What does 14k, 15k, and 20k mean?

[jdavis28]

What is the difference between 14k, 15k, 20k metal halide bulbs?

 

For example if I were to buy a 20k hang on back of tank Metal Halide, why not go with a 15k or 14k?

 

What does the differnces in the number "k" mean?

thanks

TIM

[kronk]

What is the difference between 14k, 15k, 20k metal halide bulbs?

 

For example if I were to buy a 20k hang on back of tank Metal Halide, why not go with a 15k or 14k?

 

What does the differnces in the number "k" mean?

thanks

TIM

 

K refers to the Kelvin scale or temperature of the light basically the higher the K the bluer the light looks, lower K tend to be better for coral growth and more intense 20K is basically a very blue look to the take with less intensity than a 14K

 

Cheers,

Ken

[jdavis28]

so bottom line, higher the K=more blue tint is given off?

and lower the K=more white color put off?

 

thanks for the reply

tim

[er1c_the_reefer]

technically the lower the kelvin, the more "yellow" it is. lower kelvins also tend to have higher "PAR" rating. you can look that up on your own though, i can probably right an essay on it if i wasn't supposed to be studying for class right now.

 

i swear my gpa has dropped by .30 ever since i started coming to nr.com

[quy_nquyen]

i swear my gpa has dropped by .30 ever since i started coming to nr.com

 

so im not the only one

[Maco]

so im not the only one

Me to

 

-Mac

[jdavis28]

anyone else?

 

trying to decide what bulb to get with the 150w MH hang on light.

 

14,15,20k or what is the diff with the DE bulbs?

 

what should I do? decisions decisions. help a bro out guys

 

tango

[HecticDialectics]

anyone else?

 

trying to decide what bulb to get with the 150w MH hang on light.

 

14,15,20k or what is the diff with the DE bulbs?

 

what should I do? decisions decisions. help a bro out guys

 

tango

 

 

You should decide by the kelvin AND the bulb manufacturer. You could pick 14k... but a hamilton 14k is way less blue than a pheonix 14k, which are both more blue than an iwasaki 15k.

 

My suggestion if you LIKE lots of blue is to go with a pheonix 14k. 20Ks don't have very strong light intensity, so they'd be a better choice if it were 250W or 400W. If you like it more crisp white, lots of people dig the hamilton 14k bulb.

[KMitch]

how deep is your tank and what are you going for?

 

10K bulbs grow coral faster than a 20K bc theres more white light (sun has a very low kelvin rating, if you will). But most people think 20K looks better.

 

If you are doing a shallow tank go with the 14 or 10, 20 looks funny in a shallow tank. If you want fast coral growth, try a 10 k

[jdavis28]

it is for a 12 gal eclipse.

 

I was thinking something in between a full crisp white and a deep blue. so would i want a 15k? or maybe a 14k?

 

I still have no clue.

 

I plan to keep sps and lps. soft and hard corals. I would guess the tank is about 1.5ft deep from top to bottom.

 

If i upgrade to a 35gal in the near future, I plan to keep the MH and get another, thus giving me a total of about 300w of MH.

 

But for now, this will just be for the eclipse 12. (current setup is DIY-retrofit 96w PC quad. blue and white bulb- 10,000k) I like the compromise of blue and white tones) crisp white with some blue is awesome in my opinion

 

Tango

[KMitch]

i would suggest a 14... our tanks at the shop are 12 inches deep. we put a 20k in the fixture and it looked really bizarre. We had to reorder all the bulbs because the 20 k looked so "fake"

 

go for 14, i think you'd be happy with the look of it. Thats what I use on my tank with is a 11 gal (see pics in my sig)

[andykee]

14k is probably the most "common" bulb temperature to use. it gives a good mix of blue and PAR

[KMitch]

thanks andy but you're too late, i got this one covered