What bulbs are you guys using?

[Fizz71]

Since I should be frag buying like crazy this next swap I was curious what you folks are using for bulbs.

I have 3 brand new Lumen Bright Minis (all mogel) up on my 8 footer all powered by Icecap 250MHs. The one ballast is brand new, the other two are older models. I put a brand new XM 10K on the one ballast that has 2 new frags under it, and I left my old (over 3 years old) 15K XM bulbs over the rest of the tank just to have light over it (no corals, just fish).

The 10ks are super bright, but they are almost SOOOO bright it washes out the color of the frags. It might just be that I'm so used to blue that they look too yellow, but I don't know. And these lights are WAY up too, so it's not a bulb distance issue.

I need to buy 2 more bulbs before the tank is really ready for frags but I'm having a hard time deciding if I want to scrap the 10k and buy 3 15ks or continue to buy to more 10ks. I will be adding VHO or T5 actinics later, if that makes a difference.

I will be buying them from ThatFishPlace because I will buy one a month with my "midweek madness" coupon to save some serious $$$....I did the ballast, and skimmer that way too!

What are you guys running?

 

[cotter4601]

I really liked my XM 10k bulbs, but this time around I switched to 14k 250w Hamilton's. They aren't too bad... I really like the extra blue, but I think I had better growth with the XMs. I also run 2 vho bulbs for actincs.

Is the midweek madness every Wednesday? Can it be used online?

 

[Fizz71]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15312261#post15312261 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by cotter4601
I really liked my XM 10k bulbs, but this time around I switched to 14k 250w Hamilton's. They aren't too bad... I really like the extra blue, but I think I had better growth with the XMs. I also run 2 vho bulbs for actincs.

Is the midweek madness every Wednesday? Can it be used online?

You get a coupon in the mail..I believe it's in-store only and only on tuesdays, wednesdays and thursdays. TFP is less then an hour from my house so it's worth the drive. I only get one a month so that's been my pace for new equipment.

 

[rigleautomotive]

kevin with those ballasts you can make some great colors with Radium 20k bulbs.if you cant get them then the XM20 will also look very nice.these are the 2 bulbs i use and get slightly better colors and growth from the radiums.they also last almost twice as long

 

[Fizz71]

Do you really think 20k knowing I want to add actinics? I'd just be afraid it's too blue!

 

[rigleautomotive]

the radiums are pretty crisp white on those ballasts and are still able to drown out the actinics.they are really no bluer then some 14k bulbs to my eyes.you wont be disappointed with the radiums

 

[Fizz71]

To be honest the actinics are really going in for me and not for any actual par purposes. I was even considering dropping them and going for blue moon lights on the Digital Aquatic computer. I run my lights really late in the evening and I'm hardly around when they're on so I really just wanted so some nice blue lighting to extended the lighting time on the tank a bit without burning out the corals.

I guess if I go with radium 20k I can lose the actinics and just go with some moonlight for me. I see you run 20K AND actinics...I guess maybe I'll start with radiums and see what it looks like.

I was looking at the Radiums before, it's just that TFP doesn't sell them (to my knowledge) and that 30% off coupon is looking mighty tempting. But if you say they get twice the life than the XMs the discount is a wash.

 

[pecan2phat]

Hi Dan,
Just passing by and wanted to ask a question regarding the Radium on Ice Caps.

Everyone tells me that the Radiums wont do nicely unless paied with an M80 HQI ballast. That being said, are you getting a bluer light with Ice Caps?

Thanks.

 

[rigleautomotive]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15318294#post15318294 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by pecan2phat
Hi Dan,
Just passing by and wanted to ask a question regarding the Radium on Ice Caps.

Everyone tells me that the Radiums wont do nicely unless paied with an M80 HQI ballast. That being said, are you getting a bluer light with Ice Caps?

