Anybody try these out? I just put them in my fixture and am running them now. I really like the coloration of the tank with these bulbs. Was wondering if anyone else has tried them and what they think?
20000k AB DE Bulbs
- Thread starter MtnDewMan
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reedman
Well-known member
well, where's the pic Chuck? I'm seriously thinking of changing to HQI ballasts and running 20K bulbs for better coloration. I'll stay tunes to see how yours goes.
Krish
RF STAFF
I agree...I couldn't tell you how any other bulb other than a compact flourescent bulb looks. It would be cool to see a picture of how it looks now. I didn't think your tank Chuck, could get any better coloration than you had before, but it would really be cool to see the difference...
I bet they look nice. I ran the 10k AB bulbs for about a year and they gave great growth, but everything was shaded tan. It also ment that I had to run actinics all the time.
I just moved to a 14k bulb and they look so much better. Much more crisp and white. In about 6 wks everything has really shifted colors. For the first time this week I turned the actinics back on, and I like the color even better, lol. I think my next set of bulbs will be 20ks, but from brand to brand, I am afraid I will pick something too blue. Would love to see pics.
Mat
I just moved to a 14k bulb and they look so much better. Much more crisp and white. In about 6 wks everything has really shifted colors. For the first time this week I turned the actinics back on, and I like the color even better, lol. I think my next set of bulbs will be 20ks, but from brand to brand, I am afraid I will pick something too blue. Would love to see pics.
Mat
tamarindthai
Well-known member
chuck, i try every bulb,,now this what i have in my tank ,,,10k reef flux 14 k Hamilton 20k coralVue and 10k ushio ,,sure they mix color,,and i like it,,
The Apprentice
Well-known member
Have the Bulbs But yet to try!
Hi Chuck I have just Bought 2 of these bulbs myself I Plan on Installing them when I Get My next days off from Work so I can Keep an eye on my sps. I have a Few that are just under the water line And i am worried about burning them.
Reed& Mat, I have a PFO fixture with 250 watt HQI Ballest I currently Have 14K Bulbs in the fixture now they are Hamilton's Had good luck with them but i jumped on the sale that Salty Critter had. I do like the 20K bulbs been getting them for my 150 tank in the Radiums single ended from Kevin PO I have a picture of my tank with the 14 K's I can post tonight and then post another after i get the 20K AB DE bulbs in ...Jeff
Chuck one last question when I got my bulbs one of them had like a burnt spot inside the bulb it is kind of brown and looks like a flash burn from the MFG process have seen this before?
http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=110280#post110280
Hi Chuck I have just Bought 2 of these bulbs myself I Plan on Installing them when I Get My next days off from Work so I can Keep an eye on my sps. I have a Few that are just under the water line And i am worried about burning them.
Reed& Mat, I have a PFO fixture with 250 watt HQI Ballest I currently Have 14K Bulbs in the fixture now they are Hamilton's Had good luck with them but i jumped on the sale that Salty Critter had. I do like the 20K bulbs been getting them for my 150 tank in the Radiums single ended from Kevin PO I have a picture of my tank with the 14 K's I can post tonight and then post another after i get the 20K AB DE bulbs in ...Jeff
Chuck one last question when I got my bulbs one of them had like a burnt spot inside the bulb it is kind of brown and looks like a flash burn from the MFG process have seen this before?
http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=110280#post110280
MtnDewMan said:
Here are a few pictures. Probably a bit darker and bluer than it really is but tough to get the exact coloration when there is not a true white coming off the tank.
tamarindthai
Well-known member
you like these 20k better than,,other other bulbs you had?
Krish
RF STAFF
It is a bit darker and bluer from the pictures, nevertheless from this end, I like them both (The ones you have now and the ones you had before). I'd say though, from the pictures, that the bulbs you had in before brightened up the tank a bit more than these ones that you have now. Still looks great either way...
Yep, think I am honing in on the bulb. My tank is small so it can get hit with a LOT of light. I like these 20ks, not too bright, not too dark 
shallowreef
Well-known member
You will get some amazing color with those bulbs i had a Acro that was light pink under 10k now its a neon green with purple tips!! i love 20k the only bad thing is slow growth
Maxx
Staff Housemonkey
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- Jul 31, 2003
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I've been keeping my eye out on these as well...
The color appears to be good, but the PAR values are about half of the 10K's....thats the only drawback IMO....
But if you really like them, I would stick with them.....
I think they look great.
Nick
The color appears to be good, but the PAR values are about half of the 10K's....thats the only drawback IMO....
But if you really like them, I would stick with them.....
I think they look great.
Nick
Yea but 10K's suck!! I changed over to all 10k about 2 months ago as an experiment for coloration.. and it was very dissapointing. I got a little better growth (not much) but the colors on the corals were not even close to what they were under 20K's. I was going to wait till these were dead before replacing them, but I think I am going to swap back to the radium right away.
Mike
Mike
Jeremy B.
Well-known member
maxx said:
If you run Radiums on anything other than the 430w Son Agro ballast you won't have to change them every 6 months. And IMO, 6 months is a little excessive, I typically have changed them at about 8 months on that hqi ballast in the past. Having said that, there aren't many other 20k bulbs you can run on the hqi ballast that will last much longer. The 20k XM has about 25% less par, and you still do not get as much color out of it as you do with a Radium, let alone growth. IMO, for a 400w sps setup you just can't beat Radiums.
Nick Jeremy is dead on, Most bulbs will give you a years worth of service, but radiums are designed to be used by european gear which boils down to a bulb that is designed to use 360 watts, so with a US ballast at 400 watts you are over driving it by about 40 watts, reducing the life span, with a son agro you add another 30 so even further reducing it. You will find that this will be in effect for all european brand bulbs.
I was getting about 9 months out of a radium on a hqi ballast and it puts out about 150 ppfd where as a 10XM puts out about 220 I believe?? So after being pounded by Sanjay about being pappa smurph all the time I made the switch........But..........the colors suck (IMHO) lol
Jeremy I will be calling, hehehe
Mike
I was getting about 9 months out of a radium on a hqi ballast and it puts out about 150 ppfd where as a 10XM puts out about 220 I believe?? So after being pounded by Sanjay about being pappa smurph all the time I made the switch........But..........the colors suck (IMHO) lol
Jeremy I will be calling, hehehe
Mike
