MH Growth and Coloration Tests

[ATLANTIS]

I suspect one of the most hotly debated subjects in Reefkeeping is Marine Reef Lighting. I am an advocate of MH lighting for SPS corals.

I have begun a test of 2 of the more popular MH bulb brands, Ushio & Iwasaki.

Details of my test can be found at: http://www.atlantisaquatic.com/lightingtest.html

All input is welcome.

[Flatlander]

Excellent Brian. Looked at the page, already have it on my list.

One question. Would the HQI ballast not drive the Ushio better than the standard PFO on the Iwasaki?

[Doug1]

Kewl, Tagged For Archive
I dont do MH but its such a common dilemma it will be good to have some comparison data, Then again the Iwasakis and Ushios seem to get rave reviews from users, it would be good to get input from some one that raises frags commercially.
Shameless plug time<G>
Those of you who dont know Brian runs Atlantis, one of the sponsors of this BB and a promotor of propagation

[ATLANTIS]

Doug,
Actually, you can not run an Iwasaki 6500 K bulb on a PFO HQI ballast. Sanjay told me that this combination would probably fry the bulb. You willl note he did not use them in his ballast comparisons http://www.personal.psu.edu/faculty/...omparison.html

[Doug1]

True, the HQI seems to be a totally different animal, whereas the Iwasakis are actually mercury vapor lights but will fire up on "most" available Metal halide ballasts, exception being Icecap E-ballast which is tuned to specific bulbs unless that has changed.
I know Bill-E has the 250w HQI and loves them, but they are a little more than the Iwasaki. On the other hand he has good results and pleasing color without actinic supplementation, which seems to be a fact of life with the Iwasaki 6500K.
Since i have VHO already, if I need to add MH lighting my choice would be the Iwasaki, and change my VHO to all actinic, that way I dont have to dump an uneeded lighting system.
However if I were starting from scratch and building a new system the 250w HQI(10,000K?) would be worth lookin at as the higher cost may be offset by not having to provide seperate actinics. At least that is the impression I get, if thats not true please elaborate, info is the point of this board
Since you grow SPS and other corals, that I don't I would certainly value your input, thanks for sharing

[ATLANTIS]

I have posted this information on many BB's and have gotten some great input and questions.

As a result of this new input and questions, I have updated the page with new comparative pics and much more background information
http://www.atlantisaquatic.com/lightingtest.html

Keep the input coming