Just a pic for the heck of it

[Boat Racer]

Its funny I keep reading that the 20,000 k are too blue for everyones liking but in reality my tank doesnt appear blue at all.Its only blue in pics like this one.In person its very light blue and looks absolutley beautifull.

I have low watt T-5 actinics maybe thats why but I have also heard that 20,000k should promote better growth from the corals than a lesser kelvin like 14or15 k.

After these lights hit the 1 year mark I do plan to down size the Kelvin to 14or15 just to see for myself.This is intresting to me to see if growth is actualy different.

Would any of you suggest that I turn my actinics off during the period my M/H 20,000 are running to lesson the blue rays?Again the tank doesnt appear to be real blue in person as some might think.It may also be because the tank sets by the picture window in my livingroom and I also dont have any type of canopy that covers the top and directs all the light into the tank.Its an open top and the lights hang.

[know-it-all]

a lot of the blue I find depends on the ballast running the bulb
I have the electronic ballast from Hellolights.com
and it seams all bulbs run on the blue side, no matter what bulb I put in
I can take the same bulbs over to a friends house, he got his ballast from a different vendor
and all bulbs run on the whiter side on his ballast

so, wether you run a 10k, 14k, or 20k bulbs
it's all a matter of personal preference with the ballast you have

it turns out we want each others ballast, cause we like the colors they push out

[110galreef]

I just wonder if the 20K really aren't bluer than the 14/15K that in theroy they should eb.

Maybe I'll just have to try 20K next?

Anyone know where a cheap used set of 20K 250's are?

[piberoptikz]

I'm currently using HQI 10K / Actinics but I'm thinking of changing it to HQI 14K / Actinics soon. Do you guys think it will look too blue?

[Loverotties]

Sweet!

[thebutler4]

HQI lamps seem to be much whiter than Mogal type bulbs ... my buddy went from 14K Mogal (250w) to 20K HQI and the HQI are much whiter than the 14K mogal was .. so ...

[Tim224DT]

Tank looks great!


Tim

[Boat Racer]

Again Thanx guys.

I think the reason is because they are HQI that the blue is not as strong as the other type M/H.

[Viv]

From what I understand HQI (double ended bulbs) give more of a pinpoint lighting, whereas Moguls (single ended bulbs) give a wider spread of light. Of course the reflector the bulb is housed under may impact some of its spread also. The 10k is a white bulb, whereas the 14k, 20k give more blue. How the individual bulb preforms on a given ballast, well that's the work of Joshi,S.. You can check out much of his work at Aquarium Frontiers Online.

[Viv]

Sanjay Joshi has his own site: www.reeflightinginfo.arvixe.com or you can check out his website: Sanjay's Reef Aquariums. Apologize for the older site.