not to beat a dead horse here but searching for an answer for my question on this site is pretty tough..
Here goes:
I have a 90gal mixed reef with an old set of xm 10k's being supplemented with 2 x 110w vho uri actinics. My ballasts are nearly 2 yr old icecap 250w electronics.
I like the look (before these xm 10k's became nearly 2 yrs old) which with the vho actinics gave me a white\slight blue look.
The xm's as mentioned are old and now need to be changed. As much as i like the look of white \ daylight shallow reef that i was able to get with the current combo, i'm leaning this time around to going with a more blue tint. I realize with the shift in color temp comes the loss of PAR for the most part anyways. I'm ok with this. I think i'll adjust to the bluer look over time just fine. Maybe even be able to get rid of the vho's and save some $$ there.
My sockets for now are SE and for now i don't want to make the jump to DE. Next round i will
I'm looking for a decent quality SE 250w bulb that will give me the bluer look i'm wanting to try. A bulb that works well with my IC 250w ballasts, has a decent lifespan. I hear the aqua connect (think is the name) are great but a fair bit more $$ then the others out there.
The xm 10k's gave exceptional growth but this round i am NOT concerned with big time growth that the xm10k are famous for
Any recommendations? Ideally i would love to see some pics of those out there running IC 250w ballasts and a 14K (maybe 12k)bulb. The pics i have seen of the 20k 250's are just too dim for my liking.
thanks!
Here goes:
I have a 90gal mixed reef with an old set of xm 10k's being supplemented with 2 x 110w vho uri actinics. My ballasts are nearly 2 yr old icecap 250w electronics.
I like the look (before these xm 10k's became nearly 2 yrs old) which with the vho actinics gave me a white\slight blue look.
The xm's as mentioned are old and now need to be changed. As much as i like the look of white \ daylight shallow reef that i was able to get with the current combo, i'm leaning this time around to going with a more blue tint. I realize with the shift in color temp comes the loss of PAR for the most part anyways. I'm ok with this. I think i'll adjust to the bluer look over time just fine. Maybe even be able to get rid of the vho's and save some $$ there.
My sockets for now are SE and for now i don't want to make the jump to DE. Next round i will
I'm looking for a decent quality SE 250w bulb that will give me the bluer look i'm wanting to try. A bulb that works well with my IC 250w ballasts, has a decent lifespan. I hear the aqua connect (think is the name) are great but a fair bit more $$ then the others out there.
The xm 10k's gave exceptional growth but this round i am NOT concerned with big time growth that the xm10k are famous for
Any recommendations? Ideally i would love to see some pics of those out there running IC 250w ballasts and a 14K (maybe 12k)bulb. The pics i have seen of the 20k 250's are just too dim for my liking.
thanks!
