Where do you reccomend buying 250W DE bulbs?

Engloid · Mar 3, 2012

I'm past due on getting bulbs and suspect it may be part of my hair algae growing. where is the best price on them that you all know of?

_sludgefactory · Mar 3, 2012

I'm buying a new Phoenix 250 hqi from marine depot about 50 bucks i think. I compared other bulbs and it seems to produce some of the nicest color. I'm in the same boat as you, mine is really old. Do u have a fuge at all?

Engloid · Mar 3, 2012

I have a 55g set up as a refugium. Chaeto doesn't seem to do very well in it though. I have an old PC fixture over it and run 12+ hrs a day. Chaeto just slowly seems to shrink in it.

_sludgefactory · Mar 3, 2012

Get a new pc bulb. I just had one of those spiral compact florescent bulbs on my fuge and my chaeto started dying off and i was getting hair algae, replaced my fuge bulb, chaeto growing again. Hair algae gone. Bulb is a 6700k from Lowes.

Engloid · Mar 3, 2012

My fixture is a 2ft, and I think the bulb has 4 prongs in a square pattern, if I remember right. Last I tried, the places I could find a bulb, it was about as much as a new fixture with new bulb. What size was yours and how much was it?

_sludgefactory · Mar 3, 2012

Mine is just a clamp lamp from Lowes. It was like 8 bucks. Buy 2 or 3 sell ur fixture the bulbs are just house light bulbs. You just have to make sure they're 6700k.

H@rry · Mar 3, 2012

If you can use XM 10K Hellolights is having a 15 year anniversity celebration sale, buy one, get one free. I just bought 12 for $440 w/free shipping.

_sludgefactory · Mar 3, 2012

I think the Phoenix has better color than the xm, but that's up to u there. Look on Google sometimes u can find pics comparing the different brands. I did that when i was looking because i was thinking about getting an oshio but i saw pics of the oshio 14k vs the Phoenix 14k and the Phoenix looked was nicer. To me that is.

Engloid · Mar 3, 2012

dkerns06 said:
Mine is just a clamp lamp from Lowes. It was like 8 bucks. Buy 2 or 3 sell ur fixture the bulbs are just house light bulbs. You just have to make sure they're 6700k.

I just bought a couple of the bulbs. I'm thinking I have a clamp on fixture...gonna find out in a few. The two bulbs I bought were $10, so a lot cheaper than PC's.

H@rry said:
If you can use XM 10K Hellolights is having a 15 year anniversity celebration sale, buy one, get one free. I just bought 12 for $440 w/free shipping.

I will check on it. I do have some SPS, so I would like to stick with something like a 14k-20K though. I may get a couple of those 14k's and run one in middle and something else on both sides or something.