SPS Bulb Decisions

[mpoletti]

I need some help. I have a 90 Gal tank and I am collecting a nice collection of SPS. I am running 2x250 HQI 12.5 giesemann bulbs on a blue wave ballast. I am supplementing them with 2x54wT5. They are giesemann actinic+.

My corals are growing, but I can not attain the true color that I am looking for. What are the good 250 14-15K Hqi's. Does anyone supplement their HQI's with the fiji purple T5 bulb?
Am I just wasting my time by not looking at 20K?

Thank You in advance.

 

[Ti]

What is the fiji purple t5?

 

[dots]

Depends on the "look" you want........do you want it bluer than what you currently have......

I am running 250DEs on mine and have 2-96PC actnics with the Phoenix 14K in right now. More than welcome to come by and see. Also I have some 14K Ushio that I could throw in so you can see the difference if you asked nicely.......

 

[manderx]

some bulbs can make corals appear more colorful, but 'true' color comes from water quality (chemical and biological). hopefully we'll eventually find a way to measure 'water quality' better than we do (goes way beyond nitrate/phosphate/calcium/alk), cause right now i think it's a fair share of luck to get there these days.

 

[mpoletti]

My current bulbs still have a Yellow tint, and I just want to clear that out. I heard the pheonix bulbs are nice in a 14k, but what are some otheers people are happy with.

 

[dvanacker]

20k xm , 14 phoenix , 10/12k Reeflux.......

Depending on how much PAR you think you need and how much blue and actinic you want in the lamp.

 

[kfowler]

Tell you what I did on mine. I'm running a Phoenix 14K 250 watt DE. It's very blue. Closer to a 20K IMO. The colors are spectacular. I had been running CF actinics but they didn't add a whole lot since the Phoenix is already so blue. I switch the actinics out for a 50/50 CF. Now the color is exactly what I'm looking for. Bright but still excellent color.

 

[mpoletti]

Thanks guys.

 

[jobob]

I hate the yellow look to,l but I also dont like a too blue tank either. I got the Ushio 14k which are a nice white, but a tiny bit yellow. So I sup. with UV t-5 super actinic, and the color looks great. Nice crisp white with a hint of blue. You can really see the True colors of the corals, plus the actinics make them pop alittle bit. From what I heard the phoenix 14k are 20k but the par is so high they named it 14k. I never seen them, but if you dont want actinics you might wanna look at them.

 

[Fatboy]

I'm using Elos 10K bulbs plus 2 x D&D True Actionics T5's and 2 x Fiji Purple T5's. The colors are just starting to change and they are looking amazing. My acros are starting to show colors I've never seen before. The Elos bulb is very white and has lots of PAR compared to some other bulbs (I have my own PAR measuring unit).

 

[GobyJohnKenobi]

Will the ballast type and/or manufacturer affect the color of the bulb? Or to put it a different way: will the same bulb look either bluer or more yellow depending on which ballast it runs on?

Not trying to hijack the thread, just looking for a more complete description of bulb performance.

 

[mpoletti]

Yes it will. A ballast will also determine how much "drive" a bulb will deliver.

Glad to have a Star Wars fan on my thread.

 

[Pennoyer]

Ice caps will run the 250DE Phoenix very blue. I doubt that you would want to supplement with any actnic if using that bulb ballast combo. It was too blue for me so I went back to Geiseman Corals with my T5s. I also like to run dawn/dusk so two of my 4 T5s are always going to be pure actinic. I guess you could run the Phoenix bulbs and supplement with Aquablues in the T5s to try and balance out the blue of the Phoenix, but I don't

 

[mpoletti]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9578612#post9578612 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Pennoyer
Ice caps will run the 250DE Phoenix very blue. I doubt that you would want to supplement with any actnic if using that bulb ballast combo. It was too blue for me so I went back to Geiseman Corals with my T5s. I also like to run dawn/dusk so two of my 4 T5s are always going to be pure actinic. I guess you could run the Phoenix bulbs and supplement with Aquablues in the T5s to try and balance out the blue of the Phoenix, but I don't

That is the 14.5K, correct?

 

[Pennoyer]

Yes