[freshreef]

never used mh before, im thinking of osram mh 150w 6500k for my new 50*50*50cm tank. what do u think? at the mom im holding this tank with 125w of dennerle mv light - which is better?

one more thing - i have a oppertunity to buy a 4200k philips mh in very low cost - will that work?

 

[Kevin Jones]

I'm using a coralife 175w MH (5500K) over my 60 gallon cube, the plants grow well under it, but when i replace the bulb, i will get something a little less yellow, possibly a 10K


the MH gives better penetration to such a tank, and though the coverage isnt that uniform, for such a tank i think it is the most viable option as it puts less equipment over the tank, (fewer light bulbs as well).

 

[IUnknown]

4200k philips mh in very low cost - will that work?

Probably, but I don't think its ideal. Otherwise everyone would be going to home depo and picking up cheap pendants. I am currently switching over to MH from PC's. I am going to be using a 70 watt over a twenty gallon. With the PC's I had better results with the 6500K bulbs compared to the 10000K bulbs. I am worried about the way the 6500K bulbs will look, color temp wise.

 

[Justin Fournier]

It really comes down to CRI. Most MH bulbs have a very poor CRI, almost always an unbalanced blue peak in the spectrum. I tried MH, but could never get the tank to look the way I wanted. Ofcourse, the can grow plants just fine!

Always came back to PC for me...

 

[freshreef]

do u really think the 10k is better then the 6500k for planted tank? i never used this bulbs

 

[ShaneSmith]

10k doesn't mean to much. One 10k bulb will be ok and another will be great. Coral life is what a lot of people use when they are talking about 10k and i think there a pro choice. I use Custom sealife myself but i use 8800k and just broke that so now i will try their 10k. But 8800k CSL beat the heck out of 6500k CSL. I've enver had worse growth than with CSL 6500k. the 8800k had my plants pearling even at under 2wpg.

 

[freshreef]

ive changed one of my bulbs from 3000k bulb to 10000k philips aquarelle - great light for my eyes , cant really tell the difference for the "plant eyes" but surely beautiful light to me