who uses what halide bulbs?

[tgoeujon]

who uses what halide bulbs and why? ive been using 10k geissman bulbs since i started using halides but im thinking of trying a 14k. is there any real advantages in goin with a specific k value

[boots]

I have been using aqua connect 150w 14000k on my 90 gallon for a year now and love the color and results that they have given me
You can get them at a&a in abbotsford

[fkshiu]

I've used:

- AB 13Ks on 175w TAR ballasts because of the relative high PAR (score: 7/10)
- XM 10Ks with 250w HQI ballasts because of the massive PAR you get from this combo (score: 8/10 - too much PAR b/c it burned some corals!).
- Radium 20Ks on the HQI ballast because I was into my blue phase (score 8/10 - great for most colours but yellows are washed out).
- Iwasaki 15Ks on 175w electronic ballasts because I'm back into bright white and also the very high relative PAR considering how little electricity this setup uses (score 9/10 - the perfect bulb with actinic supplements).

Note that I supplement with actinics as well.

It's the bulb/ballast combo that will affect your colour/PAR - you have to take both into consideration. Don't always believe what a kelvin temperature bulb is marketed at; the true colour a bulb will spit out can be much different and will change depending on ballast.

Check out Sanjay Joshi's lighting page for more info.

[Interior_Reef]

Our coral tank uses the 14K Aqua Connect bulbs, if you want something to referance them to Trevor

[mark]

I've used (250w DE)
-14K Hamilton, really really love the colour, crisp white, touch of blue, but had a couple of bulbs burn out after a month, other after 6 months.
-14K Ushio, find rather yellow, maybe little more growth the the Hamiltons
-20K XM, way to purple, not long enough to comment on growth
-ordered 14K Pheonix today, hoping same colour as the Hammys

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Aquaconnect 14000k 250w DE - loved them. Used for 21 months but really low par by the time I switched them out. Kept them in cause I was waiting for our PAR meter to arrive. Corals did fine, even SPS, with these old bulbs & kept the crisp blue/white colour throughout. Very expensive though when you're talking about replacing 5 bulbs.

Phoenix 14000k 250w & 150w DE - love them. What I have on my Aqualight Pros right now. Great colour, perhaps less PAR than 10000k or new ACs, but great bang-for-the-buck IMO & IME.

Hamilton 14000k 250w - less blue than the Phoenix. Use it in the middle of 3 lights with Phoenix on the ends. Decent, but white for a 14000k. Heard these are not comparable in quality, longevity or PAR to Phoenix or AC.

Geisemann 14500k 150w - excellent colour and high PAR. Bit more expensive than Phoenix, but less than AC.

Geisemann 13000k 250w - only used a short time but not blue enough for me. Probably good PAR but would prefer a bluer tint.

[StirCrazy]

seeing as you are used to 10K's now going to a 14K will be a huge color change and not sure if that is what you want.

My absolut fav set up is 250 HQI ballast running SE AB10K you won't find more PAR out there, well maybe but not by much if you do. but the color is unique as they advertsie them as 10K but they are realy 12300Kish so you get a nice Ice white color as I call it.. kinda a white with a hint of blue to it..

I have tried XM, SA, Ushio, BLV and a couple others but I am going to go back to the AB's.

I don't like the blue of a 14K which I think is mislabled also as there isn't much differance between a lot of 14K and 20Ks, but at any rate it is to blue for me.. now there is one I saw at Progressive reef that is sold as a 12 or 13K (Can't remember which one) and I think it is by reflux??? but it had the AB look and was nice, but it was only available in 400 from what I saw but who knows if it is in 250 also I would like to take a PAR measurment on that as it would be a cheeper option to the ABs as they are expensive, but worth it.

Steve

[Skimmerking]

I have used many bulbs the phoenix DE are a great bulb for the DE \as for the SE the reeflux 12K i really love them alot. the crisp white with a hint of blue....
reef optics is a great bulb too for the 20
K par.

but going from a white 10K to a 12,14 ,15, 20 K is going to be a huge difference IME and aeeing that steve has stated it too.

[tgoeujon]

i kinda figured it would be a color change but what im trying to figure out is if it will be beneficial to my corals or not, if i dont like the blue i can always go back.:biggrin:

[Navarchus]

. is there any real advantages in goin with a specific k value


Usually as higher the Kelvin the lower the par. Even tough I heard that the new coralvue enjoy high par even in higher Kelvin.

[bowkry]

right now I have one side xm 15000k 400 watt and the other side xm 20000k 400 watt I am want to see what has better color and coral growth. I think the 20000k is way too blue. The coral growth look like the same.

[shotzee]

I have been using Phoenix 14K bulbs forever. I love them! They have great balance of color good PAR and a great price.

[tgoeujon]

i decided to go with the 14k phoenix bulbs, hopefully it works well. thanks for the input everyone

[banditpowdercoat]

You get some new fixtures Trev? Weren't you running T5? I have to get some bulbs real soon too, 2 150 HQI and a 250W SE Thats gona be a big bill LOL

[tgoeujon]

hey dan, ocean aquatics has a sale on the phoenix 150 hqi bulbs right now, that was my deciding factor lol

[banditpowdercoat]

Ya, I know. to bad, I won't have any tank money untill after the 15th :(

[whatcaneyedo]

I've tried (these are all 250W DE) Hamilton 14K, XM 10K, Giesemann 13K, Giesemann 14.5K, Giesemann 20K, Ushio 10K and Phoenix 14K.

For now I'm going to stick with the Phoenix 14K due to the overwhelming popularity (and because I just got next years on sale from Ocean Aquatics). :biggrin: