Metal Halide Q&A

Discussion in 'Metal Halide Aquarium Lighting' started by Dingo, Feb 16, 2010.

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  1. Dingo

    Dingo Giant Squid

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    yes slightly visible... but in the key you can see it gives a value for CCT. They are between 9700 and 9900 which means they will be a beautiful white. The blue is present but the higher wavelength reds cancel them out to make white
     
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  3. slocal

    slocal Doot!

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    You just gave me an "Ah hah" moment ;)
     
  4. Dingo

    Dingo Giant Squid

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    good! thats what im here for ;)

    If you want any other specific bulbs I can get them
     
  5. bje

    bje Long-fin Bannerfish

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    sorry if i missed this question already i swear i didnt see it, but what is the difference between mogul and HQI?
     
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  6. veedubshafer

    veedubshafer Banned

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    Typically mogul is single ended screw in type and HQI are double ended. HQI has no outer glass envelope to filter out UV rays like the mogul style does.
     
    Last edited: Feb 25, 2010
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  7. ccscscpc

    ccscscpc Millepora

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    This is an awesome thread! I am not well versed on MH at all and want to learn all I can and this is really helping.

    I have a 135 gallon tank and have a custom made fixture I picked up a couple of weeks ago with 2 250w MH ballasts and a dual PFO ballast is running them.

    It also has 2 other PFO ballasts running 2-55w PC bulbs also.

    Couple of questions:
    I just bought the CoralVue 250w 20000k bulbs and was wondering if they are ok? I will be keeping fish and soft corals for now.

    Also what bulbs should I buy for the PC to get the best supplemental lighting to the MH bulbs I chose?

    One more....is MH safe to run...my wife is pregnant and I have another younger daughter around the tank all the time with me...she loves it. I just want to make sure they are safe.

    I am sure to have more questions....but thats it for now and once again thank you so much for this thread.
     
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  9. Dingo

    Dingo Giant Squid

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    Great question! this is actually a big misunderstanding... most people believe that the HQI are double ended bulbs, however that is not the case.

    HQI- smaller reaction area but much more intense. Because of the smaller area, they do not spread the light as far. They require a HQI or electronic ballast to power them. Generally, since they are driven harder, the color temperature is lower than what they claim. (ex. a 14k may look closer to a 12k) and it is hard to reach a "true" 20k temperature. They are mostly DE bulbs but occasionally you will find a HQI SE bulb.

    Mogul- larger reaction area and more broad region of dispersal. They can be powered by HQI, electronic, or magnetic ballast and they are not typically driven as hard as a HQI bulb (depends on the ballast). The color temperature has a much larger range and some bulbs marketed as 20k actually go wayy beyond the 20k temperature. It is easier to reach farther and more broad with these bulbs, however since it is not as concentrated, you will get very slightly lower PAR as you would with a HQI.
     
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  10. Dingo

    Dingo Giant Squid

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    Firstly, MH is safe to run... you are going to get a small amount of UV radiation from your lights but all of it is absorbed/runs out of energy within the first few inches of water. No harm to your family!
    Are your new bulbs coralvue reeflux 20k or just the coralvue 20k? the reeflux are much better but still nothing compared to a south pacific sunlight, ushio, radium, or phoenix.
    Your bulbs will easily keep any corals you want (6500K-10K is for growth, 14k is for looks and okay growth, and 20K is mostly for looks only)

    Your bulbs are going to be blue so you can put anything you want in for the supplemental PC... you may actually want to put in some 10K bulbs to make it a little less blue and to get some more growth :)
     
  11. ccscscpc

    ccscscpc Millepora

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    Thanks...thats a relief about anything harmful.

    I think my bulbs are just the coralvue 250w 20000k. Shoot....I want growth...I think i should return them.

    Do you know what bulbs I should get that will work with my PFO dual 250w ballast that I can choose from?
     
  12. Dingo

    Dingo Giant Squid

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    I would go with either south pacific sun 10K (they have a light blue color) or a ushio 14k (crisp icy color). If you want more blue go with phoenix 14K. If you want completely growth go with iwasaki 6500K (they are very yellow and ugly though!!!)

    Your ballast is very strong and it overdrives the bulbs so you are going to get the colors to be more "white or yellow" than normal... but heres some bulbs so you can compare their light output. PPFD is PAR
    coralvue 20K
    [​IMG]
    ushio 10K
    [​IMG]

    According to the data, the ushio has a much higher PAR= a lot more growth.
    Interestingly though, the coralvue 20K has a color temperature that is near 6100K? this could be from running them on PFO or it could just be inaccurate. When you run the coralvue 20K's on that ballast what color do they look like? blue, white, or yellow?