14k 250w Mogul Base MH Bulbs - Best ones ?

[westwind77]

My fixture came with 10k bulbs and after a few months they are just too 'white' for me. I would like to jump to the 14k's and I was curious if there was a brand that was better than the rest?
Thank you

 

[westwind77]

anyone?

 

[flower]

I have folks tell me the Phenix brand is the best...To be honest I can't tell the difference. 14K of any brand is a nice blue hue..The 10K is too yellow to look good, but the coral grows best with them.
I have found that I have to order on line...no fish stores around me keeps them in stock.

 

[aquaguy24]

have u thought about a 20k radium...lots of ppl would pick the 20k radium over the pheonix 14k..with the pheonix u might have to supplement actinics to get a bluer hue...the real color of pheonix is white with a little blue tint...

 

[jackri]

This is going from 10k to 14k phoenix bulbs in this thread.
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/347418/jackris-90g-reef
Now... I think you need different ballasts to run 20k bulbs if I remember right. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think you can swap 20k bulbs in a ballast fixture that comes with 10k's. I might be wrong though and thinking something totally different.. it is 1am after all

 

[aquaguy24]

u can switch between K rating just as long its the same wattage...but i seen ppl run 150w mogul bulb with a 175 hqi ballast..

 

[jackri]

I know you have to watch the wattages with the ballasts used... but for some reason I remember reading in a catalog or something about 20k bulbs needing something special.. but now I can't find it... or I'm just making it up in my head
It's 4am and my thinking is worse than 1am so.. who knows lol

 

[120reefer]

Originally Posted by jackri
http:///forum/post/3072521
I know you have to watch the wattages with the ballasts used... but for some reason I remember reading in a catalog or something about 20k bulbs needing something special.. but now I can't find it... or I'm just making it up in my head
It's 4am and my thinking is worse than 1am so.. who knows lol
Lol, I dont think your going crazy..

I belive what your thinking of are the bulbs without a built-in igniter that require either a magnetic pulse-start ballast or an electronic ballast. Unfortunately you cannot use all mogul base bulbs on a standard magnetic ballast... Pheonix and the German Radium being two of those bulbs that require a magnetic pulse-start, or an electronic ballast

 

[scsinet]

Yes, you have to match wattages. The only notable exception is that 150 and 175 ballasts and lamps are sometimes interchangeable, becuase the wattages are so close, but this is only advisable if the ballast is rated to handle both wattages, which not all are.
I'd also recommend the Radium lamps. I had XM 14K and switch to to Radium 20K at my last change cycle and I coudn't be happier.
120 is right, Radium, Phoenix, Ushio and I think Sunburst require electronic or pulse start magnetic ballasts to run them, so you need to be sure your ballast is as such.
If you do buy the Radiums, buy from a reputable dealer with a well documented return policy. Radiums have a higher than normal DOA rate, a fact that I can attest to. One of my 3 lamps was bad out of the box. That Depot for Marine stuff swapped it out no questions asked, so no biggie.

 

[120reefer]

SCSI, not to get off topic, but how do you like the radiums? I need to get new bulbs but I'm torn between 14k Phoenix and the 20k Radiums. I want good coloration but don't want to sacrafice too much growth if I don't have to. I know we can't have everything (i.e. awsome color and best growth), but have been doing a lot of research on PAR ratings for 14k and 20k bulbs, and with the advances on bulbs today.. the 20k radiums put out tremendous PAR compaired to previous 20k bulbs. I have seen both bulbs in person, and like the radiums a bit more, but I was willing to sacrafice some aesthetics for better growth... any advice? Thanks for looking, I always admire your posts. BTW, currently running 2x250w hamiltons on electronic ballast with 2x96w VHO actinics.. will probably switch to VHO dual daylight or 10k suppliment with either of these bulbs as they already have a more blue tint to them than my current hamiltons.

 

[scsinet]

Well you are going to like either lamp over those hamiltons. I didn't realize how bad Hamiltons were until I tried other lamps...
I love the radiums, but growth is not as important to me as color.

 

[stanlalee]

you really are only going to find the best bulb for YOU thru trial and error. Some people try one bulb and stick with it for life. So many variables dictate growth I tend to chose based heavily on color opposed to PAR figures (which is said to be skewed negatively for blue light and at least one article indicated higher PAR does not automatically indicate better growth as color spectrum vs individual coral affinity play just as big a role). Anyhow you can feed, improve water clarity, alter light cyle ect to enhance growth.
Anyway aqualine 13k is one of my favorite all around bulbs. grows hard corals extremely well, its not 20k blue but not drap boring 10k white like an XM10k. Its what a 14kish bulb should be. If the price is too high Reeflux 10k is nearly identicle but about $20-30 cheaper (yeah its labelled 10k but kelvin labellings are meaningless). For color I'm sticking with Ushio/BLV/Aqualine 20k (all the same bulb) until I'm proved there is better. I know the phoenix 14k, XM20k and helios/evc 20k dont look as good to me. All there's left to convince me otherwise (that I plan on trying) are Radiums and Aquamaxx 15k.