11 replies to this topic

[stinky]

My current setup can be seen below and is as such :

3 x 250W CoralVue Ballast
3 x 250W Reeflux 12K SE
Used : 14 months

No Fluorescent Tubes.

Tank = 2ft deep to sandbed

My main complain = Not enough Actinic. Zoas mainly are losing their color. So, currently, all my nice zoa are in my sump blasted with Actinic!! Rics color are also muted.

Regarding par value, not sure if growth is good or not, cause I kept my first SPS with Reeflux. So, nothing to compare against.

OK, time to change ... but not sure what combination ... all so confusing.


FLUORESENT TUBES

Option 1 : 3 x URI 110W + icecap 430 ballast = 330W of light
Issue : Heard that quality of URI tubes have dropped recently.

Option 2 : 6 x (T5 Actinic 54W + reflector) + icecap 430 ballast = 324W of light
Issue : I heard that URI can use for 12 months, but T5 for 6 months only. Also, URI option is much cheaper, since a reflector is not needed. Both options gives me about 330W of light.

As my zoas, rics, etc are on the sandbed 2ft down, which option will give me the best light penetration??

Which will give me the BEST value for money Actinic??


MH LIGHTING

I'm using CoralVue Ballast, and have no idea how it affect the different bulbs. My data collection is as such:

ReefLux 12 K = Using now ... no major issues. But heard from others that par is not enough.

BLV = Heard many FAKES and made in China.

CoralVue = No info

FAUNA MARIN = No Info.

Giesemann = Saw Coral & Marine with magnetic ballast = VERY VERY YELLOW.

Hamilton = VERY GOOD, but only last for 6 months!!!

Solarmax = No info

Ushio = No info

XM = Not so good, according to another reefer.


TOTAL PACKAGE

I hope to have enough par for SPS, and that combined lights will have a light blue tint. Also, hopefully, it will have enough actinic for zoa to retain its color.

These are the options I'm considering ...

Option 1: 2 x (10K to 14K) MH ..... 1 x 20K MH ..... No Fluorescent
Issue : Not sure if the 20K MH can give me the "glow" I hope for.

Option 2 : 3 x (12K to 14K) MH ..... Additional fluorescent actinic
Issue : Should give good color, but worried about par. Enough???

Option 3 : 3 x 10K MH ..... Additional fluorescent actinic
Issue : Worried about tank being TOO yellow ... so yellow that the actinic cannot balance it up!!


Sooo confused!!!
Please advice ... all comments welcome!!!

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[stinky]

Check this out!!

http://chrismorris.ca/250wcolour/

Iwasaki 6500K = 705 par
XM 10000K = 612 par
AB 13000K = 577 par
Blueline Superwhite = 524 par
Sun 10000K = 520 par
Ushio 10000K = 495 par
CoralVue 10000K = 330 par
Radium = 289 par
CoralVue 20000K = 281 par
PFO 13000K = 253 par
XM 20000K = 247 par
CoralVue 15000K = 247 par
Hamilton 14000K = 218 par

The highly rated Hamilton has the lowest par!!!

[Iceman]

IMHO, For colour i'll go for option 2. Addition of 4 x actinic. But the growth will be slow.

I have tried option 1 and 3 before.
For option 1 My combination is 2 x 10k at the side and 1 x 12k in the middle. with 2 x 110w VHO actinic as supplement.
The colour don really blend in. From the pic u can see that the center part is actually blue compare to the side.



As for option 3 i tried before 10k BLV with magnetic ballast, with 2 x 110w VHO actinic as supplement. Here's a pic of hoe it look. Not really yellow


HTH

[stinky]

Thanks iceman!!! You have convienced me NOT to use Option 1!!!

From the par value chart above, XM 10K seems to be powerful, and from the picture in the link, color is not so yellow.

Anyone used XM 10K before?? Good?? Does it hold its spectrum for the life of the bulb??

[Iceman]

Thanks iceman!!! You have convienced me NOT to use Option 1!!!

From the par value chart above, XM 10K seems to be powerful, and from the picture in the link, color is not so yellow.

Anyone used XM 10K before?? Good?? Does it hold its spectrum for the life of the bulb??

I tried before, but it need a magnetic ballast to drive the blub.

[stinky]

Iceman, nice color!!! You are using 10k BLV with magnetic ballast, with 2 x 110w VHO actinic.

1. Is the VHO actinic URI? or is there another 110w VHO actinic? I'm also considering 110w VHO actinic.
2. If I run the 10K BLV on e-ballast, would the color be more blue or yellow? I'm using coralvue ballast.
3. With my current Reeflux 12K MH, my zoa loses its color. Your zoa color looks great!! So, is the color retension mainly from the 110w VHO actinic? I'm curious, cause I'm narrowing down between BLV 10K or Hamilton 14K.
4. Finally, any particular reason why you choose BLV vs Hamilton? It might be personal taste ... I'm thinking of more of life span, par, growth, or coral color.

Sorry for so many questions ... really no experience in these bulbs!!!

Thanks in advance!!!

Edited by stinky, 04 May 2008 - 11:39 PM.

[Iceman]

1. Yes it URI.

2. It slightly on the Yellow side when i use Coralvue ballast.

3. I think mainly it from the actinic.

4. Didn't try hamilton blub before. I chose BLV cos it not so yellowish when diving it with an e-ballast compare to XM it much better choice.

[stinky]

Guys, I'm now planning the following configuration ... 3 x 250 SE MH with 2 or 4 x 110W URI. Now, don't know if I should get Hamilton blub 14K or BLV 10K.

Can anyone who have experience with both bulbs share experiences regarding growth or coloring??

Thanks.

[larryng21]

maybe you can also try out LED lighting from www.oceanus-light.com ...this will be another good alternative for SPS as well.. save power some more.

[Mr@west]

maybe you can also try out LED lighting from www.oceanus-light.com ...this will be another good alternative for SPS as well.. save power some more.

I think it's too Ex......liao .

[tlwong]

Guys, I'm now planning the following configuration ... 3 x 250 SE MH with 2 or 4 x 110W URI. Now, don't know if I should get Hamilton blub 14K or BLV 10K.

Can anyone who have experience with both bulbs share experiences regarding growth or coloring??

Thanks.

IMO Reeflux 12000k is a nice bulb with crisp white color & descent par value. All u need to pop up the colors of zoas is to add in some blue & actinic as supplements.

Hamilton 14000k by itself is sufficiently bluish & may be some actinic addition alone will do the trick.

For BLV 10000k yellowish color is expected after sometime & blue supplement is necessary in most cases. Add in some actinic for fluorescence & u have tons of par.

[stinky]

Update:

Currently, I've decided on using coralvue ballast + BLV 14K. Many people commented that it will look too yellow, but I found it to be OK in my setup ... In fact, I'm starting to like the current yellow white tone more than the blue tone.

I noticed that coralvue ballast kinna under drive the bulbs, so they are less yellow than using with other ballast.

I think par value is higher than with my previous reeflux 12K, cause my yellows & blues are starting to come out.

Next time, I'll try with BLV 10K and and see if I can stand the yellow!!