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#1
10/20/2007, 08:10 PM
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BEST overall 250W HQI bulb on the market?
well i am going to get new bulbs so i am trying to decide if i should stick with what i got currently or try something new...
i think its guna be hard to top the Phoenix 14K 250W bulbs on performance and looks and was wondering what others have as far as experience with other bulbs and which they would consider the best DE bulb on the market... mind u i do not currently run any actinics due to electric bill consumptions and that the phoenix already burn a nice crisp blue look as it is... i want growth without the sacrafice of look i was tossing up the idea of getting XM 10K's but i dont want a yellow tank im runing PFO HQI ballast BTW full shot of the tank to give u an idea of its current status 
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Justin MASVC member |
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#2
10/20/2007, 08:51 PM
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phoenix 14k is one of the best for a good par value and good color all in one bulb.ive heard the ushio 10k bulb is good but ive never used one and cant tell you how well the color is.the new iwasaki is pretty close to the phoenix but i might try it after its time to change out my phoenix bulbs.
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#4
10/20/2007, 09:13 PM
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Phoenix 14K
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#6
10/20/2007, 09:52 PM
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i had a xm 10k on my tank with nothing else, i didn't think it was too yellow, found it to be a nice white. i would give xm or iwasaki
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hobby???? are you serious this is an ADDICTION |
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#7
10/20/2007, 10:06 PM
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the 10k is a bit pink the 12k is more of a blue |
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#9
10/24/2007, 02:44 AM
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Anyone had experience with Helios 250W 20K DE? I would like to see some pix and know the ballast it's used with. I heard it's a nice color + decent PAR.
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#10
10/24/2007, 06:52 PM
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Quote:
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Justin MASVC member |
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#12
10/24/2007, 08:22 PM
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i actually just ended up getting new Phoenix bulbs... so i switched out 2-8 month old bulbs on the ends and one 2 month old ushio 20K in the center... and let me tell u its amazing the difference in brightness new bulbs have... its really noticeable from the old bulbs to the new bulbs i think these should get some growth goin now@!
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Justin MASVC member |
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#15
10/24/2007, 08:41 PM
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I have already gone down this road...3 times in the last month, just ask all my reef buddies. They will laugh as they tell you how obsessed I was at finding that perfect bulb!!!
ALL HQI BULBS ON AN ICECAP 250 ELECTRONIC BALLAST (NEW STYLE) I started off with a Pheonix 14k and after getting a bit bored with it, decided to venture out for better color and growth. My local fish store had an XM 15k laying around and let me "try" it out. IT SUCKED!!!! It was a whitish BROWN...not even yellow, more golden! Wheew it went straight back to the store! The day I took the XM back, they had put Reeflux 12k bulbs in their coral tank. I had wanted to try those bulbs next, so this was a great opp. to see what they where all about. Well the local fish store was running PFO HQI ballast, and the Reeflux bulbs looked PINK, again very bad! SO I had the great Idea that maybe my Icecap ballast would run them a bit more blue and give great color...no such luck, they where a bit less pink when driven with my icecap ballast, but no where as nice as the pheonix 14k's. Keep in mind that I still had the pheonix bulbs and when I did these color comparisons, one bulb was in one fixture and the pheonix was always in the other for comparison reasons. I even called coralvue and they sent me a new bulb, still kinda pink when driven by my Icecap ballast....and yes I switched ballast to see if it was my ballast, and NO it wasnt! I have seen pictures of reeflux SE bulbs lit and yes they do look good, but not HQI versions!!! Last I tried XM 20k's...VERY BLUE and VERY DIM!!! Again HQI version and not SE's. It has been my experience to determine that HQI bulbs do not give off the same light spectrum/par as their SE version. I also noticed that XM bulbs do not give good par/spectrum with electronic ballast....they seem to really perform with Magnetic ballast. I am now back to my Pheonix Bulbs! For the spectrum/Par in an HQI bulb, I think its going to be hard to find a better bulb. JMO Hope this helps. I have also tryied many SE bulbs in different wattages, so if you want some imput, give me a pm and chances are that I have seen the bulb lit first hand! Sanjay's website, really is right on with most of my experiences!!! I know that it is hard to vision what a spectrum plot looks like in real life, but after trying MANY different bulbs I kinda got a knack for interpreting them. Here is a link to his lighting website. If you compare Two bulbs, put the pheonix bulb in as a constant and play with different bulbs on the other side to see if they are something you might like. http://www.reeflightinginfo.arvixe.com/select2lamp.php |
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#16
10/24/2007, 09:02 PM
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^^ very helpful. Thanks.