Thanks.

color is something that appears slightly different to each individual so for me to say there not too blue would not serve you any help,what i can say is they fire nicely,the same color every day (unlike the few cheaper bulbs i tried recently) consistently and last up to a year with no big visual color loss or intensity loss.it seems they make my corals grow as fast as my 10k years but much more colorful.hqi will fire them brighter and use slightly more watts to do it,probably taking some time off there life,but many have great results with the radiums on m80 also.some say they are whiter looking on the m80 but i have not had the opertunity first hand to compare them

 

[tnyr5]

cheap evc 14k for me lol

 

[smariner]

Yes, the evc's are inexpensive and perform very well. Sanjay's test results show that these outperform most major lamps on the market today!

Hope this helps,
Chad D. Bryant

 

[rigleautomotive]

according to sanjays sight the 14k evc has the exact same par as the 20k radium on an ice cap ballast, so i am assuming they would look similar to the eye.I know some have great results using the evc bulbs so thats another choice for you to consider for sure

 

[smariner]

Yes, to me via the naked eye the 14K and 20K EVC lamps are very similar in looks(with the 20K being slightly more blue).

I noticed this is a reef club's forum and we also do group buys with other clubs on these lamps in the past.

Hope this helps,
Chad D. Bryant
--

 

[ReefWreak]

I'm using 20k Radium right now on Icecap and Coralvue 250w e-ballasts, and LOVE the colors. I Went from XM 10k to Reeflux 10k, and now the 20k XMs. I'm tempted to try those EVC bulbs only because they're supposed to be identical to the Helios bulbs, just SE instead of the DE that the helios are. They're also relatively inexpensive, though I bought my radiums last year when ebay had the 35% off discount promotion, so I saved a TON of money on them.

With my Radiums, I can't see when my 4x110w VHOs are on anymore other than that I get light spilling out the back of my tank because they don't have reflectors (other than the internal ones on UVL bulbs). I really liked the VHOs presence when I had XM 10ks, but with the radium they're redundant. I now only have them come on for sunrise and sunset effects.

 

[CBehr]

I'm using phoenix 14k's on icecap 250's right now. Color is ok but I prefer a little more blue. I can't have actinics with my 95g wave tank and the lumenmax reflectors I have. Might try XM 20k's next?

 

[pecan2phat]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15324186#post15324186 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ReefWreak
With my Radiums, I can't see when my 4x110w VHOs are on anymore other than that I get light spilling out the back of my tank because they don't have reflectors (other than the internal ones on UVL bulbs).

Thanks ReefWreak. It was what I was looking for in terms of info. I run Aqua Connects now and will probably stick with them. A while back I had tried the Reeflux 12k & Hamilton 14k and they were both identical to the eye. A little dim but definitely also what you said about drowning out the URI VHO Actinics.

 

[Fizz71]

Alright...I'll give 'em a shot. I ordered 3 Radiums for $74.99 each on ebay. Only $10 to ship all 3 and that was the best deal I found. I'll run the three bulbs next to each other (new XM10K, old XM15K and the Radium 20Ks) and see what I like better. I figure worst case if I think they're too blue I can sell them to somebody at the swap!

I may have to borrow that meter from you soon Dan.

 

[rigleautomotive]

no problem,its yours when you are ready

 

[Fizz71]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15335027#post15335027 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rigleautomotive
no problem,its yours when you are ready

I don't suppose you're planning a visit to TFP or the Reading area any time soon eh? I'll drive if I have to, but if I don't have to I'd be an idiot not to ask!

 

[Fizz71]

Well the new Radium 20K bulbs came in today. At first I thought they were used because of the discolored end in the arc tube but all the photos I've seen look that way too.

They are VERY blue, but so far they look pretty nice. I only put one up to compare so I now have an old 15K a new 20K and a new 10K all in a row and I have to admint I like the 20K the best. I don't have a lot of flourescent life in there yet, but what I have looks SOOO much nicer. I just wish I had the VHO Actinics up to see if I like the 10K + Actinics as much as the 20K alone.

The only thing that worries me is one bulb had what looks like a piece of metal loose in the arc tube. I'm afraid what will happen if I light that puppy. I sent an email to my vendor...Did anybody here ever see that in Radiums?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v93/Fizz71/Posted/ReefCentral/IMAG0033.jpg?t=1247770020

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v93/Fizz71/Posted/ReefCentral/IMAG0034.jpg?t=1247770081