Bulbs other than radiums for blue wave 7 ballast to encourage faster sps growth

[Jettareefer]

I want to change out my radiums for something else that would increase growth, but I'm not to sure what bulbs to run on this ballast since it's magnetic. Ushio 14k and xm 10k come to mind I have no clue wether or not they will look super yellow because of being over driven. If anyone can help narrow down some choices that would be amazing!

 

[trueblackpercula]

If you can get a aquaconnect 14k bulb I think you will be more then happy

 

[Jettareefer]

I heard the aqua connects last for over a year! Aren't they discontinued maybe I'm mistaken but the main reason I want to change is the radiums are dim and a tad to blue for my taste even on the supposed mother of all ballast. Most of my corals have good colors others are taking their time, at this point growth is my focus. I will have to do more research on the 14ks thanks for suggestion percula!

 

[PL-Reef]

I run Phoenix 14K and have great color and growth. Though I'm not sure if their compatible with your ballast.

 

[jackson6745]

Phoenix is only DE, he's looking for SE halide.

Jettareefer, you have the best halide in the 250w SE class. You should be able to have amazing growth using 2x 250w radiums over a 58 gallon reef. If you drop to a lower K it will be very hard to balance the spectrum with supplemental lighting over a small reef.
IMO you should look into your water parms, including the nutrient balance (0 is not better) to correct growth issues.

 

[PL-Reef]

Phoenix is only DE, he's looking for SE halide.

Do your research my friend. I'm running 250 Phoenix SE on my tank now...... Marine Depot and many other vendors carry Phoenix bulbs in SE and DE.

 

[jackson6745]

Do your research my friend. I'm running 250 Phoenix SE on my tank now...... Marine Depot and many other vendors carry Phoenix bulbs in SE and DE.

Wow cool. I didnt know. When did they become available? How does it compare to the radium spectrum/intensity?

 

[PL-Reef]

Not sure when they started manufacturing the Se bulbs. I bought mine 7 months ago.
They definitely pack a punch brightness wise and are considerably whiter than the Radiums. Personally I think they are a happy medium between 20k Radiums AND 10K Ushios. Strong enough for good growth and enough blue spectrum to color up corals and pleasing to the eye.

 

[Jettareefer]

Jackson first off I love your reef the colors are amazing I would like to learn some tips from you. I'm just concerned because their so dim compared to my old 10k's kinda wishing I had saved up for a par meter -_-. On another note I just got new fixture it's 36" 2x250 w/ 2 vho's and I'm super excited this will be the first time running vho's. Would running radiums with UVL super actinics be a good pairing ?

 

[jackson6745]

Thanks. Which brand fixture did you get? Which MH ballasts? Radiums shouldn't appear dim, especially 2 of them on a 57g. It's been a long time since I ran VHO but I remember super actinics being awesome!

 

[jda]

10K XM bulbs with a pair of VHO Super Actinic will grow and color SPS better than anything, IME.

 

[animalkingdom]

Im a fan of a 10k xm. I run it over my frag tank on an electronic ballast though. I'm not sure how it would do on the M80 ballast.

 

[Jettareefer]

I believe the fixture is an old PFO, it's built like a tank with 2 big fans and a glass shield. I do plan on running the super actinics I like the way corals pop under them. Will xm's hold up well being run by a true m80 ?

 

[Jettareefer]

Here's picture granted I do need to clean it up a tiny bit lol.

 

[sneeyatch]

Nice old PFO - those fixtures are tanks.

I used to run a Reeflux 10K over my old 150 deep dimension with a blue wave ballast. It was a nice, white color and growth was good. Then I switched to the Ushio 14K and I loved that lamp. Great color, great growth.

 

[jackson6745]

That fixture with an M80 ballast is perfect for the Radium. I'm not against 10k XM or anything, IMO it's just way over powering on a small tank unless you have a very high nutrient level. With an M80 ballast the 10k runs very white. I would prefer to run 4 actinics to balance out the color, possibly just add 2 blue reefbrites to that fixture

 

[Piper27]

I like the 10k xm and the reflux 12k with a good amount of actintic and leds. The xm is my favorite though, colors and growth I like better than radiums from my experience. But that's personal preference. Why are your wanting to change bulbs? Do you run radiums now?

 

[Jettareefer]

Piper27I run them now, I used to use 10k reeflux but was really disappointed in the quality of the bulbs not matching or bulb failure. The main reason for changing to a different bulb is I'll finally have actinics. Just looking for suggestions on halide/vho combos that will jive with my current ballast I literally above and beyond to find a blue wave 7.

 

[Jettareefer]

sneeyatch when you ran the ushio 14k's did you use 250 watt version? And did you use the blue wave ballast to power them?

 

[Nanook]

[moved]