# 70w HQI 6700K Pics And Opinions Please



## forddna (Sep 12, 2007)

I never liked the look of 6700k PCs. Someone please tell me if HQI 6700k is just as yellow. I need to buy a bulb, and the only choices are 6700k and 10,000k. I'll already be running two 10,000 T5HO's at the front of the tank. The HQI is in the back corner. (54g corner bowfront)

I would love to see what just the 6700k hqi looks like over someone's tank!!


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## chrisnif (Aug 20, 2010)

6500K on any bulb has yellow tint to it like sunlight. I am a big 10K fan. I run a 70W HQI over my 10 gallon mini-reef, and a 150W of my 20 high and love it, I run 14K for my reefs, and I'm planning on 10K flouro for my planted tank.


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## forddna (Sep 12, 2007)

I've got 20k's over my reef. It's very hard to adjust to to seeing these yellower colors!


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## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

10Ks are fine. IDK about much higher than that.


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## ReefkprZ (Aug 21, 2010)

forddna said:


> I've got 20k's over my reef. It's very hard to adjust to to seeing these yellower colors!


 I agree on my reef I had 14k pheonix 2x250w with 220w actinic vho. Its really hard to get used to the yellow look I actually added actinic to my FW setup.


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## chrisnif (Aug 20, 2010)

I agree, I actually just swapped bulbs around, my 56 now is running a 10K bulb and a 75/25 white/actinic bulb so I get about 11k-12k color to my eyes.


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## forddna (Sep 12, 2007)

I ended up purchasing the Ushio 10k. The store actually fired the bulb for me to see first.


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## willknowitall (Oct 3, 2010)

8000k is the best in my opinion
6700 too yellow 10,000 too cold


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## forddna (Sep 12, 2007)

willknowitall said:


> 8000k is the best in my opinion
> 6700 too yellow 10,000 too cold


Who makes the 8000k?


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## oldpunk78 (Nov 1, 2008)

I'm not sure about the quality but I know fishneedit has one.


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## FlSHRFun (Jun 26, 2010)

forddna said:


> Who makes the 8000k?


All of ADA's HQI bulbs are 8000K. I think they look great. Not yellow at all, but not too blue.
A good blend of blue & white (mostly white).

Also, if you get the "green" ADA bulbs, they have a lil' extra spike in the green spectrum.
It really makes the greens in your plants vibrant. Don't think it makes your plants grow any better than any other 8000K bulb, though.


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## hbosman (Oct 5, 2006)

Does anybody know of any 8000 K T5 HO bulbs? I used to have them in T8s but, can't find any in T5s.


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## willknowitall (Oct 3, 2010)

forddna said:


> Who makes the 8000k?


ive seen 70w 8000k bulbs on ebay for aquariums and there cheap
worth trying ,just use search . 
for 150w go ada


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## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

I think most of the FW planted tanks I have seen have had a 10000k bulb on them and they looked great. Plant growth was explosive and colors looks pretty natural for a single bulb fixture. Since you have the flexibility of a t5ho unit as well you should be able to dial in the color you want with that. Maybe a pink bulb like the geismann aqua-flora or similar light would balance out the look but you will just have to play with it a bit. 

Can you post up a pic with the lights on it now?


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## forddna (Sep 12, 2007)

FlSHRFun said:


> All of ADA's HQI bulbs are 8000K. I think they look great. Not yellow at all, but not too blue.
> A good blend of blue & white (mostly white).
> 
> Also, if you get the "green" ADA bulbs, they have a lil' extra spike in the green spectrum.
> It really makes the greens in your plants vibrant. Don't think it makes your plants grow any better than any other 8000K bulb, though.



That is exactly how I would describe the Ushio 10,000K that I am using. Honestly the Current 10,000K T5HOs are way more blue than the Ushio hqi bulb with the same kelvin rating.

