Decisions galore

[Samper]

I've found some awesome deals on halides lately through various forums. The problem is that I need a little imput from you guys before I make the plunge. I love the look of the 20ks but I need to know if any of you like the 10s more. When I have my pcs on the 10ks show me so much detail that I might miss out on if everything was blue all the time. I'm afraid that if I go with the 20s I'll miss things happening to an extent. Anyone else feel this way about them or can anyone set my mind at ease? Just seems like the brighter white light shows more detail at times.

[Reefland]

There are advantages and disadvantages to each. The 20ks seems to provide much better coloration to the acropora and montipora sp. in our tank, however I think we are taking a bit of a hit on growth from not covering the lower end of the spectrum more. The 10's don't provide the intense greens and blues but the growth is better with them. Optimally, I think a mix of 10's and 20's is best and hopefully one day, we can acheive this with our tank. If that's not an option, I would go with the 10k's and good actinic supplements for an all around look.

[Samper]

I think that's my best bet also at this point. This is an idea I had but don't know if it's worth doing.....I was going to run two 10k pendants one on each end of the 75 with a 20k pendant in the middle. Then I was going to put all actinic bulbs in my coralife 48' and use that for supplementation.

[Reefland]

Nothing at all wrong with that idea, the added light will be great and the 20k in the middle will provide some nice coloration.

[Poseidon]

Yup that sounds like a plan Samper. I use 2 10K's with a single 6 ft VHO actinic over my tank. I really like the coloration, it seems "just right" to me And the GROWTH is just fantastic that way...

This is my red Monti when I bought it:

it was about 3/4" wide by 2" in long.

Here it is today, well last week:

I would say it is at 7" across now! That was just over 6 months time! Make sure to keep Ca and Alk levels right too of course or it won't matter what light you have! ;;

[ricksreef]

i like my 14K's ;)

[kevinpo]

Lighting is always a tough one. You must consider that all 10,000K bulbs are not the same color and you can vary the color of any bulb depending on what ballast you drive it with. This is also true with 20,000K bulbs. Another variable is double ended (DE) or single ended (mogul) type bulbs. All the DE require a HQI type ballast to run them properly. They put out more light intensity on average than the mogul type bulbs. They are also lower profile (about 2" less) and therefore can fit in tighter spaces.

A couple of examples are a 10,000K mogul Ushio driven by a PFO standard magnetic ballast looks a bit yellow but not too bad if mixed with some actinics of some sort. Drive it with a HQI ballst and it becomes much brighter (15-20%) and more blue. For a Radium 20,000K mogul bulb it becomes more white and brighter when diven by the HQI ballast.

I like the Coralvue 10,000K 400W mogul bulb driven by a HQI ballast the best. It looks like a 14,000K bulb. I get about 1" a month on average growth and the blues and greens are fantastic but the reds are not as nice. I have always used mogul bulbs because I run 400W bulbs and they were the only ones available. If I were going to run 250W'ers I would go with DE's. I have PFO and Coralvue 400W DE assemblies on the way to do some testing.

HTH,
Kevin

[Samper]

guys thanks very much for the info.

Everyone seems to recommend the de bulbs so I think I wanna go that route.
I'd like to have one ballast to run them all if that's possible but I would be happy with one ballast for the two 10ks and one for the 20k. Any particular brands that you guys are partial to for ballasts, bulbs and pendants?

[Poseidon]

I have 2 IceCap HQI ballasts that drive my mogul based bulbs. If at a later date I want to go to DE these ballasts will work. I bought them from www.oceanencounter.com I got my ballasts, bulbs, and reflectors for just under $500. Then I spent about $100 on the VHO. I would recommend the electronic ballasts for you, if for no other reason they are SMALL. Plus they run cool to the touch and supposedly cost less to run. I am convinced my tank costs 40-50 dollars a month all by itself on my electric bill!

[Samper]

I've read a few books and endless posts on forums and so far lighting is the hardest thing for me to figure out.

I know I want DE bulbs 2 10k and 1 20k but I don't know what kind
I know I need electronic ballasts for the wattage used and the size but I don't understand the difference in the ways ballasts start the bulbs aka pulse/magnetic etc.
And I can't figure out if I should spend the serious cash and get a nice fully assembled fixture or risk buying my pieces seperately and something stupid like the reflector not be the right kind. I also don't understand why some lights have a uv shield and some don't, and if I need one with the bulbs I want. Heat is always a concern. I plan on running an open top for gas exchange if this helps you give any advice.