maxfischer
Instigator
Just fired up a new Hamilton 14k 250 watt SE bulb, what a nice color I am very happy. I had a 7-8 month old Radium 20k that I was happy with but wanted more growth from the corals. Anyone running them? What do you think?
250 watt Hamilton 14k SE
- Thread starter maxfischer
- Start date
Joel A
Started over.
i am running them... but 175 watt versions.
I like the color a lot.. especially when the bulb is new. Mine need replacing.. but i'm going all t5 so i wont be replacing them. All and all a good bulb... but for the price you pay for it i wish it gave a little better PAR readings.. maybe the 250 watt is better in that area (well obviously it is.)
I like the color a lot.. especially when the bulb is new. Mine need replacing.. but i'm going all t5 so i wont be replacing them. All and all a good bulb... but for the price you pay for it i wish it gave a little better PAR readings.. maybe the 250 watt is better in that area (well obviously it is.)
nickyblase
Non-member
I had them (in 250 watt SE) up until about a month ago - ran for a little over a year, and loved them.
I tried to reorder them but every place I looked, they were on backorder. I ended up doing something different.
I really liked the SPS growth I got from them, and didn't feel like I needed actinic supplementation. In my (untrained) opinion, it seemed to take a good 12 months to really degrade in brightness/coloration.
I tried to reorder them but every place I looked, they were on backorder. I ended up doing something different.
I really liked the SPS growth I got from them, and didn't feel like I needed actinic supplementation. In my (untrained) opinion, it seemed to take a good 12 months to really degrade in brightness/coloration.
ReeferMedic
Non-member
I run them over a couple of frag tanks, good bulb for the money imo. I tend to like more blue than a lot of people. I'd say that growth isn't all that bad with them also. I do have the frags up on racks though, not very far from the bulbs.
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nickyblase
Non-member
good point Don -
my stuff is fairly high up as well. Most of the lower stuff in my tank are LPS, shrooms, etc. Never really tried SPS down near the sand bed, so I don't know how well they'd do for growth at that depth.
my stuff is fairly high up as well. Most of the lower stuff in my tank are LPS, shrooms, etc. Never really tried SPS down near the sand bed, so I don't know how well they'd do for growth at that depth.
OP
OP
maxfischer
Instigator
thanks guys (and girl)
Joel A
Started over.
nope, i'm SE... hasn't shifted color on me...or at least not to noticeably... not as intense anymore.. but that's to be expected when you run a bulb for a year.
Medic, yes I've ran there complete fixtures and like them as far as the halide/vho combos go. The 14 k 250s have good color but as a lot of 14ks go probably not the highest par. I have used both their 10k and 14k and would use both again. Nicky did you try ordering direct I havent had a problem getting them yet?
I like them,
I recently switched to Ushio 14k for the last bulb change and in my opinion I like the color of the Hamiltons better, but I get better growth out of the Ushio. I think the Hamilton is a better display tank bulb and the Ushio is a better frag tank bulb. As far as the fixtures go, I use them on my frag rack and display tank and think they are great. They have a pretty decent area of light distribution. I needed a really low profile light for my set up which is why I went with the hamiltons. I probably would have gone with a lumenarc if I hadnt needed the low profile due to how wide my tank is. I did have reoccuring problems with one of them periodically blowing bulbs, but I had dropped it into a tank at one point so theres probably some residual salt in there screwing things up periodically. The other 3 that I have work fine.
I recently switched to Ushio 14k for the last bulb change and in my opinion I like the color of the Hamiltons better, but I get better growth out of the Ushio. I think the Hamilton is a better display tank bulb and the Ushio is a better frag tank bulb. As far as the fixtures go, I use them on my frag rack and display tank and think they are great. They have a pretty decent area of light distribution. I needed a really low profile light for my set up which is why I went with the hamiltons. I probably would have gone with a lumenarc if I hadnt needed the low profile due to how wide my tank is. I did have reoccuring problems with one of them periodically blowing bulbs, but I had dropped it into a tank at one point so theres probably some residual salt in there screwing things up periodically. The other 3 that I have work fine.
