that first pic looked like I would expect from a 10K bulb, a little actinic and your corals will POP out and look awsome, the second pic , mine look like that for about 20 seconds when they start up and then they go whiter over about 3 min.

the last pic is a nice color but lacking the intensity of the MH. Do you have a pic of these pendants Bob?

Steve

If you look on J&L's site under MH lighting, Pendant & Reefsun lights, then look at the Hamilton Bell Pendant, it looks the same as the Coralife pendant I have. I think Energysavers (coralife) will also have pics.

Would you be so kind as to tell me on what you base this statement :question:

I have a bell shaped pendant of which I am sure Coralife has sold thousands over the years. It is a MH pendant which originally came supplied with a Coralife 5500K bulb.

In short who says the bulb I have is nor made for vertical use :question:

I am not using the light anymore, because I don't get the ripple effect I got the light for. And the ripple effect is the only reason I would like to use MH light :eek:

As far as color and intensity goes I am very happy with the 2X65W PC fixture that is on the tank now.

if you look at bulb listings they will say weather they were designed for verticle, horazontal, or both. Given the shape of AB, USHIO, SA, and several others they were designed for horazontal use. normaly the bulbs that are ment for use in a hanging pendant are pear shaped with a large surface area at the bottom.

if you look at this bulb for example it is ment to be verticle with the base up and only a 15 degree variation is allowed
http://ecom.mysylvania.com/sylvaniab...19163302388End

this is aslo a factor because the shape of the glass cann affect the amount of PAR and the color out put of the bulb.

there are a few desagnations BU is base up, un is universal and I think H is for horazontal but I will have to double check that one.

Steve

OK excellent, you win this argument, if indeed it was an argument. I am assuming then that the bulb sold by Venki, which has a shape similar to the AB bulb I have is not meant for vertical operation (sorry about all the correct spelling :biggrin: )
I am not using the bulb at this time because I am perfectly happy with the PC fixture. I have asked someone to whip up a temporary fixture so I can rid myself of the bell pendant. If he agrees we will test it out and let you know what we find. :biggrin:

cool, I do like the pic of your tanks with the PC's the best.. I think if you could get the MH going with a couple good actinic tubes it would give you the same color though.. mind you the power usage would be a little higher.

Steve

For sure, I feel the same way. I am getting the best color rendition on my zoanthids, and the polyp extention on the few Digitata in the tank is very good. I think I will give the tank some time to settle in and see how things go. I am looking forward to a good chance I will get some Cyano, because most of the 2" sandbed is new, but I can deal with that if it happens. :biggrin:

Just a forwarning that after 3 weeks of going through ever box that was not yet unpacked looking for my mulitmeter, I finaly found it.......out in the trailer :rolleyes: so PAR tests and pics will be comming soon.

Steve