best 20k bulb for sps color and growth - Page 3

Garage1217 · 05/31/2009, 12:37 PM

Long story...

From eye, they are no dimmer than the Phoenix bulbs, just a totally different color. Of course measuring tells the whole story. In person The ushio / AB 20K looks pure white with a violet hue, not really blue in any way.

I chose the AB20K's because I original had dual 150w phoenix bulbs & had great colors and growth out of my 65+ varieties of SPS. Problem was, I was not fond of the color as I used to love the single ushio blv bulb I had over a nano which I thought looked spectacular.

So the next logical step to achieve the color I wanted was to bump things from 150w to 250w. Buy better reflectors so I would be a little better off overall It all worked out beautifully! My SPS growth and colors are outstanding. In fact my sps frags sell out usually in a heartbeat at local events because the colors are so good. And I am not talking doctored photos of corals, but the in person colors.

Last comment, Around March, I had a bulb bite the dust. The ballast on that side died a little bit later so I am going to assume it was a crappy ballast. In that time I acquired two 250w phoenix DE bulbs to get me by until my replacement bulb arrived so I was able to run the ushio BLV / ab20K side by side with the phoenix. Honestly I could not stand the color of the phoenix as it seemed in 250w, the phoenix had a more washout blue color over what I remember the 150w phoenix having.

I still have both phoenix bulbs and can take pics if anyone questions me *LOL*

Bottom line, I get spectacular colors & growth out of my current bulbs even with SPS as low as 26+ inches from the bulb. I would not trade them as they are so super pleasing to my eyes. Until another bulb comes around with some wow factor to me, I am sticking with the ushio / aqualine bulbs.

Last note, I also ran an XM20K as well in the past. It was very nice, but I like the ushio / aqualine better color wise.

KevinYates · 05/31/2009, 01:16 PM

interesting thread to read.

never take a picture as jugment for what a bulb looks like, its usless as stated by a few other people, find a lfs or another hobbiest in your area with the bulb you want to look at, and if worse comes to worse buy a used bulb thats got a month or two left for 10$ before you buy one for 70. always a lot better option if you are still unsure.

im still a noob and in the cycling process of my 30 -inwall- cube.

i have a 250w SE E-drive bulb (unsure still, got a used 6month old xm20k and 5month old radium) powerd in a :lumenmax: i see everyone seems to love these lumenbrights, but do you guys think my lumenmax is going to be a big issue for a 250w SE over a 30cube with softies, leathers, and lps in mind.

im staying away from sps.

Garage1217 · 05/31/2009, 01:19 PM

Agreed 100%, I meant take photos of the bulbs to show I own them *LOL*

kev apsley · 05/31/2009, 02:27 PM

the AB 20K is a spectacular looking bulb

stony_corals · 05/31/2009, 03:49 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by kev apsley
the AB 20K is a spectacular looking bulb

Really? Which ballast (I don't think we can talk about bulbs without including the ballast variable)? I'm really struggling.... I like the radium 250w on HQI ballasts. I am disappointed with the Reeflux 20k on Galaxy ballasts, very white, almost like a 10k. The Reeflux 12k is bluer than the Reeflux 20k. I like the 14k look of the radium/hqi combo, a lot of output, no yellow (could run Iwasakis if I wanted yellow). I am thinking about trying the AquaConnect 250w on Galaxy and may be the HQI (PFO)..... Does anyone have any pics of the same tank with all these different combos, with PAR readings?

smariner · 05/31/2009, 04:43 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by nelson4u

According to this chart the EVC 20k looks like it will be way more bluer than the Phx. 14K I have now and I think they are too blue.

Won't I be making a bad choice going with the EVC 20K as it is more blue and less par than the Phx. 14K I have now ?

Seems like I would be better off staying with the Phx 14k than going with a bluer EVC 20K which will be dimmer than what I have now.

This is getting frustrating now after studying the charts.

I really wish someone could tell me just how much dimmer "visually with the eye" (not on the chart), that the Ushio 20K would be compared to the Phx 14K I have now.

I think I would really like the Ushio color but if the light output is only nearly 50% of the Phx 14k as the chart shows, I'm not sure the Ushio will cut it. As I mentioned earlier my tank is 28" deep.

Any help and advice is greatly appreciated

Your post is in violation of the terms and conditions of use of this web site and has been edited. Further violations will result in revocation of your posting privileges.

nelson4u · 05/31/2009, 08:33 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Garage1217
Long story...

From eye, they are no dimmer than the Phoenix bulbs, just a totally different color. Of course measuring tells the whole story. In person The ushio / AB 20K looks pure white with a violet hue, not really blue in any way.

