View Full Version : What should I do?!?
I have a 50 gallon with a complete hood made buy a local guy not a mass produced one. It has four 36watt pc's and one 150 watt mh 10k. The pcs are 50\50 10k and 71k. The dawn dusk effect is hard to get done with the 50\50s All pc's run on one ballastst. I need to know what to replace the PCs what to get. I have corals so i would hate for them to go through a big shock if i just put all o3's on. The mh is in the middle and 2 pcs oeitherth side of it. So Should I stick with 50\50s what? HELP! Thanks all!
steve1s
12-31-2002, 10:50 AM
Hey Zack,
The biggest concern when changing to different bulbs is mostly the wattage. If you change out the 50/50 to a 71k 03 it will not shock the tank as long as the wattage stays the same. Depending on how long the MH is on per day, you could increase the time by 1/2 per day to compensate but probably isn't necessary.
Cheers
Steve
Irisservice
12-31-2002, 11:00 AM
Zack I would use 4 True 03 verus 7100k . What 10k MH are you using. rewiring the fixture to seperate the 4 PC to two pairs is easy. Do you have a photo of the unit to get a look at it. What's the width of your tank. I hope it not a 48" with just one MH bulb.
steve1s
12-31-2002, 11:04 AM
Zack I would use 4 True 03 verus 7100k.
FYI, 03's come in 7100k, I thought that's what Zack was refering to.
Cheers
Steve
Irisservice
12-31-2002, 11:08 AM
From Hellolights.com
*** FAQ:
Q. What's the difference between a "Blue 7,100K" and "Actinic 03" bulb?
A. Excellent question! OK, a little background: The original "Actinic 03" bulb was made by Phillips. They had several models, the Actinic 01, 03, 05, etc. They were not made for aquarium use, but were adopted once news spread about the beneficial aspects of using this bulb over reef tanks. Nowadays, "Actinic 03" has become the marketing term used to identify "blue" looking bulbs. Many bulbs are passed off as "actinic", when they are just a blue bulb.
So, to answer the question, Blue 7,100K bulbs are visually brighter than HelloLights Actinic bulbs. Blue bulbs will NOT fluoresce your animals as well as our Actinic bulbs. Many others sell "actinic", but they are really selling blue bulbs. The phosphors coating the interior of our Actinic bulbs are specially formulated to produce a narrow spike of concentrated violet/blue light. This is why they appear to be more faint than blue bulbs. If you have tons-o-corals, then we suggest going with Actinic 03. Remember, a visual measurement of a lights utility is a poor one.
Irisservice
12-31-2002, 11:09 AM
I was saying to swap them to true 03's I did and what a difference.
Irisservice
12-31-2002, 11:10 AM
Q. Why would I want a Blue bulb vs. an Actinic 03 bulb?
A. Blue bulbs definitely have a good use. If you have a "yellow" looking tank, then get the "Blue 7,100K" bulbs. Since it is visually brighter, they are GREAT at washing out yellow, and causing a tank to look whiter. But, if you want to benefit your corals with a very strong spike in the violet range, then go with Actinic 03.
a little salt there sorry will get off!
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