MH 150w with 1400K bluish light

[eddy planer]

Dear all,

Check with you, I have MH 150W with 1400K bluish light. Is is suitable for planted tank?

Seeking your expert advise and comments regarding to above mentioned with many thanks.

cheers
planer

[whuntley]

The 1400 K and the bluish light are not possible. It is unlikely to be 14000K as we usually do not have any way to meassure or describe much above 10000K. 1400K would be far out in the invisible infrared.

If it is a MH and has a white light with a bluish tinge, It is not a very efficient plant light, but will work. It may also not be the prettiest light for viewing your fish. It sounds like an ideal light for inverts in a reef tank, and not for a planted tank.

Wright

[eddy planer]

Thanks for the reply, Wright.

Will MH's white light with a bluish tinge help plants pearly or promote healthly mosses, even if this MH for reef tank? What is kind of blue tinge contain of? Can you please explain and advice me.

Look like I bought a wrong MH with blue tinge out from white light......
Any one tried it before? Pls share with us in many advance thanks.

with many thanks

[timebomb]

Eddy,

I know little about MH lights but you may want to visit Bioplast fish shop which is at Block 22 Book Keng Road. They grow plenty of mosses and most of their tanks are using Metal Halides. Bioplast grow the mosses really well so their shop is always worth a visit.

Loh K L

[eddy planer]

Eddy,

I know little about MH lights but you may want to visit Bioplast fish shop which is at Block 22 Book Keng Road. They grow plenty of mosses and most of their tanks are using Metal Halides. Bioplast grow the mosses really well so their shop is always worth a visit.

Loh K L

Dear Loh,

Thank you so much for the advise...will visit Bioplast at Book Keng Road. But much regret to ask you with doubt, you mean Book Keng Road or Boon Keng Road which is near Redhill Road ?

Hope that I didn't trouble you for that....

Actually i have Resun CL650, a quiet Magnum 350 filter canister (still working and serve me very well for about 13 years), 3 ft tank ready filled with silica gravel, 5 liter CO2 cylinder and JBL fertiliter base and standby ADA Green Brightly step1 . So MH 150w , white light with blue tinge...i just bought 2nd hand from one of my reefer friend. So i thought that i can get the best out good planted tank to impress my wife....but still not ready as lighting (my MH is not suitable for planted tank).

Thank you for attention..

[timebomb]

But much regret to ask you with doubt, you mean Book Keng Road or Boon Keng Road which is near Redhill Road ?

Bioplast is not anywhere near Redhill, Eddy. It's near Boon Keng MRT station. I didn't know there's a Book Keng Road in Singapore.

Actually, if I were you, I'll go ahead and use the MH lights even if it's more suitable for reef tanks. This is because mosses in general, are not fussy about lighting conditions. In their natural habitats, most mosses are found in shady places so even with low lights, they should grow, albeit slowly.

If you visit Bioplast, Eddy, feel free to drop over at my house which is just across the road. Bioplast has my number.

Loh K L

[FC]

Will MH's white light with a bluish tinge help plants pearly or promote healthly mosses, even if this MH for reef tank? What is kind of blue tinge contain of?

The MH light or any light are built to have certain desire "colour temperature". For your MH case, it's emphasis is towards blue which means the light spectrum (in totallity) will have significantly less red. And red spectrum is key light wave for plant growth. So, like what Wright explained, your MH light, though useable, will not be efficient in promoting plant growth.

If you can accept the bluish tinge on planted tank, just try if it gives enough light (red).

As for pearling, it depends greatly on 2 factors - CO2 concentration and light. Get them up, they should pearl.

[eddy planer]

Dear Loh and Freddy,

Thank you so much..learn alot from you guys, so experinece and alot of hand on planted tanks. I do believe that MH lighting system is pratically new to you and me but you guys are very decisive toward any questions been asked.

Need your advise again... since i got MH system, just a matter of replacing new MH bulb but I not too sure to purchase them. Astralux Metal Halide for Planted Tank Aquarium and Horticulture,150W DE 8KK Ultra White for SGD 32 ( see http://www.viclite.com/astraaq.htm ) or Astra-lite 14,000K Extra Brilliant White (ebw) Lamp,MH 150W 14KK ebw for SGD 63 ( see http://www.viclite.com/astralamp.htm ) which one is best for 3 ft planted tank or if you got better price than this, pls advise. I would like to equip best gears to produce best planted tank to impress my wife.

Loh, i will drop by to Bioplast shop around 3-4pm today to have a good look,and may perharps to pay a visit you later? Are you free?

pls advise me... with many thanks

[nikhilsood1]

Hi Eddy, just wanted to give my two bits about metal halides, here in bangalore most of the people using metal halides are using either 5300k lamps and a very few of them are using 6500 kelvins, well as for the best metal halide, it is this way, the lower the Kelvins it helps to get better colours out of your red plants and higher the Kelvins it helps to get better of the greens, 8000ka will penentrate more in a planted tank than a 6500k. We here in India as hobbyists are now trying to source the 8000k lamps to give them a try as Takashi Amano uses the same 8000k lamps for his tanks. Its a try, i will keep you upto dated as to the results.

Regards
Nikhil

[FC]

Eddy,

I guess you wish to know the wattage needed for your 3 footer.

If you have say a 3x1.5x1.5ft, then, a double 70 or up to 150 watts should do.

[eddy planer]

Eddy,

I guess you wish to know the wattage needed for your 3 footer.

If you have say a 3x1.5x1.5ft, then, a double 70 or up to 150 watts should do.

Yo Freddy,

Thank you for concerning about my plight.

Next week: decided to purchase Astralux Metal Halide for Planted Tank Aquarium and Horticulture,150W DE 8KK Ultra White . Got great advise from the Bioplast guy, he suggested me to get one 6k MH for planted tank.

Freddy , we must meet up for kopi oops (coffee) or tea to get to know you better. agree with me?

[FC]

decided to purchase Astralux Metal Halide for Planted Tank Aquarium and Horticulture,150W DE 8KK Ultra White . Got great advise from the Bioplast guy, he suggested me to get one 6k MH for planted tank.

For your 3 footer(x1.5x1.5 ?), 70w x2 are enough for all plant types. Use 150w only if you are venturing into high light tank setup which needs some decent skills and routine upkeep of water column nutrients. Moreover, use of 150w x2 (for your tank size) would probably require chiller to cool down the tank. 6K is generally recommended as it typically produce the right spectrums intensities for plant growth and almost daylight-like white colour. You can choose slightly lower (warmer/more red) or higher (cooler/more blue) kelvin, depend on the "colour temperature" you like. Stay with 6K if you are not sure.