Which 250w/400w MH Bulbs have similar color to the Phoenix 150w DE?

[All__talk]

The wife says I can have this year’s tax return to start my long awaited tank upgrade, 210gl in-wall, so I’m working out the lighting. Current thinking is three MH 250w or 400w, and two or four 80w t-5s (I haven’t ruled out LEDs but that’s a different thread).

I am currently running two Phoenix 150w HQI 14Ks with two 96w PC Actinic over my 49gl bow front (Coralife fixture) and am very happy with the color of the light. I’m looking for something similar in the new system, maybe a little more blue, but not 20K Radium blue, that always seems dim to me. Fixtures will likely be Hamilton Cayman Sun SE and I know ballasts need to be matched to the bulbs (and can affect color) so those are undecided.

250w or 400w? With a water depth of 29” I suspect that I am near the limit of 250w if I’m looking for “clams on the sand bed” intensities, and will be better off with 400w. But open to experience and opinions on this.

So which MH blubs (and ballasts) will get me close to what I’m looking for? Also, I’d like to avoid extreme overdrive scenarios in a hope to maximize blub life.

Thanks
Gary

[ptreef]

closest:
250w Phoenix 14k
400w reeflux 20k,


400w Radium & XM 20k other nice alts, but a bit dimmer than above and more blue.

I have 2 400w reeflux 12k and 4 80w t-5's on 250g SPS dominate DT and i have almost too much light for most zoas and LPS on the bottom. The ones I have I put in the shadows of my SPS or rock work. run Mh's ~ 6.5 hrs and t-5 10hrs.

If not SPS dominate, go 250w phoenix & the t-5's for suck to dawn.
If want simple and no t-5, go 400w radium or xm 20k standalone.

[All__talk]

Originally Posted by ptreef

closest:
250w Phoenix 14k
400w reeflux 20k,


400w Radium & XM 20k other nice alts, but a bit dimmer than above and more blue.

I have 2 400w reeflux 12k and 4 80w t-5's on 250g SPS dominate DT and i have almost too much light for most zoas and LPS on the bottom. The ones I have I put in the shadows of my SPS or rock work. run Mh's ~ 6.5 hrs and t-5 10hrs.

If not SPS dominate, go 250w phoenix & the t-5's for suck to dawn.
If want simple and no t-5, go 400w radium or xm 20k standalone.

Hey ptreef, thanks for the info, what's your water depth?

[ptreef]

24"

[ptreef]

Ballast. Get lumatek select a watt. 250/400. That way leaves u options in future. Plus basically same cost as most all ballast

[stancfii]

+1 for the select a watt. The 250w on HQI setting will give you plenty of PAR on a Phoenix 14k, and the right quality reflector will make a bigger difference than going to a 400w. Like All_Talk said, any zoas or lps would have no safe place to hide with the 400s