Lighting Question: Bulb Replacement

[Kman2010]

Ahoy! I have a 48in AquaMedic Aquaspacelight with 2 - 150watt MH and 2 - 54watt Acks in the middle. the MH bulbs i believe are 13,000k

My question is, could I put a 20,000k MH on one side and a 13,000k on another, or will that mess with the ballast output? Im trying to get a little more blue coloration, as of right now my tank is almost a true white color, maybe even more on the yellow side without the acks running.

 

[Neya]

Im sure both would run on the ballast fine. Im not a MH expert though.
I do think if you lit one side 20k and the other 13k it would look wonky as it wont blend well. MH is like a spotlight, one side would be blue and one would be the current color youre seeing now.

Heres a great chart on brands, color and par (with pictures)
http://cnidarianreef.com/G180/lamps.php

and heres a pic of 10k and 14k in the same ballast over one tank.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=17921831

 

[Kman2010]

Nice! Thank you! One issue is those are all screw-in, and i have double ended.

Regardless, the second link was exactly what I was thinking, and your right. It looks dumb.

 

[lisa foster]

You will notice the difference in the lighting on either side of the tank. When I replaced my bulbs I changed one side to a phoenix 14k it was very blue compared to my other side did not look good at all.

 

[cstmpprl]

Sounds like a question for our speaker at Saturdays meeting...

 

[JayM]

the above is correct, bulbs that are that far apart are going to make the tank look yucky....