MH and T5

[DarG]

I'm going to get my feet wet with Hetal Halide for the first time. I need some advice. I have some experience with VHO and T5 and have a handle on the lamp combinations for both those setups that appeal to me from a color perspective. But I have never use metal halide before. For right now I will be experimenting with 2 150 watt DE bulbs in combination with 4 54 watt T5's. I have a good selection of T5 to experiment with and I'd like to have some extra 150 watt de's as well.

From reading, it seems that the flourescent supplemental lamps tend to be 420 or 460nm or a combination. I assume that in this case that most people would go with white halide like maybe 10000K? I'm looking to achieve a crisp white/blue color where the blue is not overwhelming but distinctly noticeable. I guess this would be around a 14000K kind of look. But I have no idea which 10000K SE halides are white white and which tend toward yellow. Perhaps I should be looking at 14000K halides and then experimenting more with the t5's?

Any suggestions on which halides, brand and kelvin, will give me something close to what I am describing (trying to describe) in combination with 4 54 watt T5's?

Any help would be great as I am literally in the dark when it comes to Halides. Please.

Thanks

[Ti]

Try hamilton 14k, very crisp white

[homebrewdude]

I am trying to find the same info...
Something that looks like 14k

What has a whiter look?
Coralvue 10k vs XM 10k

It seems that the type of ballast can change the look also.

[supertech3]

make sure you look at par ratings, sanjays results color temp or you will end up with blue but no growth

[homebrewdude]

It seems from what I have seen the XM 10K is more yellow then the Coralvue 10K....

[DarG]

Isn't the Coralvue the reeflux that has a bunch of comments here at RC? Something about some of the 10000K's being pink looking and some not. And the 120000K's looking great to alot of people but not having much par at all.

I thought that was the Coralvue reeflux unless the reeflux is an entirely different bulb.

[homebrewdude]

I thought they were 2 different bulbs?

You can buy a coralvue bulb or a reeflux bulb

The coralvue is cheaper

[DarG]

I was kinda asking that. I just checked, they are different bulbs, sorry for the confusion.

Like I said, I'm in the dark, literally, when it comes to metal halide.

Sorry.

[homebrewdude]

I just ordered 2 reeflux 10K bulbs
See how they compare to my coralvue 10k bulbs

[DarG]

What I'm basically looking to find out is what combination of 2 150 watt DE HQI's and 4 54watt T5's would give a comparable color as ...

VHO 2 110watt 50/50 + 2 110watt 03 actinic

or

T5 54 watt ... 2 10000K , 2 420nm (Geissman), 2 460nm and 2 12000K (ATI Aquablue Special)?

Both of the above combos give a crisp white with a noticeable blue tint not overwhelmingly blue at all.

I guess I need someone who has used both VHO and T5 at some point in their tanks as well as Metal Halide.

I think that I need to find 2 150 watt DE Halides that aren't yellow at all, that are white-white with a decent PAR so that in combination with 216 watts of blue and actinic T5 I would have a crisp white with the blue tint of the T5's.
I think that if I end up with 300 watts of 10000K halides that tend toward yellowish, that the 216 watts of blue T5's would still be unable to shift the color enough to cover up the yellow. So I probably need the Halides to be a white white or with just a hint of blue but still have good par.

Since I don't have an endless supply of cash, I'd like to make a good choice on the halides the first time out.

[DarG]

Homebrew ... what do your Coralvue 10000K's look like? Do they have some yellowish tint? Crisp White? White Blue?

[homebrewdude]

They are white to me..
I need to figure out how to white balance my camera with my tank.

I will take some pics with coralvue vs reeflux.

I am also running 2 T5's
Giessmann actnic
and a generic blue+ type bulb

[jiggly75]

I would go with 10k. Even if they are a little bit of yellow at first you won't notice with the t5 blue supplementation.. Most 10k's are slightly yellow for the first week or two until they burn in.

Two t5's will be more than enogh in my opinion. It will look great. I use 3 250 watt AB HQI 10k's and 2 T5's for blue suppl.

[homebrewdude]

What type of T5's?

[DarG]

Homebrew ... Cool. Do you think that 2 150 watt coralvue 10000K's with 4 T5's, two 420's and two blue+ would give a crisp white with a noticeable blue tint?

How are those coralvues supposed to be in terms of par?

Are the reeflux 10000K supposed to be bluer? I know you haven't gotten them yet but are you trying them because they are supposed to be whiter/bluer? or have better PAR number?

Thanks for putting up with my questions, I appreciate it.

[homebrewdude]

From what I have read they reeflux should be more blue with less par.

I have no idea about your lighting, I am new to all of this.
I think yours might end up being too blue.
I am only running 1 blue+ and 1 420 and I have a hint of blue..

[DarG]

Thanks Homebrew. The good things is that I quite a few T5 lamps. So, I can always swap out one or 2 of the blues for10K T5's if I end up too blue. I just don't want to end up with the 10K K halides that are pee yellow.

[homebrewdude]

Look at some pics of bulbs.

As you can see the coralvue 10k are not as yellow as most others.

http://www.cnidarianreef.com/lamps.cfm

[DarG]

Those are 250 watt se bulbs though. Not sure how well that would compare to 150 watt de bulbs.

[homebrewdude]

I dunno... but I have 250 watt SE

[homebrewdude]

Here are some photos.

Coralvue 10k only - both sides



Coralvue 10K with T5's



Reeflux 10k vs coralvue 10k




I like the color of the 10k reeflux much better.
The store shipped me a 12k and a 10k reeflux bulbs.
The messed up, so after I get the correct 10k bulb I will post more pics