New TWIN ARC BULBS

[jkburton1s]

here is the link to the new REEF BRITE bulbs , however there website is not up. the link just gives a little info on them but not enough to make a switch. i understand the concept but dont now if switching kelvins is the greatest.

250W (10K) 10000K/20000K (20K) Twin Arc Metal Halide Bulb - Reefbrite, Mogul Base Images

Twin Arc metal halide lamp from Advanced Lighting Solutions up close and personal | Reef Builders -The Reef Aquarium Blog

well your guess is as good as mine if this really works. if anyone has any info or an educated opinion please share it.

 

[mps9506]

I'm simply trying to grasp the benefit of this? If the 20k source and 10k source could be run at the same time I would understand as you are getting two entirely different spectrums.
But having one switch off and waiting a few minutes for the other too switch on kinda seems pointless to me.

 

[Frankie]

Maybe this will help Mike, though I am still finding it hard to understand what the benifit will be. Your still loosing the 10 hours of 10k when it changes over~ Here is a quote from a post from the bottom link jkburton1s
shared:

Say your photoperiod is 10 hours… the first 6 hours of which, no one is really looking at your tank (work hours) you can have the 10k turn on and have great growth. 20 mins from the time you’re getting home, you have your timer turn on and off again. This will give you the 20K output so you have brighter more flourescent corals to look at. Great growth + aesthetics of a bluer bulb all for $99.

All this will do is shorten your lighting period and lessen growth.
IMO if you like the look of a 20k bulb then use a 20k bulb. I had great growth with 400w Radium's. Personally I hate the 10k look and rather bump up the wattage then start to supplement spectrum~

 

[jkburton1s]

i sorta figure this is a new "waste of money" i find it hard to belive and they say its the new trend. but i can make a product and say its the newest technology that will cause spectacular growth, even tho it does nothing. claims can be fake as can be it just takes a non educated person to belive it and buy the product. there are no guarentees that it will work." i dont belive myself that it has much benefit."

 

[Clownfish518]

The benefit of this is twofold.

One is that when growing frags, you want 10k for maximum growth

Two is that when growing frags, you want 20k for maximum color.

The theory is by running a twin arc you can run 10k 50% of the time, and 20k 50% of the time, and maximize both growth and color. And as each arc is running half the time, you get a longer light out of the bulb.

That's the theory; I am not sure I buy it

 

[BigAl07]

I "understand" the theory but I'd have to SEE the facts before I bought into it. Seems a lil too "gimmick-like" for my tastes right now.

 

[mps9506]

I sometimes questions if people have ever laid the spectral plot of a good 10k bulb over top of a good 20k bulb.
Try it sometime. The peaks in the lower wavelengths are very similar. 20k bulbs won't nec. give your corals better color, they appear better under 20k because they aren't saturated in the higher wavelengths. It is all about how your eyes are perceiving the color and what wavelengths are being reflected off the proteins in the coral.
For that matter overlay a spectral plot of a 6500k Iwasaki over any other plot...