Time to replace MH bulbs -- opinions?

[bsaastad]

I'm about to replace my bulbs -- I don't care for the color of what I have. They're 175W mogul base 20,000K, I think CoralLife?? Whatever you would have got from Catalina Aquariums in South Sac about a year ago. Seem kind of yellow for that temp. What do you suggest? I'm looking for good, bright color differentation, good reds/greens/blues -- as I mentioned these bulbs look kinda yellow.

What are your recommendations? Ushio? Hamilton? Others???

Ballast is a pulse start HID (again, the one from Catalina Aquariums.)

Thanks for any input.

 

[fragaholic]

I would look into a iwasaki 14k bulb. Ive heard they are super bright and have the par of some 250w 10k bulbs. Im waiting for the 250watt version to come out for my next bulbs.

 

[Justin74]

You need to consider the fact that you have a pulse start and that ballast is designed to fire certain bulbs like the ushio(ansi m137) and hamilton bulbs for example. While american bulbs like XM,Coralife are designed to be used with probe start ballast, not to say they actually wont fire the bulb at all, just not optimally.This can explain alot of discoloring, and or short life span some aquarists have experienced.

Fragoholic made a good suggestion. Those bulbs have shown consistant high PAR readings, but at the time quite a few hated the yellow coloring( mostly from electronic users) so this 14k could be some sweet stuff.Id recommend my bulb to you but its meant for a probe start specifically

-Justin