I chose the AB20K's because I original had dual 150w phoenix bulbs & had great colors and growth out of my 65+ varieties of SPS. Problem was, I was not fond of the color as I used to love the single ushio blv bulb I had over a nano which I thought looked spectacular.

So the next logical step to achieve the color I wanted was to bump things from 150w to 250w. Buy better reflectors so I would be a little better off overall It all worked out beautifully! My SPS growth and colors are outstanding. In fact my sps frags sell out usually in a heartbeat at local events because the colors are so good. And I am not talking doctored photos of corals, but the in person colors.

Last comment, Around March, I had a bulb bite the dust. The ballast on that side died a little bit later so I am going to assume it was a crappy ballast. In that time I acquired two 250w phoenix DE bulbs to get me by until my replacement bulb arrived so I was able to run the ushio BLV / ab20K side by side with the phoenix. Honestly I could not stand the color of the phoenix as it seemed in 250w, the phoenix had a more washout blue color over what I remember the 150w phoenix having.

I still have both phoenix bulbs and can take pics if anyone questions me *LOL*

Bottom line, I get spectacular colors & growth out of my current bulbs even with SPS as low as 26+ inches from the bulb. I would not trade them as they are so super pleasing to my eyes. Until another bulb comes around with some wow factor to me, I am sticking with the ushio / aqualine bulbs.

Last note, I also ran an XM20K as well in the past. It was very nice, but I like the ushio / aqualine better color wise.

Thanks for the great explanation Garage1217.

I don't know if you mentioned it, but were you using magnetic or electronic ballasts when you compared the Ushio and Phx bulbs ?

I will be using Icecap electronic ballast.

Garage1217 · 05/31/2009, 08:45 PM

I use electronic coralvue ballasts. The non dimmable ones. So far I am not super happy with them....
- Had one die on me which looks to be the culprit to why a $100 bulb died in a very short time span. Aqualine Bushke has great customer service and took care of me on it, but still cost me $5 to ship the bulb back to them.
- This ballast failure made me purchase a spare which cost me another $140 out of pocket locally. A spare is a good idea, but I did not want to spend that money at this time. Also shipping the ballast back to coralvue cost me close to $20.00
- Since then, I have spoken with a local expert that said he had multiple go out in a years time. As well as found a guy very angry in I think the hello lights section that has had 2 of his 3 go out.

So in short, I bought two coralvue ballasts in January with a 10% off coupon through hello lights.
- Initial cost of the ballasts $200
- Had to spend an initial $165 in the first 5 months

So in short, $200 worth of ballast has turned into $365 so far. I will not be purchasing from them again.

Sorry for the rant, but I am quite irritated at them. They also shipped the replacement 4 days after they said they would ship it.

I have no opinion on what I will end up going with ballast wise if these die again, but I am hearing good things about both lumatek & icecap. Also a local has had some of the ebay cheapy e-ballasts going over 1.5 years without an issue *LOL* Maybe I should look into those instead of a name brand haha.

stony_corals · 05/31/2009, 08:57 PM

Gee, that blows. I'm glad I didn't buy the CV ballasts

sounds like marginal support as well. I am using Galaxy ballasts, seem fine. Have you run a radium? How would that compare to the AB 20k?

Quote:

Originally posted by Garage1217
I use electronic coralvue ballasts. The non dimmable ones. So far I am not super happy with them....
- Had one die on me which looks to be the culprit to why a $100 bulb died in a very short time span. Aqualine Bushke has great customer service and took care of me on it, but still cost me $5 to ship the bulb back to them.
- This ballast failure made me purchase a spare which cost me another $140 out of pocket locally. A spare is a good idea, but I did not want to spend that money at this time. Also shipping the ballast back to coralvue cost me close to $20.00
- Since then, I have spoken with a local expert that said he had multiple go out in a years time. As well as found a guy very angry in I think the hello lights section that has had 2 of his 3 go out.

So in short, I bought two coralvue ballasts in January with a 10% off coupon through hello lights.
- Initial cost of the ballasts $200
- Had to spend an initial $165 in the first 5 months

So in short, $200 worth of ballast has turned into $365 so far. I will not be purchasing from them again.

Sorry for the rant, but I am quite irritated at them. They also shipped the replacement 4 days after they said they would ship it.

I have no opinion on what I will end up going with ballast wise if these die again, but I am hearing good things about both lumatek & icecap. Also a local has had some of the ebay cheapy e-ballasts going over 1.5 years without an issue *LOL* Maybe I should look into those instead of a name brand haha.

nelson4u · 05/31/2009, 08:58 PM

This is pretty interesting. The EVC 14k compared to the A/B-Ushio 20K is almost identical spectrum and the EVC has 30% more par.

