MH 10,000K or 20,000k

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jay

New Member
MH 10,000k or 20,000k.....
There are many different views on which is better.

I'm lost when it comes to picking one for my new tank.

I hear that the 10,000k looks some what yellowish!

Input would be GREAT!

J
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
i don't know exactly what bulbs your talking but this link may help - there is a huge variance in quality when it comes to MH but try this once - hit this link and compare say an AB 10K to a radium 20K on the same type of ballast

http://www.reeflightinginfo.arvixe.com/select2lamp.php

10K is a bit too yellow for my taste but is far better when it comes to PAR and spectrum, but if you sup with actinics it does have a very nice color, but for stand alone on a small tank 20K even though it has less PAR would be more asthetically pleasing

lighting is definitly one of your most important and expensive decisions so research well - you may find that 150DE although popular these days is not even what your looking for - i'm an SE kinda guy myself!
 
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reefman23

New Member
it is very difficult to compare 10,000k to 20,000k. Each 10,000k brand looks different, and each 20,000k brand looks different. It also depends on whether you are going for a "white" MH that you are going to add actinics to, or whether you aren't going to have actinics. Personally, I like a bluer tint from my MH, but not as blue/violet as a 20,000k...especially the Radium which is very blue, almost violet. Plus, 20,000k's don't usually have the longevity of color stabilization as some of the higher kelvins.

SO, personally, I prefer the 14,000k lamps. They are generally a nice balance between blue and white. I am IN LOVE with my new 14,000k 150 watt Phoenix.

Here is a spectrograph of a Aquaconnect 14,000k (believed to be the same manufacturer of the Phoenix), and the 20,000k Radium...



You can see the "Phoenix" in red and it has a higher spike in the "blue" 450nm range, as well as the "violet" 415-420nm range. It seems to be balanced out by the higher spike in the "yellow" 540nm range... overall GREAT color from the Phoenix. I cant see myself buying a different lamp in the future. It starts out almost too blue, but already in 3 days it has burned in nicely and is great.

If you are set on a 10,000k lamp, the Aqualine Buschke is the less "yellowish" of them.

HTH,

Jesse
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
jesse's right the phoenix 14K is a nice bulb, but those fixures your looking at means you need to buy a new bulb on top of it so IMO if you want to go 14K phoenix 150DE i would do this buy this fixture its a quality reflector:

http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem. ... uct=PF2673

and this ballast - i am a huge icecap fan! the best money can buy IMO

http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem. ... uct=IC3121

and this bulb:

http://www.marinedepot.com/aquarium_lig ... hoenix.asp

total price around 285$ and this is all top of the line components!!!
you may need to add a hanging kit (30$) and converter kit (12$ PFO to ice cap) and a fan so in the end it will be a little more but high quality components = years of service! you may find cheaper but this is as i said your most important investment and this light can be transfered to any tank any time in the future.
 
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reefman23

New Member
That would be a KILLER setup. I also had the Aromat ballast (electronic) and loved it too. Dont forget to keep an eye out on the classifieds sections of the various reefing sites.... you can almost always find great deals.

HTH,

Jesse
 
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henrystyle

New Member
bottom line.

If you want your tank to look pretty and your not to concerned with coral growth, go with the 20k.
If you want coral growth, use the 10k hqi but supplement with an actinic to get that nice blue look everyone loves.
p.s. I also had alot more coraline growth with the 20k. Coraline doesn't like the bright 10k light. It likes the dimmer blue light.
 
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