Lighting question - Plusrite 14k or 20k?

[nhago]

The more I see other reefers' tanks, the more I notice how different 2 bulbs with the same specs but different brands can be.
For example, I currently have a pair of 14K cheap MH and, when running together with my actinics, it's been fine so far. However, when i saw Tomoko's tank being lit by (I think) Phoenix 14K bulbs, it had a beautiful blue color. Much bluer than my 14K or even my 14K plus my actinic

That got me to think (now that I'm shopping for bulbs) whether I should try the cheap Plusrite 20K or stick with my 14k.
I am pretty set on not spending a lot of money on bulbs now and I know there are some of you there that shop cheap on bulbs too!! Hopefully I will get some good insight from my fellow reefers!

what do you guys think? Has anyone had both of them? Pros and cons?

Thank you in advance!!!

 

[Tomoko Schum]

I forgot whether you use double ended bulbs or single ended bulbs. What ballast are you using? I have a few 7 months old double-ended (and a bit older single ended) Phoenix 14K bulbs that you can try out and see in your fixture. Phoenix 14K bulbs do not seem to have any color shift even after one year of use. Its intensity is a bit less (stablizes after 6 months up to 1-1/2 years), though. You are welcome to them if you'd like to test them in your fixture.

By the way, a ballast and bulb combination can also make a big difference in color rendition as well.

I have used XM 20K in my current setup (with IceCap electronic ballasts) and did not like the color. It was way too blue for my taste and corals grew a bit slower as well compared to Phoenix 14K.

When I was running double-ended MH bulbs on my M80 (magnetic) ballast, I could not tell a lot of difference between Phoenix 14K and XM 20K once XM20 were burned in sufficiently (loosing its initial strength in the deep blue tint.) Phoenix brought out green colors a bit more, but XM intensified the blue colors in my blue eye cardinalfish more. An M80 ballast can make double-ended bulbs burn brighter. One disadvantage of an M80 ballast is the hum. If its internal fan is not oiled well, it can make a racket as well (oiling the fan can make it quieter.) An electronic ballast is dead silent. It does not over drive your bulbs and therefore your bulbs may last a bit longer.

 

[nhago]

Thank you, Tomoko! I use single ended bulbs and I am not sure of which ballast it is (bought it used with the tank and never paid much attention to it), but i believe it is an electronic one. I know i have one ballast 500w that feeds both (250w) bulbs.

I will take you up on the bulbs if you you are not going to use them (and if I can use them with my ballast, of course)!

As always, thank you for your help!

 

[Tomoko Schum]

You're welcome.

Quite a few people love Radium bulbs on M80 ballasts. A Radium bulb on an ordinary electronic ballast does not look as good. The tanks lit with this combination typrically look very blue and dim. I have seen at least three or four different display tanks like that. All of them were lit with IceCap ballasts. The best Radium set-up that I saw in person was the one on fishdoc's 90 cube. I believe that he had the lamp lit by not an M80 but a Gallaxy's adjustable ballast. That seems to be one of the very few, if not the only, electronic ballast that is capable of producing the intensity and the color out of Radium bulbs. It was crisp white with nice blue touch and his corals were breathtakingly beautiful. That was absolutely the best looking tank that I have seen in person. He also had four ATI T5's with the same spectrum as the Radium bulb arranged at the exterior perimeter of the MH fixture. He turned off the T5's for me to see the Radium alone. The tank looked a bit brighter with the extra T5's but the colors did not change.

 

[pickupman66]

I used the Plusrites for a while. Go with the 20's. when the burn in they hit around the 16,000K range. I ran them for quite some time. In fact.. I have some under my tank gathering dust. they still had good color and were about 8 months old when I went to LED. you are MORE than welcome to them. there are about 10 of them.

Incidentally, I ran mine on Coralvue ballasts.

 

[Tomoko Schum]

I have 7 months old 14K Artemis MH bulbs which I purchased for less than $19 ea. They are very much like my Phoenix bulbs in color and intensity. I took them out of service when single-ended Phoenix bulbs came down in price 'cause I wanted to see how a single ended Phoenix bulb performed. Phoenix bulbs became available in single-end base about three years ago, and the price of one bulb was $99 then. I just could not justify the cost difference at that time.

Artemis bulbs are harder to find nowadays, but they are still available on eBay at $20 ea.

You can take both an Artemis bulb and a Phoenix bulb and compare them with yours side by side.