Anyone ever compared these two bulbs ?

Garage1217 · 05/31/2009, 09:45 PM

Well the area in the 480-540 is a lot higher in the EVC. That would display a totally different color than the AB, more of a blue than the color I like.

Also I run DE so have not been able to try a radium as I understand they only make DE in 150w.

NyReefNoob · 06/01/2009, 07:38 AM

i have a coralife pro 250w fixture and have tried several bulbs, phoenix 14k was my fav had good color great growth, then got a helio 20k bulb and love it, not to blue coral color is great and had great growth so far, what ever ballast your running is going to make a difference in temp of bulb also

loweryster · 06/01/2009, 07:46 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by NyReefNoob
i have a coralife pro 250w fixture and have tried several bulbs, phoenix 14k was my fav had good color great growth, then got a helio 20k bulb and love it, not to blue coral color is great and had great growth so far, what ever ballast your running is going to make a difference in temp of bulb also

According to sanjay's plot, the Helios is the same bulb as the EVC. Very good par for a 20k.

smariner · 06/01/2009, 07:49 AM

Correct! The EVC lamp and the Helios use the same internal parts.

Garage1217 · 06/01/2009, 09:09 AM

Anyone have a used helios or EVC I can try out? Would be happy to pay shipping both ways. Just want to compare it color wise to what I currently use.

kev apsley · 06/01/2009, 09:19 AM

I just had to switch back to my Helios 20K from my AB 20K because I broke my AB 20K bulb trying to take it out, I gotta tell you the Helios is very purple/blue compared to the AB 20K but it really does make colors pop

smariner · 06/01/2009, 09:25 AM

Yes, we have seen very good growth and the colors really pop(Someone even nicknamed it the blueberry bulb a few days ago) with the EVC 20K lamps. I have been really happy with the results.

Hope this helps,
Chad D. Bryant

nelson4u · 06/01/2009, 05:53 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by NyReefNoob
i have a coralife pro 250w fixture and have tried several bulbs, phoenix 14k was my fav had good color great growth, then got a helio 20k bulb and love it, not to blue coral color is great and had great growth so far, what ever ballast your running is going to make a difference in temp of bulb also

NyReefNoob,

Are you using electronic or magnetic ballasts with your bulbs ?

I thought the blue of my Phx 14k was kind of washed out looking and colors did not "pop" as much as I like. Could you explain more the difference you seen comparing these 2 bulbs ? I am very interested since you have used both first hand. I am worried the helios-EVC 20 K will be even bluer and wash out the colors more than the Phx 14k I have now.

Thanks in advance for any help.

henrystyle · 06/12/2009, 02:31 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by FishBoy38
These e-ballasts seem to drive the crap out of the bulbs. Also, is this a 250 watt se problem only?

So you saying it a ballast problem? I just bought a dimmable 250w coralvue ballast with a reeflux 20k. Turned to the proper operating level the bulb is white as hell. No blue at all. I was thinking of trying a new bulb but dont want to waste my money if the same the same thing is going to happen because of the ballast.

henrystyle · 06/12/2009, 02:43 PM

So bottom line. Which is the best 20k bulb powered by the coralvue 250w e-ballast? SE BULB....

Wrench · 06/12/2009, 05:50 PM

About a year ago I went to Reeflux 12k's because at the time they were the hot ticket. Coralvue ballasts, reeflux 12k bulbs. They looked good and corals colored up ok but the growth was dismal. PAR was less than 80 on the sand of a 24" tank. This was compared to the aquaconnect 14k's I was running before and the XM 10k's I ran before that.

About 6 months ago I switched to Radiums on M80 ballasts. Color is a touch more blue than the 12k. Color and growth has more than doubled and PAR is up 30%.

I'm not a fan of really blue tanks but I'm very happy with this setup.

I would never run a 20k bulb on an e-ballast because of sacrificing PAR.

henrystyle · 06/12/2009, 07:14 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Wrench
About a year ago I went to Reeflux 12k's because at the time they were the hot ticket. Coralvue ballasts, reeflux 12k bulbs. They looked good and corals colored up ok but the growth was dismal. PAR was less than 80 on the sand of a 24" tank. This was compared to the aquaconnect 14k's I was running before and the XM 10k's I ran before that.

About 6 months ago I switched to Radiums on M80 ballasts. Color is a touch more blue than the 12k. Color and growth has more than doubled and PAR is up 30%.

