which bulb for my 150watt sunpod

[kane720]

with the sunpod not having antinics. which 150watt bulb is going to give me the best color and growth?

150w Giesemann Megachrome Coral 14.5k HQI Bulb

150w Phoenix 14,000 K HQI

150W XDE 20,000K HQI

i plan on keeping sps in the future.

[200mfromocean]

I am running the 12K coralvue reeflux 250 MH only over my 54. It does actually have some blue in it. See my link for pics.

[kane720]

very nice i wonder if the 150 watt bulb will give me the same look how is your growth and i wonder how do the bulbs i have listed compare.

[DarG]

Gotta be careful with the 150 watt DE bulbs. They dont have a bunch of par in general and the higher K, bluer bulbs are generally low in par. As far as the Reeflux bulbs, the 250 watt DE 12000K isnt much brighter (if at all) than the 150 watt Iwasaki 50000K DE. That doesnt bode well for the 150 watt DE version of the Reeflux 12000K. Current really should have gone with magnetic HQI ballasts for the 150 watt fixtures. They drive the DE bulbs to higher wattage and higher par.

Speaking of the Iwasaki 50000K (misleading K rating, it isnt that blue) 150 watt DE, it does have pretty good par relative to it's wattage and color. It could be used without actinics. Also, the new Iwasaki 20000K. Supposed to be bluer than the 50KK and has a little more par.
The Phoenix 150 watt DE is said to be pretty much a white bulb. The Giesemann isnt reported to have much blue either. The XM is blue but the Par is weak.

[kane720]

hmmm...so my choice of bulbs pretty much s@*ks lol. dang phoenix was going to be my default. i was leaning towards the the Giesemann but if the par and blue is about the same then there's no point in paying more money. the store im getting the bulbs have both and is going to let me fire both of them up to see which one i like most but they don't carry the Iwasaki. so it looks like im stuck with those two choices. maybe i'll try and find an Iwasaki used.

[DarG]

Bulbs go through some color changes during a burn-in period of the first 100 hours or so. What they look like when they first fire up is not exactly what they will look like after the burn-in.

Also, Im not saying that you wont like the Phoenix or Giesemann. Just that the Phoenix isnt the same blue bulb in the 150 watt version as it is in the highly popular 250 watt version. And the giesemann isnt really a blue bulb either. They are both good bulbs but with you not having actinics, if you are looking for them to be blue you may be dissapointed.

The bulb choices in 150 watt DE arent exactly crap. Just that to get decent par you generally need a whiter bulb which means that if you want a blue look, supplemental flourescents need to be used as well. If you have a shallow tank, you are probably ok with the lower par bulbs that are bluer.

I just mention the Iwasaki's because they do have decent par with the blue hue.

[kane720]

ahhhhhhh..........don't say that! i was going to just go with phoenix because i like how it look on my tank with the 250 watt bulb lol. this is going over my 24 gal aquapod so it has some depth so the 20k Giesemann probably won't be a good choice huh. dang these nano tanks! maybe i should try to hurry up and sell this fixture and go with the 250 watt version . i really appreciate the input darG but now i'm not sure what i'm going to do. lol

[DarG]

How deep is the aquapod? I didnt realize it was going on such a small tank. You may be fine with the 20K Giesemann.

[kane720]

it's 17.5" h. my sand bed is 3" deep

[DarG]

So only 14.5" deep? You'll probably be fine with the 20 K Giesemann. I dont know the par but thats pretty shallow and it shouldnt take all that much to light it adequately. I'd still stay away from the XM 20K (or 15K for that matter) but those are very low par bulbs. Giesemann is a better quality bulb and it would be hard for it to be lower in par than the XM's.

[oct2274]

for 150 watt bulbs with no supplements, I'd go:

1. radium - 20k bulb with high par - more output then 14k phoenix and maybe just a bit better color

or

2. phoenix 14k - good output and good color

The only other bulb i'd recommend using with no supplements is the 14k hamilton, but it is not as nice as either of the two above

[DarG]

Forgot about the Radium. Good choice as well, plenty of blue and good par for a 150 watt DE with blue.

The Iwasaki 50000K really has an advantage though. It may be slightly lower in par than the Radium but still has healthy par for it's color and wattage class. But it also has a signifigant, fairly broad peak in the actinic as well as the blue spike. I had the Radiums in the past and sold them. I just thought that the Iwasaki was a better overall bulb. But thats more personal choice than anything I guess. It's still my favorite color bulb. The Broad actinic peak gives is a unique color, not just a washed out blue like many blue bulbs.

Still, with access to anly the bulbs you mentioned, Kane. Especially if he is going to let you fire them up, I would take a good look at the Giesemann. I havent seen one in 150 watt 20K. You may really like it and it may have good par.
Again, Im hearing that the Phoenix is white in the 150 watt DE version. Not seen that one either.

[kane720]

i have easlier access to the Giesemann so i think i might end up going with that one. alot of people seem to like the phoenix but if i can get a little bit better color with about the same par i rather pay for the better bulb. maybe i will try the radium next time.

[DarG]

Good Luck Kane. Let me know how it works out.

[marmonduke]

I have the 150 DE version on the Phoenix bulb and it is bluer and has less par than it's 250 watt brother. I used it for a while and went back to a 10K Coralife bulb.

[DarG]

Obviously it has less par. Every description of it I have read is that it is whiter that the 250 watt. In fact, it seems to be described as a white bulb with just the smallest hint of blue from what I have read.

Have you used the 250 watt Phoenix, Marmonduke? I havent used the 150 watt pheonix but I have the 250 watt and the ones I had (and sold) were very blue.

[200mfromocean]

Kane,

It might be helpful to list your specs in your profile. I have seen people do a lot with 70Watt MH sunpod in a nano tank with softies. I had the K2 viper 150 did not cut it for me as far as light output on my 54. But I think you will be good for anything with the better sunpod reflector and shalower tank.

BTW I found this link on Iwasaki interesting.

http://www.coralreefecosystems.com/l...ut%20Analysis: