Which "K" for my MH bulbs?

[MikeP]

I'm going to buy some MH bulbs for the 190g reef I'm setting up. My ballasts will run 175 watts and I have two. I know that is not quite enough wattage but I will add more lights when I get things going. Right now I need to know what "k" I should go with. I can choose between 14000k and 20000k, the prices of the bulbs are the same. Which should I order?

Thanks

[OCDP]

Originally Posted by MikeP

I'm going to buy some MH bulbs for the 190g reef I'm setting up. My ballasts will run 175 watts and I have two. I know that is not quite enough wattage but I will add more lights when I get things going. Right now I need to know what "k" I should go with. I can choose between 14000k and 20000k, the prices of the bulbs are the same. Which should I order?

Thanks

I'd go for 14k , personally.. They give off a nice blue/white , as with 20k on some bulbs it's just far too much blue. Having said that, I have found that higher K bulbs obviously produce great colours in your corals... as with 14k it's a nice combo of colour and growth, at least IME

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Also, check out the 10000k Coralvue Reeflux bulbs. They are a very bright white with a hint of blue. Much nicer 10000k than many other bulbs I've seen on tanks (many have a hint of yellow). Also you get the higher PAR readings of 10000k, which your underlit system could probably benefit from. Many of the higher k bulbs sacrifice PAR for blue light aesthetics.

JME,

Anthony

[muck]

10K would be a nice crisp white look, 20k would have more of a bluer look to it and 14k would be a combination of both. Of course this varies with bulb manufactures as some 10k bulbs can look very yellow and some 20k bulbs can look more like a 14k.

10k bulbs also generally put out more Par (Photosynthetically Available Radiation) and a 20k bulb less Par. The more par your lights put out the more available for your corals to use. The more available the better the growth and color (also dependant on a host of other variables).

I'll give you my opinion of what I would buy. I'd first look at the brands and determine the PAR rating for the bulb using the ballasts you currently have. Different ballasts will output different amounts of PAR using the same bulb. Id want something that outputs a lot of PAR. (10k) Especially since you will be running 175W bulbs over a 190G tank. If you don't like the white look you could add some VHO or T5 actinics to give your tank that bluer look you are wanting and not sacrafice the par output.

[muck]

Originally Posted by SeaHorse_Fanatic

Also, check out the 10000k Coralvue Reeflux bulbs. They are a very bright white with a hint of blue. Much nicer 10000k than many other bulbs I've seen on tanks (many have a hint of yellow). Also you get the higher PAR readings of 10000k, which your underlit system could probably benefit from. Many of the higher k bulbs sacrifice PAR for blue light aesthetics.

JME,

Anthony

Which ballasts are you running them on Anthony?

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

For my 150w DE, I'm running them on my Coralife Aqualight Pro system & for the 175w SE, I'm running them on a used system that I believe was originally from BAs. Not sure what ballast because it's inside a black metal casing. Regardless, very happy with this brand bulb.

Anthony

[GMGQ]

If you're just starting a new reef, you'd want 10K to promote growth.

Once your corals have reached a satisfactory growth level, Then move on to 14K or 20K. The blue light makes the corals' colours pop out (almost like black light and fluorescent clothing), but growth will be noticeably slower than 10K.

I also agree with what Muck is saying about having bulbs with enough PAR to penetrate the depth of your 190gal tank.

[albert_dao]

Aquaconnect is reknowned for its 14k bulb. I'm sure Jason at Proline could chime in here.

[wayner]

I run the Reeflux bulbs - for best results, I would run them off of electronic ballasts, I run a 400w 10k reeflux off an e-ballast and really like the color, nice white/blue, I also run a 250W dE 10k reeflux which I find is a bright white and hardly any blue, so when I change this bulb out I'll go with the reeflux 12K de