What lighting do you use?

daftboy

daftboy

Member
well do you just not like them because they last only 8 months or there PAR rating... I can't seem to find anything saying there lighting is not good only that they do not last as long.
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Originally Posted by Daftboy
http:///forum/post/3255474
well do you just not like them because they last only 8 months or there PAR rating... I can't seem to find anything saying there lighting is not good only that they do not last as long.
As a general rule, if there's not that much info out there, they're not horrible, but they're not great either. ATI, Geissman, etc are much better bulbs. Like I said earlier, there is a reason why some brands are far more popular than others.
 
daftboy

daftboy

Member
ya well i wasn't going to pay 20 a bulb plus 10 dollars a bulb to ship them... sorry 40 dollars for shiping 4 24inch bulbs is a little crazy.. also i read they break most of the time in the mail unless bought in packs of 12... I also read that there PAR rating is good but there bulbs don't last as long.
 
nikesb

nikesb

Active Member
what is their par ratings? last i remember they were only in the 200 range. i dont mind overdriving bulbs, but overdriving changes the color imo. where are you ordering from? i got 4 bulbs for mine for about 80$ shipped total.
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Where are you looking? I've never paid $40 in shipping for bulbs and I've ordered power compacts, metal halides and T5HOs.
Don't you live near tons of LFS's? I'm sure one of them will order bulbs for customers.
As Nike states, overdriving the bulb usually changes the colorations. And as for price, you definitely don't need to spend that much in shipping, but here is something to think about: we spend hundreds on nice corals with beautiful colorations, why skimp on good lighting when it is not even more than a $50 difference? Cheaper lighting is cheap for a reason. IMO, this is not a hobby to take the cheaper route with.
I don't mean to sound mean, but, why ask opinions and advice if you're going to do what you want either way?
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Where are you looking? I've never paid $40 in shipping for bulbs and I've ordered power compacts, metal halides and T5HOs.
Don't you live near tons of LFS's? I'm sure one of them will order bulbs for customers.
As Nike states, overdriving the bulb usually changes the colorations. And as for price, you definitely don't need to spend that much in shipping, but here is something to think about: we spend hundreds on nice corals with beautiful colorations, why skimp on good lighting when it is not even more than a $50 difference? Cheaper lighting is cheap for a reason. IMO, this is not a hobby to take the cheaper route with.
I don't mean to sound mean, but, why ask opinions and advice if you're going to do what you want either way?
 
nikesb

nikesb

Active Member
agreed. the money could be used on corals, but if your corals arent happy then its not worth it.
 
daftboy

daftboy

Member
got some rating's from a local member who has a PAR meter and has ice cap bulbs as well; the rating of the 10k bulbs is 345 ..14k was only 295 but thats still good enough....the twilight bulb is pretty new so he doesn't have one...ill let you know though..we are going to meet and im going to bring the bulb so we can measure it out
 
nikesb

nikesb

Active Member
what fixture is this? mind you the numbers i posted were just the bulbs themselves and no reflector. for a 14k bulb, thats still pretty low. take into consideration how its gonna penetrate the water. the twilight bulb is prolly their version of an ati blue+
 
daftboy

daftboy

Member
my tank is also only 16 inches deep =/ ... yea twlight is suppose be there version of ati + ... im not sure what fixture he is using .. i know its not the ICECAP one... the icecap one is suppose to give higher numbers because of there ballst being overpowered...
 
nikesb

nikesb

Active Member
depending on your fixture, 16" could be too deep or too shallow. for example, with a ati fixture 16" is nothing. in a lower quality fixture, 16" is basically the limit. personally, im changing fixture because i want to have sps everywhere and not just on top
 
daftboy

daftboy

Member
my fixture is by aquaticlife.. it was failry pricey for its size.. and I read good reviews on it ..
 
nikesb

nikesb

Active Member
you should get decent numbers with decent bulbs in 16" high tank. as long as light demanding corals are in the upper half
 
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