Can anyone suggest a good light bulb combination for my reef tank comprised mainly of sps corals. I have 3 250watt PFO double ended metal halide pendants with 3 electronic ballasts and 4 T5HO 80watt bulbs which are driven by two Icecap ballasts. I was thinking of trying 20k metal halide bulbs because I have seen some pictures of tanks with 20k's and they didn't look too blue but had great colors. Any suggestions for bulb manufacturer and kelvin? Thanks
bulb suggestion?
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Stanley-Reefer
New member
I run actinic pcs and phoenix mh in both tanks. I found my brand!
Not all 20K's are super blue, some are, some arent. Some 14K's are bluer than some 20K's ... because the K rating is a marketing number only and probably in most cases the actual K isnt the same as the rated K. In other words, there are may 14 and 15K rated bulbs that actually are over 20K in color and some 14K's that are actually closer to 10K.
So it depends on how blue of a look you want.
Personally, I would go with either the Iwasaki 14K's and a combination of Blue plus / super actinic / fiji purple T5's.
Or, Ushio 20K's with super actinic / fiji purple T5's. But I prefer less of a blue tint with some of the purple/violet of the super actinics and/or a little red/purple color of the Fiji purple lamps. I dont like an overwhelming amount of blue. The Ushio's are one of the whiter (less blue) 20K's (along with most of the other German/European made 20Ks ... Giesemann, Aqualine Buschke etc)
For bluer look the Phoenix 14K halides have good par and are bluer (I hate them personally, find them to be a monotone blue, washed out look). But a popular bulb still.
Super blue look ... the Helios 20K's . Probably still the bluest 20K 250 watt DE that there is in the hobby. A huge amount of blue but also a bit of actinic energy which I think makes it a much better looking blue than the Phoenix ... but it is a very blue bulb.
For a full spectrum bulb, the 14K Ushio had strong par and isnt missing any color except for blue. Has lots of actinic and energy in the warmer spectrums as well just not much in the 450 - 470 nm blue range. So, Its a warmer looking lamp but is easily supplemented with Blue plus T5's to make up for the blue it is lacking. But not a good choice if you are looking for a bluer look to ypur display ... and with you looking at 20K's it probably isnt a good choice for you. It is one of the 14K's that actually measures closer to 10K, BTW.
So it depends on how blue of a look you want.
Personally, I would go with either the Iwasaki 14K's and a combination of Blue plus / super actinic / fiji purple T5's.
Or, Ushio 20K's with super actinic / fiji purple T5's. But I prefer less of a blue tint with some of the purple/violet of the super actinics and/or a little red/purple color of the Fiji purple lamps. I dont like an overwhelming amount of blue. The Ushio's are one of the whiter (less blue) 20K's (along with most of the other German/European made 20Ks ... Giesemann, Aqualine Buschke etc)
For bluer look the Phoenix 14K halides have good par and are bluer (I hate them personally, find them to be a monotone blue, washed out look). But a popular bulb still.
Super blue look ... the Helios 20K's . Probably still the bluest 20K 250 watt DE that there is in the hobby. A huge amount of blue but also a bit of actinic energy which I think makes it a much better looking blue than the Phoenix ... but it is a very blue bulb.
For a full spectrum bulb, the 14K Ushio had strong par and isnt missing any color except for blue. Has lots of actinic and energy in the warmer spectrums as well just not much in the 450 - 470 nm blue range. So, Its a warmer looking lamp but is easily supplemented with Blue plus T5's to make up for the blue it is lacking. But not a good choice if you are looking for a bluer look to ypur display ... and with you looking at 20K's it probably isnt a good choice for you. It is one of the 14K's that actually measures closer to 10K, BTW.
dailydriven911
Member
Good info! Thanks for the post DarG!
Glad I could help.
One thing about supplemental floursecents lighting is that it really is in your best interest to have several different color T5's so that you can color up the halides. There are some halides that I dont like as a standalone but with supplemental T5's the tank looks great. The downside is that you may end up buying some T5's that you dont end up using. But T5's are cheaper than brand name halides so .... Rather than always looking for the nirvana of halide bulbs and spending all that money, it can be much cheaper to experiment with T5s as supplements.
One thing about supplemental floursecents lighting is that it really is in your best interest to have several different color T5's so that you can color up the halides. There are some halides that I dont like as a standalone but with supplemental T5's the tank looks great. The downside is that you may end up buying some T5's that you dont end up using. But T5's are cheaper than brand name halides so .... Rather than always looking for the nirvana of halide bulbs and spending all that money, it can be much cheaper to experiment with T5s as supplements.
dailydriven911
Member
Yep I'm going to order 4 new t-5's to supp my halide. I currently run a Ushio 14k and 4x24w Geismann actinic plus bulbs. I'm thinking of doing the following combo...reeflux 20k or Ushio 20k with 2xati blue plus 1x kz figi purple and 1x ati actinic. What do you think? Any recomendations? This will be on a 250w Current outer orbit. I want a bluer look but not so blue that it washes everything out...
