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#1
08/26/2007, 10:04 PM
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Phoenix vs Ushio - back to the past
For several years i have used Phoenix 250W DE 1400K bulbs, most recent in Lumenarc reflectors, but always magnetic ballasts, so the colour is white with a touch of blue.
Over this time, growth was ok, but colours have not always been to my taste. It's been difficult to keep some reds and some other corals that originally had purple tips, purple and i always felt that some corals reacted well,others not so well. Last week i bought a pair of Ushio 250W DE 10,000K's and fired them up, visually they look very white to the eye, but a bit of a shock when looking at the tank after using the 14K's for so long. After adding 3 54W T5 Blue+ and 1 T5 Actinic, the view was more pleasing to the eye. After 1 week i am seeing a significant change and improvement in the colours of my corals, colours are becoming deeper, corals that had lost their coloured tips or become washed out are now colouring up. As people tend to continue to move towards high K bulbs, i must say taking the trip back has so far proved pleasing. I am hoping that these initial changes continue to improve over the next months. |
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#2
08/27/2007, 09:47 AM
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Were you supplementing the Phoenix bulbs with anything? IMO they really need some 420nm actinic supplementation. Even with that pinks specifically do not show up very well...I've been told that daylight supplementation, e.g. 6500K or even lower, can help that, but I haven't tried it yet.
jds |
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#3
08/27/2007, 12:24 PM
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Though Phoenix are dubbed 14k, they are 20k, it's a blue bulb. There is little in the way of spectrum other than blue.
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#4
08/27/2007, 12:26 PM
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I would even go one step further to 6500K bulbs as long as you have plenty of supplements. Can anyone say Iwasakis?
I run all T5's but use the GE daylight 6500K bulbs very heavily in a 1:1 ratio with ATI blue plus bulbs. I love the true daylight bulbs. |
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#5
08/27/2007, 02:39 PM
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I think your reaction may be a little premature after only one week. It will take a little longer for the bulbs to burn in to see what they will truly do for your tank.
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#6
08/27/2007, 03:44 PM
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I am also a bit skeptical of these findings. The phoenix, while not perfect, is a good bulb and many people get great results with them, myself included. I think what your noticing is just you getting used to the difference of how your corals look under 10k. Frankly I about wanted to puke when I put 10ks on my tank after I had the Phoenix on there so naturally you probably disliked it at first. But after a few weeks, the color suddenly wasnt so bad anymore and I actually started to like some things better. I really think these changes are likely in your head more than anything else.
I gotta tell you, when I replaced those 250w 10ks with 400w XM20k i was in heaven..... INSTANTLY the colors were back to thier former glory.....
__________________
-Kurt |
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#7
08/27/2007, 03:58 PM
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Like most of the "information" on this board, the information is anecdotal and is based upon user preference.... Kurt, I'm the opposite of you, I can't stand 20k bulbs unless they are overdriven
 , I like the ice white look....
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#8
08/27/2007, 04:04 PM
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Quote:
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#9
08/27/2007, 06:37 PM
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bureau13
With the Phoenix 14k's i tried various T5 combo's from actinic, Fuji purple, Blue plus. I also ran an extra 14k's for a while in a unit with an electronic ballast. The colour was much bluer and seemed to give a better colouration for some purple corals. chessmanmark As i said, its early days, but i monitor closely and just report the difference i see so far. I make no other changes to the tank routine. Horace Sorry these initial changes are not in my head. They are observed and real. Time will tell if the positive results continue. No way do i knock the Phoenix bulb, it looks nice to the eye and results have been ok. With the change back to the 10k's the corals which were great under the 14k's still hold the colour and look good , but the corals that did not look good or hold the colours under the 14k's are changing for the better. Yes the tank looked bad at first,so i cleaned the side panes of the tank that i normally keep dirty for the fish to graze on. This made a big improvement together with the T5 supplimentation. |
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#10
08/27/2007, 07:14 PM
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Quote:
__________________
-Kurt |
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#11
08/27/2007, 07:16 PM
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Quote:
__________________
-Kurt |
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