6500 k to 10k halide bulbs

[Ed4567]

ED4567, Newbie15 wasn't using a 6500k bulb, he was using a 5500k bulb.

Nope but sadly these are so rarely used in the hobby that no-one has bothered doing an analysis of them. Also:
a) When he asked the question everyone thought he was using a 6500K bulb (look at the title).
b) Since a 5500K bulb is even further from the blue end of the spectrum the PAR will IMO be slightly higher, and I can't imagine that 100K would make a great difference...

edit: smilie thing appeared for b)

 

[Ed4567]

Oh and in my experience (and if you look at the website I added a link to in a previous page) bulbs tend to shift their spectrum slightly to the yellow end of the spectrum as they age so I would leave the new lamp in a while before you decide if you like it or not.

 

[amstar15]

yes even i thought that i was using a 6500k bulb (thats what i ordered) and when they came in with the halide fixtures i just threw them in and didnt pay attention. so when I changed them I found that they were actually 5500k bulbs. so i went from very yellow to very blue in using the 10k bulbs.

right now my halides are on 9:30 to 9 pm. the actinics are on 8:30 till about 10:15, then my moonlights are about 10pm till 11:30 pm.

all of my corals look great.... fish are doing well. i am fragging at least one different coral a week at this point. its started to slow down though.

 

[superman]

yes even i thought that i was using a 6500k bulb (thats what i ordered) and when they came in with the halide fixtures i just threw them in and didnt pay attention. so when I changed them I found that they were actually 5500k bulbs. so i went from very yellow to very blue in using the 10k bulbs.

right now my halides are on 9:30 to 9 pm. the actinics are on 8:30 till about 10:15, then my moonlights are about 10pm till 11:30 pm.

all of my corals look great.... fish are doing well. i am fragging at least one different coral a week at this point. its started to slow down though.

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The lighting period for your halides isa bit on the long side. Most of us don't have our halides on any longer than about 6 hours. This shorter intense lighting period mimmics nature better, since the amount of time that the sun is at it's most intense peak is actually rather short (around 4-6 hours) Many people that are trying to get their sps corals to color up nicely are having great results from shortening their time periods down to 4 hours (and in some cases even less) of halide lighting. When trying to cut back on your halide lighting period do so very slowly, I would cut back a half hour a week until you are at the length of time that you want to try. Shortening your lighting period will also help guard against nuisance algaes as well, since they will have less intense light to use for growth.

 

[amstar15]

i have no problems let along ANY sign of algae in my main tank. yes i think the timing maybe alittle long... i may drop it to about 9 hours. and slowly as fall approaches drop it to 7 or 7 1/2. i like to look at my fish and corals. everythings coral is great and everything is growing very well.