Cant comment on the Reeflux 20K. Never seen one, never owned one. Im sure you will lose some par compared to the 14K Ushio. And from what I have seen of other Reeflux bulbs (and I have owned several) they dont have the quality or consistency of the Ushio and other high quality Euro lamps. But that is just my personal experience. There are some Reeflux 20K users now, maybe they can chime in. But MAKE SURE they are talking about the same wattage and socket type because unlike the Ushio, AB and Iwasaki lamps I have used, the Reeflux have not been consistent in color between lamp types and wattages. In other words, for example, the 12K 250 DE looks nothing like the 12K 175 watt mogul which is a much bluer lamp.
If you had more T5 power you might stick with the Ushio 14K. Those are great bulbs and if you can add enough blue T5 to suite your taste they may be the perfect bulb. Lots of actinic energy and some energy in the warmer spectrums. But for someone wanting a blue look with the Ushio 14K they may need good deal of blue T5's and 4 x 24 watt may not be enough with the pretty strong par of the Ushio bulb for the look you want.
You lose a good deal of par going to the Ushio 20K. But that doesnt mean you still wont have plenty. Ushio 20K with a combo of super actinic and fiji purple is a very nice look IMO. Season to taste with blue lamps if you want more blue warm it up with lower K T5's if it is too blue ... but I doubt it will be. You are basically going from a true 10K to a 20K. The Ushi0 14K actually measures closer to 10K while the Ushio 20K is a 20K + eventhough it isnt as blue as many other 20K's and even some 14K's which are actually 20K + lamps. Great lamps though. Not and overwhelming blue (unlike many 20K's and some 14K's) so it doesnt take a ton of T5 to influence the color.
If you had more T5 power you might stick with the Ushio 14K. Those are great bulbs and if you can add enough blue T5 to suite your taste they may be the perfect bulb. Lots of actinic energy and some energy in the warmer spectrums. But for someone wanting a blue look with the Ushio 14K they may need good deal of blue T5's and 4 x 24 watt may not be enough with the pretty strong par of the Ushio bulb for the look you want.
You lose a good deal of par going to the Ushio 20K. But that doesnt mean you still wont have plenty. Ushio 20K with a combo of super actinic and fiji purple is a very nice look IMO. Season to taste with blue lamps if you want more blue warm it up with lower K T5's if it is too blue ... but I doubt it will be. You are basically going from a true 10K to a 20K. The Ushi0 14K actually measures closer to 10K while the Ushio 20K is a 20K + eventhough it isnt as blue as many other 20K's and even some 14K's which are actually 20K + lamps. Great lamps though. Not and overwhelming blue (unlike many 20K's and some 14K's) so it doesnt take a ton of T5 to influence the color.
mojo~
Skimmer Guy
I agree with DarG
I have a phoenix 14k DE bulb here I was using and well I just was not happy with it at all. it was running on a ice cap ballast. I hook it up to my new galaxy ballast and it is brighter but the color isn't there. On the other end I hooked up my new radium bulb and it is simply amazing compared to the phoenix. to see them side by side the phoenix is DE my radium is SE my radium is in a lumenMAx 2 reflector and the phoenix is in a lumen max 3. both on galaxy ballast. The radium has more color pop in the coral and is a brighter bulb. what ever bulb you go with it would be pretty easy to balance it out with the t5's to give you your desired look.
dailydriven911
Member
Wow thank you for taking the time to help! I think all my questions have been answered! Thanks for chiming in!!!
dailydriven911
Member
Ahh I wish Radium made a 250w DE bulb! I wouldn't have this problem if they did.
I have heard nothing but good things on the Radium bulbs. Thanks for the help!I believe it is the same exact lamp as the Helios 20K DE. Atleast they used to be.
Sanjays testings shows both lamps to be the same and the EVC I got a hold of a while back looked exactly like a Helios, side by side. I ran the Helios for a short while ... very blue lamp. I havent seen a bluer one in 250 DE and unless anything bluer has come out in the past year or two, they were generally regarded as the bluest 250 watt DE in the hobby. They have good par for as blue as they are and they are a pretty blue, I believe because they do have some actinic energy. Not nearly as monotone as the Phoenix. A "richer" blue to my eye. But also know for not holding their par as long as many other lamps. And again, you have to want a bluer look if you are going to go with the Helios/ EVC.
All this is assuming that EVC hasnt changed the lamp in the last little while.
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