best 250 watt de bulb

[lovetoreef]

I am planning a mixed reef tank ... dimensions are 36x24x18 ... i will have a shallow sand bed ... i plan on keeping softies, lps, zoas, shrooms, clams and maybe one or two sps ... this will be a tank with a shorter stand to maximize the top down view ...

with that said, i have a lumenmax 3 pendant with blue wave ballast (250 watt de) that i would like to use ... this will be the only lighting i use - what bulb would you recommend to bring out the colors of the zoas and acans?? but, it still needs to support the clams - thanks.

gm

 

[Wd40]

I also have a bluwave ballast and run ushio 20k. LOVE IT!!!
I was in between that and phoenix but heard phoenix looks like windex... Not sure never owned it but i know premium has them on sale.. Good luck

 

[mojo~]

I got the pheonix and does not look like windex in my tank at all. It is white.

this is with a de phoenix and 2 t5 actinic plus

looks like my colors look ok. its a matter of taste and what your ballast is. the less your drive them the bluer they get.

 

[Rickyrooz1]

I also run the Phoenix 14K DE bulbs on Lumatek ballasts with one 54w ATI Blue Plus T5 and one 54w UVL Super Actinic T5. The tank looks very natural with just the halides on. I have to T5's for more color pop.

 

[lovetoreef]

very nice on those 2 setups to say the least! mojo do you use a 14K or 20K phoenix?

 

[Rickyrooz1]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15547455#post15547455 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by lovetoreef
very nice on those 2 setups to say the least! mojo do you use a 14K or 20K phoenix?

Phoenix only makes 14K bulbs.

 

[mojo~]

yeap 14k

 

[lovetoreef]

oh - thanks.

 

[reefknight]

I have two Luman Max 3 250W pendants with IceCap ballasts and run the Ushio 20k's and love them.

 

[Jeremy B.]

lovetoreef - If you were doing mostly sps I would say the 14k Phoenix with some supplementation, however with a more mixed reef, that you will most likely have a lot more reds / oranges to pop than if you were doing that all sps system I think the Ushio 20k would be the better fit. I have ran both over a mixed reef, and was more pleased with the coloration of the Ushio 20k when it came to the pinks / reds / oranges, plus you don't need all of that par the 14k phoenix puts out. Just my two cents worth.... HTH!

 

[lovetoreef]

Thank you.