minchton Posted October 3, 2005 Report Share Posted October 3, 2005 my tank (1800x600x640) is currently lit with 2x 150mh lights, which are not quite lighting the full length of the tank. I have just obtained 2x250hm lights. Am I better to add a further 150 light or change to the 250's. If I change what are the pitfalls and what do I have to watch for when I do the change. Any help appreciated thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted October 3, 2005 Report Share Posted October 3, 2005 Three halides provide much better coverage on a 6' tank. so maybe have 250's at each end of the tank and leave a 150 for the middle. If you bump up to 250's cut a couple of hours off the photoperiod for the first few days. To give the corals a bit of time to adapt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted October 3, 2005 Report Share Posted October 3, 2005 so maybe have 250's at each end of the tank and leave a 150 for the middle thats what i did on my 5 footer, added a 3rd 150 in the middle,... and my tanks never looked better :lol: (but seriously, it does make a big difference) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minchton Posted October 4, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2005 O.K. guys I have changed the lights and now have the 250's running but still need to add the 150 to the centre. One of the 250's is giving a nice clean white light whilst the other one is a dull yellow. These were second hand so I guess that the yellow indicates a new bulb required. Yes or No thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted October 4, 2005 Report Share Posted October 4, 2005 maybe. the yellow may indicate an old bulb or it may indicate a low Kelvin rating. if you are definate that both were the same K rating then its probably an old bulb (although even bulbs with the same K rating may differ in colour spectrum. I have 2 x 14K's same brand, same age although one is much bluer than the other. Pies noticed it when he was up. Very noticeable) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted October 4, 2005 Report Share Posted October 4, 2005 No way to know. I havn't noticed bulbs yellowing over time, but as Chimera said, have seen different coloured bulbs that are the 'same' look quite different. If the bulbs are 2nd hand do you know how much life they have had? bulbs loose intensity over time, so you may find its more cost effect to put in 2 new 250s than leave them the way they are and add the 150. Bulb replacement are important, there is enough litrature to know that 12 months is the upper limit for the useful life of a bulb in a reef environment, and some significiently less (some say that the blue/20k last as little as 6 months). change the bulbs with know good ones. Pie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted October 4, 2005 Report Share Posted October 4, 2005 just do the "look test". if you can look at them for 10 seconds without passing out, then they're up for replacement :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted October 5, 2005 Report Share Posted October 5, 2005 What was that Chim? I can't quite see your post... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.