Looking for M/H bulb color comparison

[RCS82]

Been running 14k Phoenix 250w bulbs for a while. Was wondering if anybody has ran the Hamilton 250w HQI 20k bulbs or other 250w HQI bulbs and could compare them to the Phoenix bulb in terms of color, blue or white or close.
Maybe #jda ?
Thanks in advance

 

[Crabs McJones]

I ran the Hamilton 250 watt 20k bulb over my tank. Much more blue than the 14k. In my opinion my corals popped more under the 20k

 

[RCS82]

I ran the Hamilton 250 watt 20k bulb over my tank. Much more blue than the 14k. In my opinion my corals popped more under the 20k

More blue than a 14k Phoenix or 14k Hamilton?
For any other people I'm mostly looking for a discussion on bulb color and what other people are using and experiencing.

 

[Crabs McJones]

Phoenix, sorry. The guy I got corals from kept them under 14k Phoenix. And I liked them more under my Hamilton 20k

 

[RCS82]

Phoenix, sorry. The guy I got corals from kept them under 14k Phoenix. And I liked them more under my Hamilton 20k

Theres the kind of feedback I was hoping for,
Thanks

 

[jda]

20k Hamilton is significantly less PAR than a 14k Phoenix, and more windex looking. What look you are wanting is totally up to you. After trying a bunch of bulbs, I have not found any for me better than the 14k Phoenix. AB used to make a 13k that was pretty good and would really pop with a nice white color... but they quit making bulbs a while ago.

 

[RCS82]

#jda thanks for the great input. I know you are testing the par too with these bulbs so I appreciate the reply. Less par doesnt sound too much fun. Have you noticed your Phoenix bulbs shift color at all as they age? I'm running one that's a year old on a new setup so its empty of coraline right now, which is probably making me falsely question the bulb. A fresh bulb in a tank full of coraline would look different then one in a new tank.

 

[Curtswearing]

There are some VERY INEXPENSIVE WAYS to determine the color shift that has already happened. Dana has some really good articles about this. However, if the bulb is already 12 months old, you are about 6 months late. (Says the person who is 3 months late. LOL Trust me, it's on the "to do" list). I absolutely love my Phoenix 14k with a little LED supplementation, but I'm old-school and I like clear water, white sand, and for corals to be more natural. (When I go to frag swaps and see corals under all blues, it's quite annoying to me) https://www.advancedaquarist.com/2006/7/aafeature

 

[jda]

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-04/ac/index.php

 

[RCS82]

There are some VERY INEXPENSIVE WAYS to determine the color shift that has already happened. Dana has some really good articles about this. However, if the bulb is already 12 months old, you are about 6 months late. (Says the person who is 3 months late. LOL Trust me, it's on the "to do" list). I absolutely love my Phoenix 14k with a little LED supplementation, but I'm old-school and I like clear water, white sand, and for corals to be more natural. (When I go to frag swaps and see corals under all blues, it's quite annoying to me) https://www.advancedaquarist.com/2006/7/aafeature

How many hours a day do you base that on, changing bulbs every 6 months?

 

[RCS82]

Great links too, thanks for posting those

 

[Bpb]

14k Phoenix will give higher par than just about any 20k bulb If run on equal ballasts and reflectors. Lower kelvin bulbs will GENERALLY register higher par, because they pump out more wavelengths in the sensitive range of a par meter.

Will that par increase make a difference? Depends I guess. If you’re still in a comfortable par range all around it may not matter too much.

I recently changed from Hamilton 14k bulbs to Hamilton 20k. Mogul and m58
Ballast. Haven’t tested par though. Change was mainly out of curiosity and wanting to see a little more vibrant colors in some sps. It worked. Though I admittedly prefer the overall ambience of a 10-14k. As in I like how the rocks, sand, coraline, and room in general look more under lower kelvin.

I don’t think for one second I will have fallen into a par deficiency though. The 14k bulbs were hitting the surface under the water with 1100 par and the sandbed with 400+. So even if I dropped that number by 1/3 or more I’m still in a perfectly usable range for anything

 

[biecacka]

I am running the Hamilton 20k 250wt bulbs. I borrowed the local club par meter but it appears to be wrong or broken so I cannot provide any real numbers. But I think Bpb is right, 800-1000 is probably the ballpark


Corey

 

[jda]

IMO, the loss of PAR is only an issue if you were stretching the limits of the light anyway... like trying to cover a 36x36x36 area. These people need all the PAR that they can get. Otherwise, just get what looks good to you.

 

[RCS82]

Thanks for the great replies. I'm in Canada so bulb selection is tough here. Having only run M/H for a year or so now and only the Phoenix bulb, just looking for discussion mostly on other people's experience with different bulbs and colors. I'm certainly not looking for a blue windex tank, not a great look in my opinion lol. The Geisemann bulbs I can maybe get but at a price and I really dont think I can do better then the Phoenix 14k bulb. #jda how long are you running your Phoenix 250w bulbs before changing out?
Thanks again

 

[Bpb]

Thanks for the great replies. I'm in Canada so bulb selection is tough here. Having only run M/H for a year or so now and only the Phoenix bulb, just looking for discussion mostly on other people's experience with different bulbs and colors. I'm certainly not looking for a blue windex tank, not a great look in my opinion lol. The Geisemann bulbs I can maybe get but at a price and I really dont think I can do better then the Phoenix 14k bulb. #jda how long are you running your Phoenix 250w bulbs before changing out?
Thanks again

The giesemann Megachrome coral or megachrome marine may perform similarly to the Phoenix if you used HQI version of those bulbs. None of the mogul bulbs will put out as much par on the simple basis that mogul bulbs designed to run at 250 watts on a standard ballast won’t run as many watts as a DE bulb on an HQI ballast. The m80 ballasts will use in excess of 300+ watts, and HQI setting in electronic ballasts will clear 270+ watts. Not really an apples to apples comparison.

Also. While they may be pretty, those giesemann bulbs are $100+ a pop, at least here in the states. I’d use Phoenix all day every day at $50 a piece. I totally understand the curiosity to see what else is out there. But you won’t find anything that looks as good and performs as well as a Phoenix. I run mogul bulbs so I’m married to Hamilton’s, but if I had DE reflectors and m80 ballasts, I’d be running Phoenix bulbs without question.

 

[RCS82]

Great reply #Bpb
My new 60 gallon cube is running one Hamilton Cayman DE reflector on an Icecap switchable 250-400w ballast, run on the hqi setting. Plus I have a XR15 gen4 pro clipped on the front for some options and morning/night time viewing. But really viewing during the day when the M/H is way better then with the Radion on.

 

[greekspec2]

I've ran every kelvin Giesemann 250DE bulb on a M80 ballast and now been using the Megachrome Blue, and at $100 annually thats a drop in the bucket for a European made bulb, the 17,500k Crystal is an excellent bulb