~14K bulb recommendations

[PeterC2508]

looking for a decent bulb would be nice to keep them under a hundred a piece was looking at the hamiltons. I have 2 250W mogul base fixtures

 

[Ding2daDong]

If you have actinics then the reeflux 10k. If you don't have actinics then get the 12k reeflux bulbs. Many people are switching to them and they are just amazing.

Here is a link to a TOTM guy who only uses reeflux bulbs.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-09/totm/index.php

hth

-Matthew

 

[kodyboy]

hamiltons and XM 20ks are nice, but the XMs may be too blue for you
The XM 15ks are crap, do not get them PAR is awful.

 

[Wrench]

Reeflux 12k or Aquaconnect 14k here.

 

[mfinn]

I use the 14K Hamiltons on my 240 gallon soft coral tank and my 40 gallon zoanthid tank. Great bulb.

 

[PeterC2508]

Thanks a million for the recommendations, I'm still a little confused about the PAR concept

 

[xtm]

Re: ~14K bulb recommendations

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13215790#post13215790 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by PeterC2508
looking for a decent bulb would be nice to keep them under a hundred a piece was looking at the hamiltons. I have 2 250W mogul base fixtures

Peter-- what exactly are you looking for? More blue? Crisp white? Yellowish? Hard spike on the 420nm? You know, not all 14K bulbs look the same. For instance, there is a night and day difference in color between the Iwasaki 14K and 14K Phoenix. HUGE difference.

In a nutshell, these are my experiences on the 14000K's that I've used:

Ushio 14K - Whitish blue, good flourescence. Bluish on electronic and whiter on M80. Supplement actinics for a deeper blue look.

Phoenix 14K - Brighter blue on M80 and horribly dim purpleish on electronic. Good PAR with a 20K look. No need to supplement actinics for the most part.

Iwasaki 14K - Crisp white on electronic, brighter crisp white on M80. No blue at all. Actinic supplementation is recommended.

Hamilton 14K - Dim. Achieves good flourescence esp w/ Actinic 420nm's but I can't take how dim it is whether you're using electronic or M80.

On Icecap e-ballast..................

Iwasaki 14K

Phoenix 14K

Sorry that's all the pics I have. I didn't have a good camera when I had the Ushio and Hamilton.

Hope that helped

 

[PeterC2508]

i am looking for more blue. Right now i'm running some crappy 10000K bulbs that look a bit yellow

 

[grigsy]

XTM, he has MOGUL based fixtures, not DE. I would suggest Hamilton 250 watt 14K SE bulb. I use that and like it.

 

[xtm]

yeah you're right he has a SE setup... sorry I got carried away with typing

 

[kodyboy]

hamilton 14k or xm20K either are a nice blue color for SE bulbs.

 

[Ehgemus]

12k reeflux are really nice, I will probably buy them again. this will be my third time buying them

 

[PeterC2508]

I decided on the 12k reeflux bulbs because they were a bit cheaper than the hamiltons. I hope all goes well. Thanks for the advice all

 

[Shawn D]

I just got the 12k Reeflux as well from Mike at Reef Specialty based on his recommendation. I had XM15k which I now know suck based on par but I like the color they put out and the Reeflux is almost the same but WAY more PAR. I have already noticed tons more growth tips on my sps in just a week and a half.

 

[buck50bmg]

Aquaconnects all the way!