250W SE MH bulbs, i have 3 in mind. Help me decide. Thanks!!

[kdblove_99]

My #1 is to have the corals pop and look good. The PAR is second. WHo has tried these bulbs and which do you prefer for color.

I have 2 PFO ballast to choose from to run these they both are 250W one is a magnetic and the other is an HQI.

I know if i got the Radium i would use HQI.

Radium 20K

Reeflux 12k

XM 20K

BTW. I have a Lumenarc reflector

 

[kdblove_99]

thanks for the over welming responces, it made the decision even tougher

But, i think i have made up my mind i will be heading to your reef tomorrow

 

[buttons buster]

sorry, I would have responded, but I already knew you had made up your mind, so I didn't want to sway you :]

 

[kdblove_99]

Thanks, You might be suprised with my pick

 

[buttons buster]

What did you choose?

 

[dots]

Re: 250W SE MH bulbs, i have 3 in mind. Help me decide. Thanks!!

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10775761#post10775761 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kdblove_99


I have 2 PFO ballast to choose from to run these they both are 250W one is a magnetic and the other is an HQI.

This is confusing to me and may be why you didn't get too many responses.

Many people use the term HQI incorrectly, though you may not being, would you clarify.

You have 2 PFO ballasts for running DE lights and one is a magnetic and the other is an electronic ballast? Or are you referring the "magnetic" as an SE magnetic ballast?

Regardless, the difference in 20K and 12K are a lot, since you are going for appearance, most like the 20K radium and stand by it.

 

[kdblove_99]

yes, I have a standard Magnetic. also have a HQI typically used to run DE.

BUt alot of people use the HQI to overdrive SE.

I was actually leaning toward the Reeflux 12K people seem to love the color and growth.

Lots say the XM 20 is just too blue, even though it has great par for a 20K bulb.

Radiums are used alot with the HQI ballast.

The guy with the tank of the month this month says he has tried just about every bulb and the Reeflux is by far the best he has used

 

[dots]

So you have an M-81 ballast? Why I ask:

"Another term typically encountered in the aquarium lighting industry is HQI. HQI is a trademark of OSRAM, and stands for a specific brand of lamps made by OSRAM. The aquarium industry has been quite loose with this term and has applied it to any European metal halide lamp and now, even more loosely, to any DE lamp. European MH lamps do not directly conform to the ANSI standard and have different operating current and voltage requirements. In most cases, a direct match may not exist with U.S. ballasts, so the aquarium industry has tried to find ballasts that work with those lamps, and have labeled these as HQI ballasts. For example, the M80 and M81 ballasts are called “HQI ballasts” in the aquarium industry, for 150-watt and 250-watt lamp applications, respectively."

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-03/sj/index.php

Good article, by the way.

I don't get hung up on the bulbs too much, I grow tired of them and try something new. I havn't found the one yet that'll grow an inch a day, or kills them just as fast. I figure, if you can't stand to look at it in the first place.....who cares how big or fast they grow.

 

[kdblove_99]

Think its actually an M80 ballast

 

[edsimmons]

I use XM 20,000 K and am very happy.

 

[Justin74]

2 points I like about the reeflux from what Ive heard and seen. 1st, it is second to none in getting blule corals to get as smurfy as they can possibly be, some even unrealistically smurfy
2nd, overall appearance and while taking pictures, the color balance seems to be more true ie, the orange look orange, not pinkish orange, etc.
In a standard size depth of tank 20-24" I think there wont be an issue with PAR on any bulb when paird with a lumenarc. Those things just seem to "supersize" any bulb.

-Justin