150w DE Bulb Suggestions PLEASE

[Whatigot]

Howdy folks, I just want to start this thread by saying that I tried to read through the MH info on this forum, like Snajays spectral analysis and it may as well have been written in Japanese (which I don't speak):redface:

I'm not trying to take advantage of all your hard reading and research, I'm just a little slow eh and could use some of your concentrated brain power to help me out.

I have a coralife M81 ballast that is controlling 2 150w DE 20k coralife bulbs that I am replacing soon.
The fixture itself is a coralife aqualight advanced which I think is a couple years old though it's very clean and looks new.

I was hoping that someone here could help me in choosing my next set of 150w de bulbs for this ballast and fixture setup.
I'm not as worried about aesthetics (blueness) as I am about being able to grow most sps, lps and so forth.
The tank is a 72 gallonbowfront, 4 feet long by 22 inches high with about 4 inches of substrate....

any suggestions wuld be appreciated and if any more info is needed about my setup to aid in giving me advice please post....

thank you very kindly.

[digital-audiophile]

Ohayo gazaimasu, O genki desu ka?


On my 150MH I was running the aquaconnect DE bulbs. Really nice mix of blue/white and I was getting decent growth as long as my corals where high up.

[Whatigot]

that seems to be a pretty consistent view on the aquaconnect...
JL sells them too which is near my residence so that helps.

I had a feeling you might be one of the first to offer some insight into this....lol
I get the feeling there isn't a whole lot of equipment you haven't tried or tested or read about...

I was leaning towards the aquaconnects mainly because they are the most expensive, which is a stupid reason in my opinion so it's nice to get a hands on review...

[fkshiu]

Perhaps I can help translate. Under the 150W M81 (HQI) shielded results you get this:

http://www.reeflightinginfo.arvixe.com/tabular-ballast-data.php?Watts=150&BallastType=HQI&BallastManuf=PFO+Lighting&BallastName=12&shield=Y&Submit=Submit

If you are looking at growing corals you want to look at the "PPFD" column which is simply another way of expressing PAR. You can see that the Icecap 6500K has the best PPFD (78), but is extremely yellow (the next column over "CCT" can simply translate to K-temp for our purposes). As you can see, it's always a trade-off between PPFD and colour as the more blue you get, the less PPFD you get, generally speaking.

[Whatigot]

That helps out a lot.
Love someone who knows how to dumb it down for us.
Whats with the ones that have 0 cct like the aquaconnect????
doesn't look so good to me if I understood you correctly...

[fkshiu]

The "0" in the CCT column means that Sanjay wasn't able to measure the colour temp. I forget the reason (it's in one of his articles I think), but there are often difficulties in the 12K - 18K range.

[Whatigot]

hmmm. I guess I should start to seriously consider supplemental actinic lighting...
I was hoping to just stick with the 2 hqi's, but it really seems like the difference between going with moderately blue bulbs and something like the icecap with leds or a vho might be worth the extra equipment....

[ron101]

I don't think that you are going to find many supplemental blue LED's that will make white light when matched with a 6500K metal halide. Considering the additional wattage when you introduce VHO fluroescents, parting out your existing 150W gear in favor of a 250W system becomes a very competitive alternative. IMO, if sps are your priority then going to 250W is almost a no brainer.

[Samw]

I've read a lot of people say that Phoenix and Aquaconnect are the same bulb except Phoenix is cheaper to buy.

http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/general-discussion/1287-phoenix-14k-bulbs.html

http://www.reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=1386005&sid=b5b337984e28bdec4480227ee1b48e1e

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v154/sdgtivr6/Phoenix-AC.jpg

[Whatigot]

I've done a lot of reading and research before I picked up the 150w for my system, i am quite confident that there will be enough lighting for lps as long as the bulb is being maximized by the m81 ballast.
I wasn't looking for suggestions on 250w lights or getting a new fixture although I appreciate you probably think you're just trying to help.

I also was only speaking of supplemental actinic lighting with a vho or led so i could use a 6500k bulb that had a much higher par than a 14k or 20k and still have a nice reefy blue color.

Sorry, I suppose I should have ben more descriptive in what advice i am hoping to find.
Thankk....

[j3d]

Sorry for the OT, I just want to ask what store sells Phoenix bulb here in the lower mainland?

[Sebae again]

Ocean Aquatics sell them but you should call to see if they have them in stock.