Which 250w SE mh bulb?

[jezzeaepi]

Howdy,

For the last two years I have been really busy with school and sort took a step back from the hobby. I haven't been reading any forums or any reef articles, so I am a bit rusty on the latest technology. This brings to me to current predicament: My MH bulbs(250w SE) are probably a year in a half old by now, and they really need to be changed. I don't know if I should just replace them with radium 20k's like I have been using, or if I should try something new. My goal is to have a trade off between intensity and color, so thats why I went with the radiums originally. What is the "popular" mh bulb now for people who want some blue tinted light in the 12-15k range(I think that the radiums look closer to 12-15k instead of 20k)? Any other brands that I should consider outside of radium?

Peace,
Jesse

 

[Herefishyfishy]

I have been happy with Reeflux 12K, color of most 14K but higher par

 

[jezzeaepi]

Reeflux 12k was actually the first bulb that I used, but I switched to the radium 20k's because they had very similar spectral peaks while having just slightly higher ppfd according to Sanjays website. I am sure the ppfd of my 1.5 y/o bulbs is pretty bad by now though, lol. Pretty surprised that they are still growing pretty coral.

 

[Krish]

Phoenix 14k always seems to win this debate. Have yet to see it any differently!! Loved my 250w 14k Phoenix!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Holygral]

bulb comparison

250Watt Bulb Comparison

 

[mcoomer]

What ballast do you have to fire your lamps? I run an M80 ballast and SE Radiums and love them but I also have Phoenix 14K DE on my smaller garage tank and like those as well. I'd have a hard time recommending something other than the Radiums. Have you visited Sanjay's Lighting Guide? Great info there. You can match a variety of lamps with ballasts and see which perform more efficiently, produce the most output, and see the typical spectral plot for each lamp and ballast combination. Great site.

Mike

 

[trido]

I found that my Radiums washed out all my pinks and needed replaced after six months. Phoenix 14K still stands as my favorite of all time after seeing and buying too many different kinds trying to find the perfect bulb.

Barrier's display tank is looking pretty awesome with the bulbs they are running right now. I forget what they are though.

 

[jezzeaepi]

Holygral-

Thank you for finding that link for me. Used to have it before I reformatted my comp. I wish they had phoenix 14k as one of their options, but I think that at the time that they took the pictures, the SE version of the bulb might not have existed =\

 

[jezzeaepi]

Mike-

I have a PFO HQI ballast. I guess it is an antique now that PFO is out of business. As per Sanjay's website, I have been using it, but they unfortunately don't have a SE version of the phoenix 14k. After some research I found that the 14k SE is supposed to be an exact copy of the 14k DE, so I used that spectral plot in its place. The plot seems almost exactly the same as the the reeflux 12k(all the same peaks), only brighter. The only real difference I can see between the radium and the phoenix is a peak in the 590nm mark, and about 15-20% more par(though I don't know if the par numbers exactly translate because the number I am quoting is the DE version which may or may not differ from the SE version).

I also did manage to find this thread that has a side by side pic of 14k phoenix and 20k radium: radium vs phoenix 14k - Reef Central Online Community

 

[jezzeaepi]

Trido-

I guess I got lucky with my radiums, they are 18 months old, lol. If I wasn't still looking for work I would have replaced them a while ago. Looking at the spectral plot, the radiums are lacking in the yellow-orange-red spectrums, so I guess it would make sense on the pinks not popping(I assume that pinks actually use the red spectrum sense there is no "pink" in the visible spectrum).
I will also have to take a trip down to BR and see what they are running at the moment.



I should also add that I have a 120W t5 fixture over the tank that I can use to supplement parts of the spectrum that my MH's miss. This means that I could add some bulbs from the red spectrum if I go radiums, or more blues if I go phoenix(to help wash out some of the extra yellow it has). Decisions decisions...