

11/24/2008, 09:15 AM	#20
jblincoe Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Olathe KS Posts: 30	i think the deciding factor is probably the depth of your tank. anything over 30" deep you will probably want to go to 400 watts, and if you have a 48" long tank like i do you will probably want two, i only have one, and am starting to think about getting another.

11/25/2008, 03:13 PM	#21
hstac Premium Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: troy, alabama Posts: 70	standard 48"x24"x24" 120 gal. yes, either way i'm getting 2 lights. i don't think 1 will provide adequate coverage __________________ always leanin' forward... Current Tank Info: 120g reef; 49g bowfront

11/25/2008, 03:38 PM	#23
jblincoe Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Olathe KS Posts: 30	this is true, i personally keep my sps kinda centrally located at present and my lps and finally softies as you move away from center. i also have anemones which i thought liked brighter light and they hang out on the outskirts and are quite happy. works really well for a mixed reef i think.

12/17/2008, 03:57 PM	#25
geomanolo Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: GR Posts: 37	I changed my light configuration from 2x150W MH 14000k plus 2xt5 antics . to 2x150w MH10000k plus 4t5s (2x antic and 2x11000k) The color is crap but the corals LOVED IT, and started growing like crazy (SPS dominated tank) and from what i read so far 10k is the most natural temp........... and then i read that: http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2008/12/aafeature1#h1 What do you think??? I am back to where i started although my tank seems to disagree... What do you think??