# 10k ok for plants?



## Osiris (Jan 18, 2005)

HI am checking. I have 3x175w over my 210g. Planing Cocomba, ancharis, java fern, amazon sword for plants. Would 10k be ok? I cannot find anything below this temp for a 175w mogul base bulbs..


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## jones57742 (Sep 8, 2007)

Osiris said:


> HI am checking. I have 3x175w over my 210g. Planing Cocomba, ancharis, java fern, amazon sword for plants. Would 10k be ok? I cannot find anything below this temp for a 175w mogul base bulbs..


Os:

I am not familiar with Cocomba but the remainder will work fairly well with 10000K.

TR


BTW:

Have you considered MH?

http://www.acehardwareoutlet.com/(s...uctdetails.aspx?sku=3992401&source=GoogleBase
or
http://www.idealtruevalue.com/servlet/the-158055/Detail

One of these and two 10000K might be right down your alley.

Also please note that these are rated at 6800K
http://www.prolighting.com/h39kb175.html


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## flamingo (Nov 5, 2005)

Marty, do you ever stick with one tank plan?


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## neilfishguy (Oct 7, 2007)

mongul base is MH and 10k will be fine. MH does not have as low bulb rating as flourescent and people even go with 14k you will be fine


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## Osiris (Jan 18, 2005)

Jones, thanks for input. It is MH setup..

Nope Dylan, lol. But do have these lights and looking to buy bulbs


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## Guest (Jan 26, 2008)

10k is great, like Neil said above.  With PC bulbs, alot of people use 6700K/10,000K combos, but that is mainly for aesthetics. With MH you can't always find the perfect K rating bulb. 

Glad you decided to go planted with the 210g.


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## CTSrt4 (Jan 10, 2008)

i have a T-5 10000k and true actinic blue lamp with 42 watts and my plants are growing like crazy i had to trim them back a bit and its only been a few weeks since i bought this i know its for salt water but i like how bright and clear the tank is


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## joe kool (Jan 24, 2005)

I run a 55 watt 50/50 on my 20l planted tank as well Marty and they grow like mad ... even the "red" plants go nuts I'm constantly trimming back and moving things around for more room in that tank and thats with no co2 supplementation and only CRS ... errr RCS which ever can't remember now :lol: ... as residents and a small brushy nose to scrub off what the CRS leave behind on the glass.


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## jones57742 (Sep 8, 2007)

neilfishguy said:


> mongul base is MH and 10k will be fine. MH does not have as low bulb rating as flourescent and people even go with 14k you will be fine


Three Items:

Yes! I googled a bunch but could not find a 14K or 20K MH which would work for OS.

OS if you do find a 20K bulb which will work in your setup I would think long and hard before purchasing or installing it. These are supposed to be 1st class but I have no experience with them and did not employ them in my latest MH upgrade.

MH lighting, IMHO, is better quality lighting than other vapor lighting in that the intensity of all portions of the rated spectrum are much more saturated.

TR


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## Osiris (Jan 18, 2005)

Yea, they do have 14k and 20k all over ebay for mogul based. But am particularly looking for 10k, more closer to redder spectrum of light.. 

Another thing, do either of these would require fertlizer substrate? I have been unsuccesful in tracking down soilmaster from Lesco, and well Ecocomplete would be extremely expensive substrate for a tank of this magnatitude...


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## Guest (Jan 27, 2008)

The plants you are wanting should be fine in regular gravel. You could also look for Schultz Aquatic Soil at Lowe's and Home Depot, although they may not have them this time of year. It's pretty cheap too.

You could always use regular gravel with root tabs or pool filter sand.


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## darkfalz (May 7, 2006)

What does the Kelvin rating indicate? The colour of the spectrum ie. bright white, blue, purple etc? I'd like to get a matching hood for my 10 gallon but I want the light colour to be about the same as my main tank which has 2x20 W 10000K lighting.


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## jones57742 (Sep 8, 2007)

darkfalz said:


> What does the Kelvin rating indicate? The colour of the spectrum ie. bright white, blue, purple etc? I'd like to get a matching hood for my 10 gallon but I want the light colour to be about the same as my main tank which has 2x20 W 10000K lighting.


Kelvin is a temperature scale and -273C=0K. At 0K all motion ceases.

The value of K for a bulb is based on black body radiation.

Please reference for color charts.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_body

6800K is typically considered to be sun light
7100K is typically considered to be blue light
10000K is typically considered to be white light

TR


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

Way too much light. I am assuming the tank is 6 feet... You will need a good co2 kit (10-20 lb tank, powered diffuser). You may also want to suspend the lights. Running them for more than 6.5 hrs could be a problem. I would aslo stagger the timing. That may allow you to run them longer. 525 watts of mh over 210 gallons is risky if you dont do it right....

On another note, 10K will wash out any reds you have in there..... But MH K lighting is limited as its more commonly used for sw.


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## jones57742 (Sep 8, 2007)

Damon:

I have recently added 300W of HQI-MH to my 110G 30" deep tank and it has been 1st class.

I maintained the two PC fixtures which each have 130W of which one is a 10000K bulb and the other is a 7100K bulb.

I can now grow floating as well as fixed and planted flora in my tank.


Folks:

Please listen to Damon when he says
"525 watts of mh over 210 gallons is risky if you dont do it right...."

I had minor problems with the induction of the MH and actually used the density of the algae on the front wall of the tank to determine the appropriate lighting duration as well as feeding and fertilization protocols.

When Damon says "is risky" the photographs depict what happened to me in my more less informed days as well as what can occur in only a week or two.

TR


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