The shimmer! It burns!

[weaglereefer]

But I like it. Just got my 2x175 ballast hooked up to make sure it works (final installation is tomorrow morning's project). Gotta say, not gonna miss my T5's....

Still need to find something for actinic supplementation, though. Might give the 14k bulbs 2 weeks to burn in, then decide.

 

[mockery]

Ok it is late cause when I read that title I could have sworn it said Skimmer not shimmer.

But back to the OP, that is the thing I love most about my MH is that shimmer on the water and even the reflection it cast on the floor!!

 

[weaglereefer]

Haha, yeah, definitely cool, and with the hood, there seems like there's less light cast into the living room.

I really hope the bulbs color up, though. One looked good, but one looked yellowish. They're the same bulb, but I'll switch them around tomorrow and make sure it's not something with the ballast.

 

[mockery]

What bulbs are you using?

 

[smoothie]

Are you gonna supplement with t5's or vho's?
Ya know we need pics right? Gotta get our fix of progress

 

[weaglereefer]

I'm thinking I want VHO's, but it may depend on how these bulbs look in a few weeks.

I know pics are needed, but my girlfriend stole the camera for something she was doing today so yall will just have to wait.

 

[weaglereefer]

And they're Hamilton 14k bulbs. The left side looks about right, but still not blue enough (compared to say a Phoenix bulb) and the right side looks kinda yellowish, more yellow than white, like a 10-12k bulb.

 

[phil47952]

It's my understanding that with 14000K you wont need actinic
But what do I know

Phil:unsure:

 

[weaglereefer]

Phil, you may not need actinic. Different brands of bulbs have different amounts of blue tint. I was used to my T5's color, and this is a whiter, more crisp color, on the left side anyways. If actinics make it too blue, then I could drop the MH bulb spectrum to 12k.

 

[acroholic]

You might want to consider 20K bulbs. I don't use any actinic supplementation with mine.

 

[weaglereefer]

Dave, I would, but I'm only using 2x175 on a 90, I fear 20k bulbs will provide too little PAR. If I add some VHO's and it's too blue, I can step the halide bulbs to a lower temp and be okay.

 

[acroholic]

au01st;387581 wrote: Dave, I would, but I'm only using 2x175 on a 90, I fear 20k bulbs will provide too little PAR. If I add some VHO's and it's too blue, I can step the halide bulbs to a lower temp and be okay.

What ballasts and reflectors (brand name) are you using?

 

[weaglereefer]

Don't have the name of the ballast off hand, I do know it's an electronic ballast. Using Spiderlight reflectors (will upgrade in the future, just dropped some money on Tunze pumps and spending money for the fish tank is tight, lol).

 

[acroholic]

au01st;387598 wrote: Don't have the name of the ballast off hand, I do know it's an electronic ballast. Using Spiderlight reflectors (will upgrade in the future, just dropped some money on Tunze pumps and spending money for the fish tank is tight, lol).

Your next upgrade, IMO, should be some more efficient reflectors, maybe some lumenbrights or lumenmax. You'd be amazed at what that can do for your PAR Readings. I switched from two 250 watt DE/4 x 54 watt actinics (716 watts totlal) to two 250 SE halides in Lumenbright mini reflectors and absolutely fried some of my acros with 216 watts less light and a higher Kelvin (DEs were 14K, SEs were 20K).

But actually, IME so far, I don't worry about PAR like I used to, but pay attention to how the corals are responding to the light levels in the tank.
Dave

 

[weaglereefer]

Reflectors are on the list, but they won't improve the color. Need some to fit in the hood, and can only be like an inch longer than the Spiderlights.

 

[schwaggs]

I have 14K 250 DE bulbs and 2 rows of T5 HO actinics. I can't see a marked difference when the T5s are on vs off.

I say, go VHO if you have the room. You could always re-bulb with NO Actinic if it gets too blue.

 

[weaglereefer]

I think I have plenty of room for VHO with my current reflectors, not sure if I will if I upgrade.

 

[weaglereefer]

I think I'm liking the Lumenarc III Mini's or Lumen Bright Mini's. Both should fit nicely and still allow for VHO's if I want since they aren't very tall.

Which is better?