Best Metal Halide Bulb for SPS coloration

Ushio 14k looks like a yellow 10k. Heck the hailton 10k nulb is bluer in appearance. That aqua connect is perfect and there is no bulb like it out there. Reeflux 12 is close but still the not comparable in violets or 550 white.
 
Look I just ordered 12. Anyone wants to try one contact me and I'll send to you. If you want it just reimburse me. If not send it back to me. Let you know when they come
 
The Ushio 14k is a true 14k lamp. If your water is clear then the bulb is very crisp white, however if your water has the ever so slightest yellow tint to it then they will look yellow. If you run any supplementation with them they will look very crisp ice white with a very small tint of blue. I've ran them on every type of ballast you can think of, and this holds true for all of them except an M80 or M81. Those will pump even more white/yellow light through them, very slightly lowering the CCT of the lamp. As jda mentioned above the type of ballast you're running plays a lot into the coloration of the lamp when running.
 
The 250W aqua connects ended up costing me $110 each. A good amount more than the radiums, but if they last even close to the 2 years Drew says they last, it will be worth it. If not, it won't be the first or last time in this hobby that I've spent more than I had to! Half the fun is the experimenting.

To Nanook's comment, Sanjay has tested the Ushio and the Aqua connect 400W bulbs (Ushio doesn't make a 250W 14k). His results show that they are not the same bulb. Here is the spectral plot of the two Ushio 14k's against the Aqua connect using the same Blueline ballast from the Manhattan reefs lighting guide:
64d93744e72c07e83eff706ba3675f41.png


That peak at 450 is what makes those colors glow.


Did you use the same site listed above.
 
The Ushio 14k is a true 14k lamp. If your water is clear then the bulb is very crisp white, however if your water has the ever so slightest yellow tint to it then they will look yellow. If you run any supplementation with them they will look very crisp ice white with a very small tint of blue.

You're making me want to switch over to the Ushio's. The Radium's are just too blue for my taste with actinics, although I am running Lumatek ballasts.
 
I guess it depends on how much actinic vs halide
I have 8 39w t5 with 2 150 and 2 250 hqi for me it was probably easier to make it look good
To each is own though I know when I look at the frag tank under just led than look at the display with the halides it looks bad but before just looking at the display it looked great
Your eyes get used to the light IMO
 
I like 10k xms also with t5s and crees for supplements. I ran the lumateks with them. Reflux. 400w 12k we're good too but I had a problem with varying bulb colors from what I remember.
 
Am I the only one that likes the traditionaly xm 10k+actnic supplements?

I do, but I needed 4x VHO Super Actinics to make the tank look good with the 10K. Even though, I really do like this combo, I save the 640W of VHO and just run a 14k phoenix bulb instead.
 
Welles used 3 x 10k 400w XM on his tank of the month that was supplemented with VHO super actinic and a 70/30 mix of blue to white Cree LED (DIY).

img_5889.jpg


Unfortunately it doesn't look like he's been active here on RC for a while, but here is the link to his TOTM in 2009:

http://reefkeeping.com/joomla/index.php/past-issues/2009/september-2009/article/25-tank-of-the-month

I don't know if PA can ship to China. I worked in Beijing and the market there is horrible with a lots of enthusiasts dying for good equipments. I could travel to HK easily and bought most of my things there

the market was kinda full of phonies. PA should step in and bring the best to there:bounce1:
 
Can you provide more details, ballast and supplementation?

I was using a ballast that doesn´t exist in USA....very simple ballast from brazil :hmm5:

There is no supplements here..just ca reactor , WC , GFO

Denadai, how old is this pic? Is it your tank?

Yes..this is my old tank....I took this pic in 2005..the time is changing so fast . I miss this tank

You can see more pics here : http://denadai-reef.com/reef-600l/

Best Regards
 
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