What is the best 150w mh double ended bulb?

[Trevor]

i have to change my bulb soon and am curious as to what the best bulb out there is,
I would love to hear everyones opinions.

Also im going to be replacing the 2 t5s also with ATI blue+ i think..

 

[jackd625]

I have the phoenix 14K bulb. I like it and I know many others do as well

 

[jokersplayground]

14k phinex its perfect

 

[Trevor]

thanks guys, i just ordered the 14k phoenix and 2 ati blue+ from aquacave.. It was more then i spent for the light fixture itself!!! but it should be worth it. im just hoping its not going to be tooooo blue

 

[Trevor]

also what height are you guys running your light at? i think my light is about 7-8" off the surface and the dimensions of my tank are 24-16-18/20 i dont have a tape measure near me

 

[mchartier]

What ballast do you have? If you have a magnetic HQI you could run Radiums (150w version is DE) and it will be white with a hint of blue. It will be more blue if you have a different ballast.

 

[GobyWanKenobie]

I use the phoenix 14K in my JBJ cube, and it's right on the surface of the water. My highest coral is maybe 4 inches from the water's surface.

 

[jokersplayground]

mine sit right at 7" from the top of the water. the 14k just perfect. its not to blue but not to white either. you can go look up my thread in the photography forum and see how it looks

 

[MikeG]

This is all personal preference depending on the look you want unless you are just going for growth. I personally don't like pheonix bulbs. Have tried them on electronic and magnetic ballasts and they were too blue for my liking. I am running Ushio 14k with ATI Blue+ for a hint of blue. If you are just looking for growth, I run XM 10k. Bit yellow but nothing I have tested puts out the amount of PAR these things do for me.

 

[dz6t]

phoenix 14K or Radium 20K

 

[inverted]

The Hello Lights IRIS looks promising too. The spectral curve looks similar to the Phoenix, but a bigger spike in the 420nm violet range and a bit more in the green range. So, while more violet, should look a little more white. I actually just got one, so, I will test it out. They are on-sal on hellolights.com for $30 so, what the heck.. I do like that the curve is a bit wider, but I personally still prefer a bluer look. So, seemed like a good compromise. A lot of the other bulbs out there have lots of green and yellow spikes, so, will wash out the blue, as out eyes are very insensitive to blue, but quite sensitive to green and yellow.

 

[dz6t]

Looking forward to hearing from you about the results. At $30 a pop, it worth the money if corals look good under it.

 

[inverted]

D'Oh, I take that back.... It is true of the 250 DE and SE, but the 150 appears to be a lot different. Not necessarily bad, but should look more 12K ish based on the graph on post #6 here... Although shallow water corals may appreciate the wider spectral curve, but your eyes are another matter.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2181471