I'm not a fan of really blue tanks but I'm very happy with this setup.

I would never run a 20k bulb on an e-ballast because of sacrificing PAR.

Well I just bought my e-ballast so Im looking for the best bulb to run on it...So far the 20k reeflux is not looking so hot at full power. I have the dimmable ballast.

Wrench · 06/13/2009, 10:42 PM

I'd try the phoenix and see how you like it. I have one on my frag tank and get good results.

henrystyle · 06/14/2009, 08:35 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Wrench
I'd try the phoenix and see how you like it. I have one on my frag tank and get good results.

Hows the phoenix bulb color? (14k?) I want to be able to turn my ballast up all the way and still have a blueish tint to the tank. If I do that with the reeflux 20k it will look bright yellow/white. no blue at all..

Wrench · 06/14/2009, 09:52 AM

I have the Phoenix on an M80 ballast which will burn it much harder than an e-ballast and it's got a touch of blue. A touch more blue than a Hamilton I'd say.

05/31/2009, 12:37 PM	#51
Garage1217 GET OFF MY LAWN Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Globally Posts: 5,863	Long story... From eye, they are no dimmer than the Phoenix bulbs, just a totally different color. Of course measuring tells the whole story. In person The ushio / AB 20K looks pure white with a violet hue, not really blue in any way. I chose the AB20K's because I original had dual 150w phoenix bulbs & had great colors and growth out of my 65+ varieties of SPS. Problem was, I was not fond of the color as I used to love the single ushio blv bulb I had over a nano which I thought looked spectacular. So the next logical step to achieve the color I wanted was to bump things from 150w to 250w. Buy better reflectors so I would be a little better off overall It all worked out beautifully! My SPS growth and colors are outstanding. In fact my sps frags sell out usually in a heartbeat at local events because the colors are so good. And I am not talking doctored photos of corals, but the in person colors. Last comment, Around March, I had a bulb bite the dust. The ballast on that side died a little bit later so I am going to assume it was a crappy ballast. In that time I acquired two 250w phoenix DE bulbs to get me by until my replacement bulb arrived so I was able to run the ushio BLV / ab20K side by side with the phoenix. Honestly I could not stand the color of the phoenix as it seemed in 250w, the phoenix had a more washout blue color over what I remember the 150w phoenix having. I still have both phoenix bulbs and can take pics if anyone questions me LOL Bottom line, I get spectacular colors & growth out of my current bulbs even with SPS as low as 26+ inches from the bulb. I would not trade them as they are so super pleasing to my eyes. Until another bulb comes around with some wow factor to me, I am sticking with the ushio / aqualine bulbs. Last note, I also ran an XM20K as well in the past. It was very nice, but I like the ushio / aqualine better color wise. __________________ No great genius has ever existed without some touch of madness ~ Aristotle If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it? ~ Albert Einstein I'm just as bent as ever. Hellishly so ~ Captain Jack Sparrow Current Tank Info: Systems and goodies by Lee-Mar / Coralvue / Neptune Systems / Jager / Spectrapure / Cree / Meanwell + more! Last edited by Garage1217; 05/31/2009 at 12:46 PM.

05/31/2009, 01:19 PM	#53
Garage1217 GET OFF MY LAWN Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Globally Posts: 5,863	Agreed 100%, I meant take photos of the bulbs to show I own them LOL __________________ No great genius has ever existed without some touch of madness ~ Aristotle If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it? ~ Albert Einstein I'm just as bent as ever. Hellishly so ~ Captain Jack Sparrow Current Tank Info: Systems and goodies by Lee-Mar / Coralvue / Neptune Systems / Jager / Spectrapure / Cree / Meanwell + more!

05/31/2009, 08:45 PM	#58
Garage1217 GET OFF MY LAWN Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Globally Posts: 5,863	I use electronic coralvue ballasts. The non dimmable ones. So far I am not super happy with them.... - Had one die on me which looks to be the culprit to why a $100 bulb died in a very short time span. Aqualine Bushke has great customer service and took care of me on it, but still cost me $5 to ship the bulb back to them. - This ballast failure made me purchase a spare which cost me another $140 out of pocket locally. A spare is a good idea, but I did not want to spend that money at this time. Also shipping the ballast back to coralvue cost me close to $20.00 - Since then, I have spoken with a local expert that said he had multiple go out in a years time. As well as found a guy very angry in I think the hello lights section that has had 2 of his 3 go out. So in short, I bought two coralvue ballasts in January with a 10% off coupon through hello lights. - Initial cost of the ballasts $200 - Had to spend an initial $165 in the first 5 months So in short, $200 worth of ballast has turned into $365 so far. I will not be purchasing from them again. Sorry for the rant, but I am quite irritated at them. They also shipped the replacement 4 days after they said they would ship it. I have no opinion on what I will end up going with ballast wise if these die again, but I am hearing good things about both lumatek & icecap. Also a local has had some of the ebay cheapy e-ballasts going over 1.5 years without an issue LOL Maybe I should look into those instead of a name brand haha. __________________ No great genius has ever existed without some touch of madness ~ Aristotle If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it? ~ Albert Einstein I'm just as bent as ever. Hellishly so ~ Captain Jack Sparrow Current Tank Info: Systems and goodies by Lee-Mar / Coralvue / Neptune Systems / Jager / Spectrapure / Cree / Meanwell + more!

