Best 250w MH bulb

[Justjim]

I used to run reflux 12k 250w MH bulbs and am wondering what would be the most comparable bulb to that? Can anyone recommend a good 14k single end 250w bulb?

 

[jda]

What type of ballast? Electronic, magnetic or HQI? It will matter.

 

[DesertReefT4r]

Radium is a solid choice.

 

[Bpb]

options are so limited now for reef branded SE bulbs

Radium
Hamilton
Giesemann
Ushio
Reef brite

Anything else is likely new old stock. I only have experience with Hamilton 14k, Hamilton 20k, and radium among that list. Can’t say how any of those would compare to the reeflux

 

[mfinn]

Phoenix used to have a big following.



edit, I just noticed the op said single ended.

 

[Abhishek]

Well topics like this brings back the old RC threads in mind - best bulb , best reflector , best ballast

You will get a lot of personal opinion . So why not
Put mine in it too ?

Giessemann 17.5K crystal
Ushio 14K - you cant find it anymore in SE and 14K
Hamilton 14K
Hamilton 10K

Fine last preference - radium !!!

 

[Bpb]

Well topics like this brings back the old RC threads in mind - best bulb , best reflector , best ballast

You will get a lot of personal opinion . So why not
Put mine in it too ?

Giessemann 17.5K crystal
Ushio 14K - you cant find it anymore in SE and 14K
Hamilton 14K
Hamilton 10K

Fine last preference - radium !!!

Honestly, if I felt like switching to 150 watt selectable ballasts id change over from 250 watt 20,000k to 150 watt 10,000k Hamilton’s and I expect I would have roughly equal par with a little less heat and wattage. Can’t muster up the gall to go out and spend $450 on new ballasts though when I have a back stock of 9-250 watt bulbs

 

[greekspec2]

If you want a 20k do the Giesemann it looks very good compared to the Radium, or the 17,5k I'm no fan of generic bulb brands so BLV or Ushio

 

[Skard]

I have been using Radiums for the past ten (10) years and to me it gives me the color & growth I want in SPS and LPS corals. I had used Ushios, Pheonix, XM's, Hamilton's in the years before and the Radiums give me the best growth & color.

 

[jda]

Without knowing a ballast, it is hard to give advice...

Radium are awesome, but do best with m80. They can do OK with electronic on Super Lumens, but there is another gear there if you switch to m80.

The new 20k Hamilton was designed to look like 20k Radium, but on regular 250w ballasts (magnetic and electronic). It has lower output since it is lower power, but it looks good.

These both look just a bit more blue than 14k, but still nice.

Hamilton 14k is good on regular 250w ballasts and is more crisp white - this might be your best bet if trying to replace ReeFlux 12k alone.

If you have some LEDs or T5s and can blue it up a bit, then the Hammy 10k has that super-strong growth and coloration performance that the 12k ReeFlux had, but it is a bit more white. I do not mind it alone, but most people want to supplement it a bit.

 

[jda]

BTW - I never found CV bulbs to be too consistent from batch to batch, so it is really hard to know which version people had. I saw 10k once that looked every bit as blue as a Radium and one right next to it on the shelf looked more 10kish. Most are around their color temp, but the ones that I saw were never super consistent.

 

[Bpb]

For what it is worth my two brand new Hamilton 20k bulbs I installed at the same time, same position, same reflectors, same ballasts (age as well) look VERY different. One is more of a cyan/turquoise and the other is heavy violet.

Here’s a photo from inside the canopy without any rock/coral confusing