Lighting kelvin help

rolinjs · 04/28/2006, 04:06 PM

I have a 120 gallon tank. The hood is 60 inches long. Right now I have 2-175watt, 12 k MH. I am going to add another 175 MH and 2 48" VHO. My question is what Kelvin should my lighting be at for each light to get maximum growth out of sps corals. I was thinking 10k for all three of the MH's and the two VHO's be full actinics. The lighting will be about 6.2 watts/gallon. I know that is on the low side for some sps, but that is the best I can do for now.

fragaholic · 04/28/2006, 06:55 PM

10k bulbs have good par with a white/yellow look. 6500k has more par but they are yellow. You cant go wrong with vho uri actinics and 10k's. You will have good growth and I would put SPS up high in your tank since your running 175's.

Ti · 04/28/2006, 10:40 PM

6500K = max growth

bertoni · 04/29/2006, 02:14 AM

http://www.reeflightinginfo.arvixe.com/

That web site has numbers on the output of a lot of bulbs. The K rating is not really enough to go on, although the lower K bulbs do tend to be more efficient, on average, and I think the Iwasakis at 6500 K are the most efficient, currently. You might not like the color rendition, though.

04/28/2006, 04:06 PM	#1
rolinjs Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Chico, CA Posts: 63	Lighting kelvin help I have a 120 gallon tank. The hood is 60 inches long. Right now I have 2-175watt, 12 k MH. I am going to add another 175 MH and 2 48" VHO. My question is what Kelvin should my lighting be at for each light to get maximum growth out of sps corals. I was thinking 10k for all three of the MH's and the two VHO's be full actinics. The lighting will be about 6.2 watts/gallon. I know that is on the low side for some sps, but that is the best I can do for now.

04/28/2006, 10:40 PM	#3
Ti Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Bay Area Posts: 7,927	6500K = max growth __________________ Hair algae is my Macro algae.

04/29/2006, 02:14 AM	#4
bertoni RC Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA, USA Posts: 88,616	http://www.reeflightinginfo.arvixe.com/ That web site has numbers on the output of a lot of bulbs. The K rating is not really enough to go on, although the lower K bulbs do tend to be more efficient, on average, and I think the Iwasakis at 6500 K are the most efficient, currently. You might not like the color rendition, though. __________________ Jonathan Bertoni

04/28/2006, 06:55 PM	#2
fragaholic Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Roseville, CA Posts: 527	10k bulbs have good par with a white/yellow look. 6500k has more par but they are yellow. You cant go wrong with vho uri actinics and 10k's. You will have good growth and I would put SPS up high in your tank since your running 175's.