Which Metal Halide?

[apedroza]

I am trying to pick a good 250W MH Bulb DE. I have a Ocean ight by AB so I cant use actinics. I have narrowed it down to three 14K-15K bulbs. Hamilton, Coralvue, and XM. Any body have any opinions on these bulbs?? Your comments and suggestions welcomed.

 

[mr pink floyd]

i hear hamilton are really good, also heard good about phoenix 14k

 

[tgcreef]

hamilton all the way

xm stinks

- Tim

 

[tangey]

HAMILTON

 

[apedroza]

Thanks for the suggestions. Ill buy it tomorrow. I have one more question my current tank is running a 10K MH with Actinics. Iam moving some corals from this tank into my new 40G. Do they need to be acclimated to the 14K and what is the best way to do it. I figure since the were run with 10K and Blue actinics this may not need to be done. Please let me know.

 

[blackdak]

Have you looked into the phoenix lamps?

 

[natureboy]

You should check out the stickies in the lighting forum:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=624185

 

[apedroza]

OK I bought a hamilton and Phoenix bulb so I can decide which one I like best , then use the other as a backup. Does anyone know the PAR of the phoenix bulb? Also I have a coralvue 20K that came with the light fixture I bought and this websight[http://metricksystem.com/chris/250wcolour/[/URL] showed the 20K had a higher PAR than the hamilton 14K. Can this be true. Does anyone have experience with the 20K bulbs

 

[natureboy]

You really should check out this sticky. It links to websites that have tested many bulbs, picture, PAR, watts, etc...

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=624185 [/B]

 

[apedroza]

I did look at the website but for some reason it only shows the Hamilton SE 250W bulb. Is there a difference or is the out put the same?

 

[prugs]

I believe the Hamilton 14k HQI's are fairly new, & probably not tested yet. They are a whiter light.

Let us know which one you like better.