Favorite bulb for Frag Tank?

[Cully]

Setting up a new 30 breeder with a 150w MH. Needs a new bulb.

What's your favorite bulb for growth and color?

 

[Reef Pets]

I have tried about every bulb... So far my favorite is Ushio.

 

[FateX8]

phoenix 14k is my favorite bulb for the price
it has great color and decent par

 

[Cully]

reefer, what K rating Ushios?

 

[Nate82]

for a frag/growout tank why not go with 10k's to get the best growth?

 

[Reef Pets]

I use 20K. All of the pictures that I take are under 20K. I like the deep blue look, it makes all of the coral realistic looking if they were in a semi-deep reef in the ocean.

reefer, what K rating Ushios?

 

[rebelprettyboy]

10k! even though i took mine out my frag tank cuz I wanted a little more blue

 

[iani]

I don't like the phoenix bulbs. They really wash out colors for me.

 

[Cully]

I' like the color of Hamiltons but think they lack longevity. I think they hit the skids after only like 6 months.

I'm refering to frag tanks though. I get amazing growth with 10 K's, but don't wanna compromise colors.

 

[Reef Pets]

I' like the color of Hamiltons but think they lack longevity. I think they hit the skids after only like 6 months.

I'm refering to frag tanks though. I get amazing growth with 10 K's, but don't wanna compromise colors.

I agree that 10K is the way to go for growth. But, if the reef loses its beauty/color then it would take all of the fun out of it. I feel that I get very nice growth with Ushio 20K. In my opinion Ushio has been the best bulb so far.

 

[zanclus]

go with 6.5K Cully you want as much growth as you can get use some actinic supp. if you don't like the color of the 6.5k

 

[bigtex52]

6500's give you rapid growth but makes my algae go crazy. Also, everything tends to lose color. The best balance of growth and color without the algae doing a number on you would be 10K to 12K with some additional actinic supplementation to boost color.

 

[reef-lover]

I agree that 10K is the way to go for growth. But, if the reef loses its beauty/color then it would take all of the fun out of it. I feel that I get very nice growth with Ushio 20K. In my opinion Ushio has been the best bulb so far.

+1 on the ushio 20k...great bulb.

 

[Cully]

man, that's gonna cost me big time. I figure I'm one year out before going with 20K's on my display.

But for fragging I've got a DE150 MH with PC actinics over my frag tank. I need a new bulb so I'm thinking I'll be good with a 10K. I'm likely going to stick with an Ushio.

Thanks for the input all!

 

[AquaWorldPSC]

Aquaconnects I think are the best. They are 14K and have a nice blue color. There was a study done somewhere i will try to find the link, but anyways it puts out more par per watt than any other bulb of the same wattage. Put them on Lumenbrights or Lumenmaxes and your set. Oh yeah also on Ice Cap ballasts.

 

[ss7]

I really like the 12k reeflux for growth, and I had great color with it as well.. and its just a bonus that it has a lower price relative to many of the others.

SS

 

[idareefer]

funny how one bulb works great for one person and not another, I think great water quality plus a good 14K or 20 K bulb will color your sps nicely, I've used a variety of bulbs, I now use a phoenix over my frag tank, very nice color and makes the corals really pop!

 

[MarvinsReef]

Radiums!!!

 

[rossco]

I really like the radium 150 watt over my frag tank.

 

[AquaWorldPSC]

Do you guys get a lot of growth with Radium 20Ks? I tried them before they are great for display but i can't get anything to grow good under them. I run them on Ice caps. The tank is 120g 4'x2'x2' and 2x 400w radiums 12" above the tank with 4x 110W supplements.