Metal Halide bulbs

[RyanG]

Can somebody explain Metal Halide terminology to me a little better.

What does SE and DE mean?

Is XM a brand or type of bulb?

What is HQI vs Mogul type?

The sockets that I have are for screw in type. What would these be considered?

My eyes tend to like a blue-blue white coloration. I will be running in this order 250w magnetic 400w electronic 250w magnetic. I plan on running 4x80w Icecap powered actinic T5s. Should I go 10k on the Halides and let the T5s provide the blues? Anyone know of a good place to get 80w T5s? Is geisman the only maker of the 80w T5Vhos?

Im terrible with lighting sorry for a simplton thread.

 

[jhnrb]

SE - Single end
DE - Double End
XM - brand
Mogul - heavy duty screw shell
HQI - double ended Halide quick insert

Screw in type are Mogul

Im currently using 11K+ for the halides and atinic o3 for the compacts. you would probably like the 12K with atinic 03 for the T-5's. or you could go to the 14k for even a more blue effect. I will be going to the 14K mh next with the atinic 03 compacts as supplements.

 

[ccCapt]

I believe Giesmann is the only 1 that makes a 60" 80w bulb, at least thats the only brand Hello Lights sell. If this is for the 180, why not go with 2 36" bulbs to cover the entire width of the tank. I'm pretty sure all the 72" T5 fixtures are actually 36" bulbs.

Check Sanjays site for MH bulb comparisons.

 

[McCrary]

Yea, I don't think that 72" lights are out right now, but I might be wrong. I use 2x250w SE 10K Ushio halides and 2x54w Giesemann T5's in 420nm (purplish). It creates a nice crisp white look with a tinge of blue. When I setup the tank the Aquaconnect 14K SE bulbs weren't out yet, so to get a good PAR rating you pretty much had to use 10K bulbs. Halides have a tendency to wash out the actinics a little due to the disparity in wattage (108 watts of T5 v. 500 watts of 10K halides). If you are looking for a bluer look, the 14K halides with the T5's may be a better choice, especially since the tank is only 24" tall and the high PAR isn't going to be quite as necessary. But if you want quick SPS growth its hard to beat a PAR near 400.

 

[Bifferwine]

I used to use 10K halides in combination with actinic T5s, but like McCrary pointed out, the halides just overpower any blue that the T5s put out. I'm much happier since I switched to 14K halides, but in the future if I can find them easily, I'd consider using 11K 12K halides to improve coral growth.

 

[reeffreak]

No,no,no!

ATI and GE also makes 80 watters.

ATI has better PAR,check Grimreapers thread on RC.

All three 80 watter companies can be bought at Reefgeek.com

 

[McCrary]

If the actinics are being used in addition to halides I wouldn't worry about the PAR too much (although it doesn't hurt to have a little more), the halides are going to provide the majority of light to the coral and the actinics are going to make things a little bluer and "pop" a little better.

 

[Oscarsdad608]

For the 250 watters I use 12k reeflux. When I put them on they almost looked to blue. I was running ushio 10k and they were completely white with vho actinics.

 

[lightcs4]

For the 250 watters I use 12k reeflux. When I put them on they almost looked to blue. I was running ushio 10k and they were completely white with vho actinics.

Hey OscarsDad, what do you think of the Ushio bulbs? I've heard a lot of good things about them and my LFS is willing to special order just about anything for me (just talked to them today about corals, as well as bulbs). Appreciate any input.

 

[Ironman]

keep in mind that every brand kelvin rating isnt really the same, so when someone recomends you use a 12k or 14k, that doesnt mean you can go buy any 14k and it will look the same. I personally have used alot of brands of bulbs. my purpose is more astetics than growth. i find that once things start growing they get out of hand. but i have found that for mogul bulbs I love the color of hamiltons 14K. Has good par and great color. I found that for double ended bulbs phoenix makes a great 14K bulbs, very similiar in color to hamiltons. both have a nice crisp white blue. brings out the colors of the corals without making everything look dim. And i get great sps and lps growth out of both.

And for what its worth, HQI isnt a type of bulb, it is a type of ballast. you can run a double end bulb or mogul bulb on a hqi ballast.
hope this help

 

[d.french]

i have 72" outer orbit and run 3 150 watt double end phoenix bulbs and fixture has 4 96 watt pc bulbs so i run 2 10k bulbs in front and 2 blue actinic 460nm in back and my color in tank is nice crisp blue but higher up in back of tank at top of live rock it is bluer since pc actinic bulbs are in back plus i use a reflective background on my tank which makes the light in tank much brighter without to many shaded spots. Not sure if it matters but since i went with 14k bulbs i have had less algae problems and now there is now hair algae at all since i ditched 10k halides.

 

[lightcs4]

Ironman,

Thanks for the tip. I'm really interested in hearing about any good HQI bulbs for that exact reason. I won't have to change my HQI bulb for several months yet, but find the vendor makes a big difference. I would like to settle on a vendor well before I have to change bulbs. I also don't really know what I want as far as growth goes as I haven't even put my first coral in the tank, although I am stongly leaning toward a blasto (as I told my daughter she could have first pick and she likes the blastos, especially the Blastomussa merletti).

 

[RyanG]

Hey reef are any of those 80 watters available in a 72 inch bulb? Im looking at them for bulb life due to using Icecap ballasts not really for their output.

 

[reeffreak]

Ryan,

I believe they are only available in 48''(80w).They don't even make 72'' long T5 bulbs,they do go up to 60'' though.T5 are really ''thin as a twig'' so long bulbs are way to easy to break.I wouldn't use anything longer than 48'' although 36'' bulbs is what I would use.

 

[Oscarsdad608]

The ushio 10ks were great for growth in my sps, but you really have to watch out for bleaching. They were also as white as the come. Just my 2 pennies. I would go reeflux 12ks if you want alittle blue.

 

[McCrary]

What happened when your SPS bleached? I run Ushio 10K bulbs and I would hate to have my SPS bleach, are there any signs to look for?

 

[Oscarsdad608]

Sps will turn white and start losing their color. Watch your polyp extension. I think my problem was not acclimating them to the lights long enough.