Got My Metal Halide Lamp But The Bulb Is A Little Yellow....

[craigybaby37]

Got myself a good/cheap metal halide lamp today for my tank only problem is the lamps a little on the yellow side. The unit itself is 150watts and the bulb is said to be rated at 11250K

Heres a picture anyways

http/img.photobucket.com/albums/v337/cra...tanks051107.jpg

would u reccomend i get a diff spec bulb like a 20000k?? or something like that??

 

[fiskkeeperpro]

I don't think that there is anything wrong with it, however, normally bulbs of that kelvin and used in conjunction with 20000k bulbs.

Will

 

[Musho3210]

Nothing wrong with it, some corals may even benefit from it better with its higher PAR, but it is quite ugly. Your choice really

 

[pengy666]

but it is quite ugly.

WTF??

It looks Ok to me!

GJ m8

 

[Musho3210]

WTF!!!

Its an opinion

Youve probably never had a yellow light over a reef tank anyway, try seeing one in real life in YOUR tank 8-12/7

 

[pengy666]

Forget it.

 

[Tommy Gun]

I think that what you are seeing is actually pretty normal when you are not using any actinic lighting over the tank as well. Granted, I realize that the higher the kelvin rating, the more 'blue' the light looks, but you can probably make a larger impact over your tank by sticking with the bulb you have and adding even a small amount of actinic. For example:

^ One of my tanks which has 10,000k bulbs over it, plus actinic bulbs

^The exact same tank, a few seconds later, with the actinic bulbs off

When I upgraded from that tank to my 125, which is two feet longer, the light system I had obviously couldn't cover the entire tank unless I kept it really high, but I didn't want to do that so I purchased a 24 inch Mh pendant type fixture and it now covers that last two feet. I believe the bulb is also in the 11,000k to 15,000k area and those last two feet of the tank seem a bit more yellow-ish so I am trying to find a solution to that in a cheap T5 or perhaps PC system.

As I understand it, the light you see may look slightly different to others (e.g. different variants of color blindness) so opinions can sometimes vary greatly...so that is something to consider.

The only other thing I could offer is to try adding some carbon filter media, or if you already have it, replace it and see if its not a really a water discoloration issue...but I really think it is the bulb and is somewhat to be expected.

 

[robbhp]

i ran twin 150 10k on my tank for about 6 month, then i changed to 14k and i love it. the tank seems more clear if that make any sens what so ever LOL. if i where you i would go for 14k as i love mine now

rob : good:

 

[craigybaby37]

well i brought a 20k bulb from ebay and fitted it today. its made a major change in the colour of the light its very white with a slight hint of blue which is what i was after......only problem is now it doesnt seem as bright as when i have my 2 T5's running.

but once i have my perspex lid made up (hopefully tomorow) i will hopefully be able to fit either the moon blue or daylight blue or maybe even both of them to the tank and have them running with the metal halide to five me a total of 226 watts and give the tank some real colour.

 

[Musho3210]

LED moonlights wont change anything with daylight lights on if you are using halide.

 

[craigybaby37]

they aren't led lights they are both T5 lights i want to try use along side the metal halide???

 

[Adrinal]

seem as bright and be as bright are two TOTALLY different things.

ATI T5 Blue + bulbs are like 90% the PAR of a GE day. But, to your eye the blue plus looks ... so dim (especially after checking on dozens of running lamps haha). Available photosynthetic radiance and the spectrum your eye can see are totally different animals.