Avalon 400 watt HQI

[jlinzmaier]

Does anyone know where to get these Avalon 400 watt HQI bulbs that are discussed in this article?

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/oct2004/review.htm

I searched for happyreefing.com and I got bogus results.

I keep seeing a person called Nguyen from happyreefing.com getting referred to as having these bulbs for sale but I don't know how or where to reach him/her.

Hope someone can help. These bulbs have an extremely higher PAR rating than any other 400 watt HQI.

[jlinzmaier]

bump

[booie]

try www.reefland.comforum board and he uses it

[marsh]

HappyReefing is out of buisness

[hahnmeister]

They arent true HQI. 400wattHQI's come in single ended... the startup of a few companies to make 400wattDE's was an attemt to cash in on the perception that DE bulbs are better (since 150 and 250wattDE bulbs are HQI), but they are really cheap, low-pressure bulbs intended to be run on electronic ballasts, not HQI.

If you want 400wattHQI, stick to mogul base. If you really want to see output, check out the Ushio/BLV nepturion 14,000K (same bulb as Giesemann 14,500K). Its got a monsterous output.

The list of 400watt HQIs is short though... Aquaconnect 14,000K (more blue/actinic than a radium, and a pretty high output as well), Aqualine 10,000K, Ushio/BLV aqualite/nepturion (non-CWA models which are probe start) 10,000K, 14,000K, and 20,000K, and the Giesemann Megachromes (same bulbs as Ushio/BLV).

[md fishes]

I have the 400W DE bulbs too. I am dying to get a new bulb b/c i am sick of the coralvue bulbs.

What DE bulbs are you currently running?

[Jayreefer]

Don't forget Helios 400w in 20k and 12.5K. I love them.

[hahnmeister]

Jayreefer, they werent forgotten. Helios are low-pressure probe-start 400watt bulbs. If you will double check the topic, we are talking about 400 watt HQI bulbs, not the lower quality ones you can run on M59 ballasts.

[md fishes]

Hahnmeister,

What are you running now? What do you think of them?

[hahnmeister]

Im running ushio 14,000Ks. Corals seem to love them. I like it as well, but I am supplimenting with 4 rows of blue/actinic T5s.

I dont run 400s currently, never had a tank more than 24" tall to justify it.

[jlinzmaier]

I'm looking into the Ice Cap DE bulbs and they seem to be OK performers. The PPFD on the 10K bulb is 120 with the PFO HQI ballast. They aren't as good as some of the 400 watt mogels but I don't think there at the bottom of the line either.

Has anyone had any experience with 400 watt DE Ice Cap bulbs??

Does anyone else agree with Hahn that the 400 watt DE bulbs are cheap, of poor quality, and don't compare to 400 watt moguls? Would it be worthwhile to swap out my DE fixtures for SE fixtures?

[md fishes]

If I did it again I would definitely go mogul. My buddy has the mini luminarcs and he is very happy with their performance. Plus, with the moguls you have a large selction of bulbs to choose from. If I did it again I would go with the luminar/lumin bright pendants and reeflux 12k bulbs. I also have T5 suppliments which are fantastic. I highly recommend T5 suppliments to all tanks. The color of my coral changed drastically in only a matter of weeks after adding my tek t5 fixture. Worth every penny!

[hahnmeister]

The only 400wattDE bulb which is true HQI is a 5000K made by Radium. There is a 'HQI spec' and that spec was built around the mogul base for 400watters since a DE socket format was never established. The recent attempts are more of a gimmick to cash in on the perception that DE bulbs are better than SE, which is true because 150 and 250's are HQI.

[md fishes]

Have you seen that 5000k bulb run? Is it really yellow?

[hahnmeister]

Oh yeah... its yellow.