I will post a pic soon, but honestly...even with bluish color coming from the T5's, and pure white coming from the HQI, the tank looks greenish to me. I took a sample of water out to make sure it's not the actual water, and it's relatively clear in color, but cloudy. 

I have some "standard" driftwood in it, but I'm running carbon in my XP3. So tannins shouldn't be an issue...?? Like I said, looks like clear color to the sample water, but cloudy.


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## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

I'm sure its the plants that are making it look green to you.


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## deleted_user_7 (Jul 7, 2003)

IMO the regular ADA HQI is heavy on the green... So much so that at night from outside my room looks green through the window blinds. I cant see why you'd ever want even MORE green.

I was thinking of going wi an Ushio 10,000K 150 watt HQI to replace my ADA HQI when it burns out. If Nyone has pics of the 150 W Ushio HQI I'd love to see them.


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## forddna (Sep 12, 2007)

bsmith said:


> I'm sure its the plants that are making it look green to you.


There's not a lot of plants in there yet. Even the substrate looks greenish. (it's black eco complete)


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## forddna (Sep 12, 2007)

Okay, well I finally took the time to figure out the green tint. It became even more obvious when I added 3 marble Angels, and you couldn't see their white. This isn't my first planted tank...it's not the plants making everything look green. Heck I don't even have that many plants yet.

Anyway, I unplugged the HQI. I took a NO/CF fixture I had laying around and layed it across the tank. I plugged it in, then flipped the switch. WOW! I suddenly had red visible on my Crypts! My Neons are blue, red, and white! My angels are black and...white! And my driftwood is a beautiufl reddish brown.

I flipped the switch off of the fixture and plugged the HQI back in. Then it was blatently obvious. I have a piece of driftwood all the way up and out of the surface just below the HQI, and you could see green all over it.

So...I'm not quite sure what to do. This has definitely convinced me to change SOMETHING to 6700 or 7800k. But what?

All this while I'm debating adding a third T5 for more visible light in the tank (still looks dark, because it's corner bowfront, and only the front bow is clear glass. The two sides are painted black. No natural sunlight hitting it, either.

Please excuse the terrible pics. I can't find my camera.


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## roybot73 (Dec 15, 2007)

Aqua Medic 10K. Best hqi color bar none. Expensive, but completely worth it.
Free shipping here: http://hellolights.com/10000kaqualineabhqidoubleended-70w.aspx
These pics are straight out of the camera -- _excellent_ color rendition. 

















This is an Ushio 10K. Kinda yellow...









This is a Watergrass 8000K. _VERY_ green. Too green IMHO.









Hope this helps


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## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

Man Roy that firs pic with aquamedic bulb is beautiful. What a gorgeous 60-p (I believe).


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

i've seen the ushio 10k bulbs and l have to admit they caught my eye and l caught myself having to pick my jaw off the ground. Simply beautiful or maybe it's just because l love the shimmering effect . l don't know how the t5's differ from the hqi but l currently have a t5ho 6700 and 10k's on my current set-up. l also have the pinkish geismann bulbs bssmith was talking about and they really are pink (not a big fan of the look but l'm probably saying that because l haven't found the right balance of colors. l can say this.. the 2 t5ho 6700k +2 10k are my fav combination. The 6700 make the plants look very green and well the 10k's are simply bright. l don't think i've tried 8k's yet so l have yet to see. hope it helps.


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## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

I'm not a huge fan of the looks of the aquaflora by itself either. I really don't know anyone who would be. I have a 10000k and a 6500k balancing it out though and its not too bad imo. 

Here is a pic of all 3 lights on. 









I dont think I have any pics with just the Aquaflora because its soooo pink and not too good looking. I think that all three on together look nice though. 

Amanda if you want I will take a pic tomorrow of the tank with just the Aquaflora bulb. 

