Ok...I suspect that this has been dealt with somewhere else...but has anyone had any experience (good or bad) with these bulbs? If so would you recommend them? Are the results the same or different depending on wattage?
20K Metal Halides
- Thread starter gadfly
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MH 20 K
Ihave them for a while now. No problem with them. They give a nice blue color. I got 2 (175W - 20K) over a 130 gal reef tank. My clam and other coral are doing very well.
Ihave them for a while now. No problem with them. They give a nice blue color. I got 2 (175W - 20K) over a 130 gal reef tank. My clam and other coral are doing very well.
My tank is a 450 g tank, I use 2 400W 20,000K Radium bulbs with HQI ballast, 2 250W XM 20,000K bulbs with regular ballast, and 1 400W 20,000K XM with regular ballast. I don't use any suplement PC or VHO. IMO, these bulbs are great for SPS an dclams. They really help my SPS color up.
20K MH
No, I do not add any supplement to the tank, beside calcium. My calcium reactor provided the trace element I need. On top of my calcium reactor, I provided a bit of turbo calcium or reef builder. If you like to see the tank, I put some pictures of it on the server of Welcome to Mail Order Pet Supply (MOPS), under Alain.
If you go, let me know what you think. These pictures were taken recently.
www.mops.ca
No, I do not add any supplement to the tank, beside calcium. My calcium reactor provided the trace element I need. On top of my calcium reactor, I provided a bit of turbo calcium or reef builder. If you like to see the tank, I put some pictures of it on the server of Welcome to Mail Order Pet Supply (MOPS), under Alain.
If you go, let me know what you think. These pictures were taken recently.
www.mops.ca
ACTINIC
Sorry, I just re-read your question. The answer is Yes.
Beside the MH, I have two VHO 110w URI Super Actinic. These VHO lights give a dark blue light but, with the metal halide on, it give a nice soft blue, about the same blue color you can see when you dive to about 25 - 30 feet.
If you go see my pictures, you will see the color it give inside the tank. But some of the pictures you will see give a more darker blue and I do not know why the pictures came out that dark. Maybe because the pictures were not taken directly in front of the tank but sideways.
Sorry, I just re-read your question. The answer is Yes.
Beside the MH, I have two VHO 110w URI Super Actinic. These VHO lights give a dark blue light but, with the metal halide on, it give a nice soft blue, about the same blue color you can see when you dive to about 25 - 30 feet.
If you go see my pictures, you will see the color it give inside the tank. But some of the pictures you will see give a more darker blue and I do not know why the pictures came out that dark. Maybe because the pictures were not taken directly in front of the tank but sideways.
Orion:
Thanks for the info. I was curious what sort of luck one might have with just the 20k metal halides. That sounds quite good.
Reefbase1:
I looked at the pictures. That's really good growth with that set-up. Looks great.
I am heading in the direction of trying 20k only on a 25 gallon set-up which has been doing pretty well (not stellar) under 65 watts of actinic / 65 watts of 10k compact fluorescent. But it seems clear that metal halide has better returns on a number of fronts.
Cheers.
Thanks for the info. I was curious what sort of luck one might have with just the 20k metal halides. That sounds quite good.
Reefbase1:
I looked at the pictures. That's really good growth with that set-up. Looks great.
I am heading in the direction of trying 20k only on a 25 gallon set-up which has been doing pretty well (not stellar) under 65 watts of actinic / 65 watts of 10k compact fluorescent. But it seems clear that metal halide has better returns on a number of fronts.
Cheers.
MH in a 25 g may be overkill. You got to account for 175 W of heat put into a 25 g. Temperature may increase quite a lot when the light is one, especially of everything is enclosed. You may be OK if you have a completly open hood or a large chiller.
Definitely a consideration. My plan was to put two fairly large fans in the canopy...even then you may be right. This is a bit experimental.