Metal Halide Color

Reef Wall

Member
I just installed a 175W MH with a 14000K Mogul bulb. I am not very happy with the color the bulb is putting out. I was hoping for a more bluish color and this looks almost like a 10000k bulb. I don't remember the name brand. It might have been south Pacific Sunlight. I don't really want to go to a 20000k bulb. Can anyone suggest some good 175W 14000K or 15000K MH bulbs that won't break the bank. Are XM any good? They are pretty inexpensive. This, I am assuming means they won't be any good. If you want to see the light on my tank you can follow the link below.
 

DaveK

Well-Known Member
Before you do anything, live with the existing new bulb a week or two. MH bulbs often shift color somewhat while new. However, usually the shift is toward yellow from blue. Still, considering that MH bulbs cost about $70 up, you don't want to casually replace them.

The following is my opinion, and this is very subjective. I didn't make any actual measurements. These are all 250w bulbs, so the 175w bulbs may be different. Also, keep in mind that many bulbs come from the same source, and are simply labelled for the brand.

I found 15000K XM bulbs to be sort of a violet compared to blue.
I found 14500K Gieseman bulbs to be nice, but expensive.
I found 14000K Phoenix bulbs to be good, and a little less expensive than average.
I found 14000K Hamilton bulbs to be good. I have not experienced the problem of premature burn out that some people have reported. I'm using these now.
I found 10000K Aqualine bulbs to have a bit more blue than your typical 10000K bulb, but they are also expensive.

I also highly recommend Sanjay Joshi's reef lighting guide (offsite,new location) - Manhattan Reefs - Sanjay's Lighting Guide

You will be able to see actual spectrum plots of most bulbs and commonly used ballasts available on that site. You can go through the bulbs and choose one that has more blue in it. This will give you much better information that anything subjective that may be written here.

Keep in mind that when you evaluate a bulb, you must consider the entire color spectrum. A bulb can look blue either because the amount of blue light is higher or because the rest of the color spectrum is lower. You usually want the former.
 
Last edited:
If you really want blue, I would go 20,000 K lighting. It will definitely bring out the color you are looking for. Just remember that the higher the kelvin rating, or in lemans terms the more "blue" you go. The slower your corals grow. The kelvin temperature of the sun is about 6,300 K. Hope this helps!

You can also, supplement this blue with adding some actinic PC's or a couple of KZ fiji Purple T-5's. Just saying.
 

Reef Wall

Member
Thanks for the help. I have noticed that there are some really cheap MH just by google shopping. Has anyone used any of these? PLUSRITE - $39.00. Aquamax - $60.00. And there are tons under 30.00 that don't mention a name brand.
 

Frankie

Well-Known Member
RS STAFF
I just installed a 175W MH with a 14000K Mogul bulb. I am not very happy with the color the bulb is putting out. I was hoping for a more bluish color and this looks almost like a 10000k bulb. I don't remember the name brand. It might have been south Pacific Sunlight. I don't really want to go to a 20000k bulb. Can anyone suggest some good 175W 14000K or 15000K MH bulbs that won't break the bank. Are XM any good? They are pretty inexpensive. This, I am assuming means they won't be any good. If you want to see the light on my tank you can follow the link below.

XM is good. I liked the Reeflux 12k better though.
 

JulesVane

Member
I've been using the "Blueline" 175W 14,000K bulbs for about 6 months now. I have 3 over my 90Gal.. One stayed a beautiful blue, one burnt out and one decides to burn blue one day and yellowish the next. These bulbs were under $50. each. Next, I'm gonna try the "Icecap" bulbs to see how they go. Check out Champion Lighting & Supply
 
Top