On a side note. The WHITEST bulb by itself I have owned is a GE Starcoat 6500k. It is a HO bulb and I have two of them on a bank here at home with the other bank being the Giesmann MidDays . I will take a pic comparing the two but I dont think ill ever buy a giesmann midday again after discovering these Starcoats. There brighter, have better rendition (imo) and are almost half the price!


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## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

Starcoats 6500k

















Middays 6000k


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## forddna (Sep 12, 2007)

Roy, thank you so much for the pics!!! You are saying they are pretty true...I mean, the way the pictures turned out is pretty close to what you are seeing with your eyes? I can't seem to do that with this silly camera phone. That last pic I posted, it's not as reddish tinted as it looks in the pic..

Anyway, again, thank you so much. That is a big help. 

bsmith, you, too. Thank you!! I'll have some money coming in after this event my husband and I are promoting Oct 22-24. So I'm going to FIRST change my bulbs, then possibly add a third T5 and switching from the Current reflectors to Icecaps. 

Oh, and thank you for being very specific on the bulbs. I hate guessing when shopping!


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## roybot73 (Dec 15, 2007)

Thanks bsmith. It is indeed a 60-P.

You're very welcome, Amanda -- That's how it looks in real life. The bulb starts out with a very slight blue cast to it, but burns in to that glorious color in no time 
Variation with all the shades of green, reds pop nicely too.


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## forddna (Sep 12, 2007)

Thank you, thank you, thank!!

bsmith, a pic of JUST the Aqua Flora is not necessary, but thanks. I really want to see one over my tank mixed with the other bulbs. But I think I'm going to bypass that altogether and just stick to traditional type bulbs.


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## forddna (Sep 12, 2007)

P.S. I'm ordering two of those GE bulbs. I was going to just get one, but for the price, might as well get two and then I can try various combos. Thanks for the link!


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## chrisnif (Aug 20, 2010)

I've got a favorite bulb that comes in a 175W Single ended halide, it's call an Iwasaki Eye 50,000K. It looks like you have your tank outside, just PERFECT colors (its actually a mercury vapor lamp but has a very high CRI which is color rendition index). It also has PAR readings off the chart for its wattage (Similar to a 250 watt metal halide from most other brands) A place around here uses them on their frag tank when customers are not looking at the corals so they grow, but it washes out all the colors you can only seen in corals with 20K lighting or heavy actinic, luckily this doesn't cause a problem for people here. 

I'm trying to see if there is something similar in 70W HQI.


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## forddna (Sep 12, 2007)

I'm gonna have to hold off on the $82 HQI bulb posted above..lol..

I went to the page BSMITH posted for the GE bulbs. Went to buy two $11 bulbs and somehow ended up spending $115. lmao


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## forddna (Sep 12, 2007)

roybot, I didn't even think to ask this...what ballast is your 70w on??


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## roybot73 (Dec 15, 2007)

It's a 70W Aqua Medic Ocean Light pendant with stock magnetic ballast. I purchased it from hellolights.com, and as far as I can tell is not on the market any more.
The ballast _is_ a little noisy (buzz), and my electricity appreciates the lower bill from the 48W Aqua Medic Sun Beam T5HO so I'm not using the halide right now. I've gotta say T5's are a hell of a lot easier to deal with too


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## forddna (Sep 12, 2007)

I am going to see how I like just 3 24w T5HOs. I just ordered two of those GE bulbs, three Icecap reflectors (and extra pair of endcaps for the new third strip)..

I also bought 1" nylon spacers, as I currently have my reflectors mounted flush to the canopy. My bulbs are 29" from the substrate. I don't mind tinkering and trying this or that, so I'll start at 1" and see how that works.

it's just really hard with a corner tank.


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## chrisnif (Aug 20, 2010)

I know things are never the same tank to tank, but I know someone who is doing a reef tank with only T5HO on a 54 corner. they have lights in a triangle, I think they crammed 3 bulbs in the front and 2 on each "side" I don't know the dimensions but it was tight.



forddna said:


> It's just really hard with a corner tank.


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