Replacing MH bulbs soon which DE 20k would you get?

MattS · Oct 8, 2009

I'm looking for a couple of bulbs that are nearly identical to the Radiums. Does anyone know of an alternative for a double ended fixture?

I have an Outer Orbit with two 250w Phoenix bulbs supplemented with 4 super actinic 420nm T5s and I'm looking for more blue. I'm pretty sure the ballasts are electronic, I'm sure that makes a difference.

thanks,
Matt

iceman0124 · Oct 9, 2009

I recently got a 150 watt radium 20K and love it, it was very blue to start with, after a week its a very crisp white but still has a nice actinic pop to it, its run off of a JBJ magnetic ballast. The radium is also super bright, areas that were near totally dark before are now nicely bathed in light. Heres a shot shortly after installing it.

litenyaup · Oct 9, 2009

150 watt xm 15k is what i use...i love them and will not use another bulb!!

MattS · Oct 9, 2009

Iceman, I wish they had them in a 250w double ended version but right now all they have is the 150w DE and the 250w mogul base.

liten, do you have any pictures? I know it's hard to get true color but it might give me an idea of what it looks like.

iceman0124 · Oct 9, 2009

I was really happy with my old 250 watt mogul base XM 15k, though you do need actinics with them, at least I did on my blue line electonic ballast, it was a nice bright white, but colors really didnt pop on their own after the first two weeks, so I ran with 4 T5 actnics on my old 65 high and it still wasnt very blue. The XM 20k's are very blue, but you lose a lot of PAR compared to a radium, the radium is best described as the color of my first VHO set 2 german actnics and 2 10k's only a whole lot brighter.

bkv1997 · Oct 12, 2009

I've tried a ton of 250 DE bulbs over the years.

my favorites are.
1) 14k Pheonix were my favorite by far
2) 20k Geiseman would be my next choice.

MattS · Oct 12, 2009

That's what I have is the Phoenix bulbs, I like them but the corals colors under a Radium :dribble:

Is the Geiseman comparable to the Radium?

I'm not too worried about the par dropping, I still have the fixture hanging about a foot above the water so I could just drop it down some more if needed.