MH...Double Ended vs. Mogal Base....

cool, thanks man.......


do 6,500K Iwasakis really output at 6500K? why do people like the 6500K so much?

reading over some stuff about the 6,500K Iwasakis, it seems like people have to suppliment them with 03 Blues......

if true, then that could really quickly get be right back up to the cost of a double ended.......


(I know it seems like I'm going around and around and around here....just don't want to dump money and then go "wow....wish I had asked that question first....").... :)

also came across a post that said people who are using the 6,500K Iwasakis love how they make corals grow like crazy but everyone says it takes LOADS of 03 Blue to balance out the yellowish light......true?

so as I take it, corals actually like the 6500K light better than the 10K or higher light?

The blue's are more for our eyes. The Iwasaki's produce light that appears slightly yellow, supplementing with actinics balances out the yellow hue and makes it appear a very brilliant white, while making the fluorescent colors glow. Most people running 10K bulbs run actinics as well. Personally I prefer the actinics that peak at 450-460nm (really blue) compared to the 03's that peak at 420 (purple).

The actinics make for nice dawn/dusk effect for your tank as well, a good transition for your critters before the intense halides come online.

Why people rave over the growth from the 'saki's is because they are amongst the only true 'full spectrum' lamps on the market. Full spectrum in that they produce intnese lighting across all of the visable spectrum, hence the yellow hue. But like I tell anyone else about lighting, go outside andlook up at the sun...what color do you see? Not white and definately not blue. Photosynthesis has been proven to occur at the red end of the spectrum all the way up and beyond the violet into the UV range. Why starve your animals of the full lighting they would otherwise have in nature?

Lot's of folks to argue what bulb is the best for this and that... but at best it can be l can be left to scientific proof or at worse personal choice.

Here's a thread that might be helpful, loaded with charts and spectral plots about the subject.
http://www.captivereefing.com/viewtopic.php?t=1188