250 DE MH height ?

[NewSchool04]

I bought a used 250 DE Pendant 3 weeks ago and started out at 12" from bulb to water level. I've lowered the pendant 1" a week and now I'm at 9". There is a 6 month old Phoenix 14K in the pendant.

I'm wondering how high people usually keep their 250 MH's?

 

[menard]

9" is good. Way back when I used 250 mogul 10" distance from the water surface , no problem.

 

[NewSchool04]

Hey menard! You think 9" is too close, I should raise it an inch?

 

[menard]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7968447#post7968447 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by NewSchool04
Hey menard! You think 9" is too close, I should raise it an inch?

Thats depend on what corals you keep. If you keeping mostly SPS fine. I used to keep'em at 6", but the bulb gets to dirty right away from water splashing, so I raise it to 10". This is 10K bulbs w/ supplemental VHO.

 

[NewSchool04]

95% SPS so I guess I'll be good to go, no ill effects on the corals so far. The glass shield is so easy to take off with the RO III that it makes it easy to clean.

 

[jjjimmy]

Re: 250 DE MH height ?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7968387#post7968387 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by NewSchool04
is a 6 month old Phoenix 14K in the pendant.

FME your bulb is about 1 month past its replacement time.

 

[Rod Buehler]

Re: Re: 250 DE MH height ?

Re: Re: 250 DE MH height ?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7969597#post7969597 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jjjimmy
FME your bulb is about 1 month past its replacement time.

I agree. I am not too impressed with the longevity of the pheonix lamp.

FWIW, I used to keep a mogul 250 running on an HQI ballast about 3 " above my 7 gallon bow (zoanthid tank)

 

[fijiblue]

Agreed. I would change them every 5 to 6 months. After 6 months, I measured a loss of par (averaged from 2 bulbs) from 312 to 256. That to me is pretty significant.

 

[Doubledown]

I keep my 250 HQI @ 10" above the water on a 24" deep tank, I may move them down to 8".

Unfortunately, I have to agree with the above statements about the life of that bulb. I ran the PH14K for about 8 months (I usually change bulbs every 10 months) and that was far too long - coral health declined as did color. I switched mine out for the ReeFlux bulbs and the corals are much happier.

 

[NewSchool04]

Doubledown, are you using the 10K or 12K Reeflux? DE right?

Any other suggestions for a bulb? The tank is a 30 gallon cube with no actinic supplement so I'm looking for a blue/white DE bulb. Thanks everyone.

 

[hansnfrans]

Geeez! I had no idea that the Phoenix 14K had that short of a useful lifespan. I was really lookiin' forward to getting these in a few months once I converted my SE setup to DE. Well, scratch that idea.

Sorry to hijack, but...... What is a good lookin' 250w, 10K and 14K bulb (lookin' for SE and DE bulb recommendations), that will last me 10-12 months??

 

[Doubledown]

I am currently 1.5 months into the 12K DE version. On HQI ballasts they look more yellow/white than the PH14K did (maybe it's just me getting used to the slightly lower kelvin). I ran actinics with both bulbs, so I was very blue with the PH14K.

Yznhmr runs the same DE 12K on electronic ballasts and they appear much bluer to me - very similar color to the PH14K. He runs without actinics and the color is very bright white with a touch of blue.

If you have a standard magnetic or electronic ballast I would recommend the Reeflux 12K without the actinics.


Other choices: Geissman Coral (14.5K I think) is supposed to be great for a blue/white bulb. They are more expensive than the Reeflux, but if you only need 1 for the cube... Also, I was very pleased with the performance of a BLV 20K bulb I had, not sure if 20K would work for you though (do you want faster growth or more flourecence from your corals), maybe they make one in the 14-15K range.

 

[mbunaman]

I am switching to the Aquaconnect DE bulb it looks like the phoenix but its a better built bulb. It is made in Germany and has better quality control. It has a little less par but not much from the Phoneix.

 

[NewSchool04]

seems like most of these DE bulbs look better on electronic ballasts instead of HQI. I've got to do some research, I'll def. look into the Aquaconnect and Geissman. I can't take the yellow so that probably takes out the Reeflux.

What about the Hamilton 14K?

 

[NewSchool04]

$120.00 for the Aquaconnect bulb!!!! Does anyone know how long they last?

 

[Rod Buehler]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7971439#post7971439 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by NewSchool04
seems like most of these DE bulbs look better on electronic ballasts instead of HQI. I've got to do some research, I'll def. look into the Aquaconnect and Geissman. I can't take the yellow so that probably takes out the Reeflux.

What about the Hamilton 14K?

They only look better to those who like bluer tanks .
Electronics dont realy have enough power to fire the DE lamps properly, and as a result the reds and yellows dont come through as well, leaving more room for the blue spectrum.

HQI will drive them harder which will produce more of a "true " spectrum and more PAR

(I have a few ICE CAP 250s that I would trade for HQIs if anyone is interested)

 

[NewSchool04]

Rod, what would you recommend for a blue/white DE bulb close to the Phoenix 14K color running on HQI ballast?

 

[Rod Buehler]

not quite as blue, but I also like the reeflux lamps. I dont run all that many DE lamps so my experience is somewhat limited. I cant really recommend anythig else. If you were after a less blue lamp, I like the colors the 10KK AB lamps have been producing.