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#17
10/24/2007, 09:11 PM
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How about the Giesemann 14.5K coral bulb? Is the color white or blue? On Sanjay's site the coral bulb has a PAR of 126 on PFO HQI ballast and a Phoenix 14K is 88. I was thinking about switching my Phoenix bulbs to the Giesemann 14.5K but I also don't want the yellow look. I may be fine with the bulb looking white but I'd rather have a blue bulb. Anyone have a picture of the Giesemann 14.5K?
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120 gallon mixed reef, 30 gallon refugium, two 250 watt Phoenix 14K DE metal halides, four 65 watt Actinic power compacts, AquaC EV-120 protein skimmer, Mag Drive 12 return pump, two Hydor Koralia 4. |
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#18
10/24/2007, 09:30 PM
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You could give the Iwasaki 15K a try... burns to a hint of blue and can be run without the glass shield as the bulb already has the uv blocker on it. .... So they say, Not sure if i would run them without the shield though
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#20
10/24/2007, 09:38 PM
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Awesome! It doesn't look like you are using Actinics for supplementation, right? The SPS corals look great but the Frogspawn looks a little faded (whitish yellow) is that just an over exposure from the camera? |
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#21
10/24/2007, 09:47 PM
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cashman95 really helpful info!
that geishman bulb sounds pretty interesting maybe next time... i was worried to try anything else for how expensive bulbs get especiialy when u have to get 3 of them... i tried the ushio 20K it was purple compared to the phoenix and dim... i got my new phoenix bulbs in and all looks happy so far very bright compared to the 8 month old bulbs
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Justin MASVC member |
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#22
10/24/2007, 10:00 PM
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Wow, I just looked and my Phoenix 14K are 8 months and a week old. I'm either going to buy the Phoenix 14K or Giesemann 14.5K. Still need to see pictures of the Giesemann with Actinics.
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120 gallon mixed reef, 30 gallon refugium, two 250 watt Phoenix 14K DE metal halides, four 65 watt Actinic power compacts, AquaC EV-120 protein skimmer, Mag Drive 12 return pump, two Hydor Koralia 4. |
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#23
10/24/2007, 10:18 PM
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My tank is vertical (3 ft high x 2,3 ft large), so I donīt have room for many reflectors. Because of that I use only 1 Gies Coral but I do complement with one Gies T5 and one VHO URI actinics (smaller ones - 24 in). I already tried a month period with actinics off but I really didnīt see any difference in corals coloration at all.
Actually SPS still have some work and adjustments to improve colors, but Frogspawn and the other LPS have amazing colors. I used a Rebel Xti to take these pictures but actually I donīt know how to fix it properly. Both tank shots are poor, camera is definitely with wrong setup. Se how frog and other LPS really look like (over almost 1 meter from HQI reflector:    
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Wesley |
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#24
10/24/2007, 10:58 PM
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I used the G-Man coral bulb. When you first fire it up, it burns kinda yellow for the first month or so. Then, it is very very very white after that. A decent bulb if you can put up with a little yellow in the beginning. This was on a 250W, HQI SLS mag ballast.
But, I still ended up going back to Phoenix bulbs my next bulb change. Dennis |
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