Help me with my Light coloring.

[Kavy]

Well it is time to replace all my bulbs.

As of now. my setup is

2x 250W 15K Halides
4x 65W 50/50 Compact flourescent.

The color seems good but I was wondering if I could get better colors out of my recordias and Zoas. The Coral colors seem dull in my tank compared.


Should I

Go white-er with my halides and blue-er with my Compacts?
Go BLue-er with my halides and white-er with my compacts?
Or just Stay with what I got?

[naesco]

Originally Posted by Kavy

Well it is time to replace all my bulbs.

As of now. my setup is

2x 250W 15K Halides
4x 65W 50/50 Compact flourescent.

The color seems good but I was wondering if I could get better colors out of my recordias and Zoas. The Coral colors seem dull in my tank compared.


Should I

Go white-er with my halides and blue-er with my Compacts?
Go BLue-er with my halides and white-er with my compacts?
Or just Stay with what I got?

Another option for you is to look at the cost of replacing the bulbs. Look also at the cost of replacing them every 9 months.
Compare this to the cost of upgrading to an LED system. see www.fish-street.com which is the least expensive LED system I am aware of.
LED make ricordia, zoas and every other florescent coral simply pop out at you.

[Lampshade]

I have the same lights over my 6 foots tank right now. I use 2 URI super actinics 2 fiji purples and I use 2 XM 10K bulbs. I get great growth and the color seems very natural to me. I used 15K's for awhile, but the coral liked the 10K's better, so i'm sticking with that for now.

A lot of personal preference in what you like, some people want their tanks like some techno nightclub, others don't like that UV look.

[ScubaSteve]

Really depends what you are wanting. For me, night club it up! I'd suggest getting rid of the two 65W 50/50's and replace them with full actinics. I recommend UVL Actinics from BRS. They're Awesome! That alone will make a big difference for you in getting the "pop" out of your rics and zoas. That's where I'd start and that's the cheapest to start with. Try two on one side for now and compare to what you have on the other side.

The more blue you go, the more intense the colouration will be in your corals (usually... it's not always the case). Some people go to 20K's for exactly this reason... but with the sacrifice of growth. I find a lot of 15K bulbs to actually be a little blasse. The only mid-K halide that I really like are the Phoenix 14K's. They are more blue than your average 14K or 15K but still give pretty good growth. I love 'em and likely won't switch to another bulb again.

Just from my own experimentation I have found rics and zoas LOVE flat, blue light... like what you would get from a T5 fixture with actinics and purples. Using actinic PCs will help with this when using halides.

One question I have to ask is, are your zoas and rics brown (low water quality, no light) or stressed out (pale,dull)? Not doubting your reefkeeping skills; just want to make sure lighting in the cause before you throw $$$ at it.

[chandigz]

14k pheonix hqi and 430nm actinic/460nm blue compact if you can find them. The 50/50 actinic/blue compact really brought out my blues and made everything pop. I love this combo. I plan to stay with it.

[Kavy]

Thanks for all the info guys

ScubaSteve. You might be on to something with Reefkeeping skillz.

I am a little sluggish with water chages and chaging my lights
(I have had them in for 2 years now)

I have more of a fish tank than coral tank cause I do realize I need to be more on the ball with Corals. Hense why my tank is full of Rics, Zoas, Pallies, mushrooms and some leathers. They multiply like hell and dont mind a "dirty" tank due to all my large fish.

I am also having a break out in flat worms that may be stressing everything out.

I am going to address the flat worm issue first. Hopefully giving them less stress. Then
because I do need to change my light bulbs anyway (way overdue) I will do that and see if I find a difference.

Hopefully I see some improvement.

I will let you guys know


Thanks again!

[daniella3d]

around 1000$, how is that going to be cheaper?

One can buy 250w MH from ebay for 15$ each and they do the job very well. My sps grow very fast and I use the cheapo "plusright" MH 14k.

If LED would be around 300$ or 400$ then I would think it's reasonable, but at that price, it's just plain outragous.

Originally Posted by naesco

Another option for you is to look at the cost of replacing the bulbs. Look also at the cost of replacing them every 9 months.
Compare this to the cost of upgrading to an LED system. see www.fish-street.com which is the least expensive LED system I am aware of.
LED make ricordia, zoas and every other florescent coral simply pop out at you.

[Reefie]

What are the dimensions of your tank? I use 2 of the Vertex Illumilux 12" modules, and WOW do the colours POP! J&L has them in stock, also.

http://www.jlaquatics.com/product/vt...2+Inch%29.html

Originally Posted by daniella3d

around 1000$, how is that going to be cheaper?

One can buy 250w MH from ebay for 15$ each and they do the job very well. My sps grow very fast and I use the cheapo "plusright" MH 14k.

If LED would be around 300$ or 400$ then I would think it's reasonable, but at that price, it's just plain outragous.