05/31/2009, 08:58 PM	#60
nelson4u Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Gilbert, AZ Posts: 337	This is pretty interesting. The EVC 14k compared to the A/B-Ushio 20K is almost identical spectrum and the EVC has 30% more par. Anyone ever compared these two bulbs ? __________________ Mike

05/31/2009, 09:45 PM	#61
Garage1217 GET OFF MY LAWN Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Globally Posts: 5,863	Well the area in the 480-540 is a lot higher in the EVC. That would display a totally different color than the AB, more of a blue than the color I like. Also I run DE so have not been able to try a radium as I understand they only make DE in 150w. __________________ No great genius has ever existed without some touch of madness ~ Aristotle If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it? ~ Albert Einstein I'm just as bent as ever. Hellishly so ~ Captain Jack Sparrow Current Tank Info: Systems and goodies by Lee-Mar / Coralvue / Neptune Systems / Jager / Spectrapure / Cree / Meanwell + more!

05/31/2009, 01:16 PM	#52
KevinYates Registered Member Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 194	interesting thread to read. never take a picture as jugment for what a bulb looks like, its usless as stated by a few other people, find a lfs or another hobbiest in your area with the bulb you want to look at, and if worse comes to worse buy a used bulb thats got a month or two left for 10$ before you buy one for 70. always a lot better option if you are still unsure. im still a noob and in the cycling process of my 30 -inwall- cube. i have a 250w SE E-drive bulb (unsure still, got a used 6month old xm20k and 5month old radium) powerd in a :lumenmax: i see everyone seems to love these lumenbrights, but do you guys think my lumenmax is going to be a big issue for a 250w SE over a 30cube with softies, leathers, and lps in mind. im staying away from sps.

05/31/2009, 02:27 PM	#54
kev apsley Moved On Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: LI, NY Posts: 4,424	the AB 20K is a spectacular looking bulb

06/01/2009, 07:38 AM	#62
NyReefNoob skimmer freak Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: peekskill, ny Posts: 1,209	i have a coralife pro 250w fixture and have tried several bulbs, phoenix 14k was my fav had good color great growth, then got a helio 20k bulb and love it, not to blue coral color is great and had great growth so far, what ever ballast your running is going to make a difference in temp of bulb also __________________ custom 45g cube all in one, ai hydra 26, 2 mp10w, ac jr. ,bubble magnus triple doser, bm nac5 hob skimmer My dad always said the only stupid questions are the ones not asked Current Tank Info: custom 45g cube AIO

06/01/2009, 07:49 AM	#64
smariner Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Raleigh, NC Posts: 900	Correct! The EVC lamp and the Helios use the same internal parts.

06/01/2009, 09:09 AM	#65
Garage1217 GET OFF MY LAWN Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Globally Posts: 5,863	Anyone have a used helios or EVC I can try out? Would be happy to pay shipping both ways. Just want to compare it color wise to what I currently use. __________________ No great genius has ever existed without some touch of madness ~ Aristotle If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it? ~ Albert Einstein I'm just as bent as ever. Hellishly so ~ Captain Jack Sparrow Current Tank Info: Systems and goodies by Lee-Mar / Coralvue / Neptune Systems / Jager / Spectrapure / Cree / Meanwell + more!

06/01/2009, 09:19 AM	#66
kev apsley Moved On Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: LI, NY Posts: 4,424	I just had to switch back to my Helios 20K from my AB 20K because I broke my AB 20K bulb trying to take it out, I gotta tell you the Helios is very purple/blue compared to the AB 20K but it really does make colors pop

06/01/2009, 09:25 AM	#67
smariner Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Raleigh, NC Posts: 900	Yes, we have seen very good growth and the colors really pop(Someone even nicknamed it the blueberry bulb a few days ago) with the EVC 20K lamps. I have been really happy with the results. Hope this helps, Chad D. Bryant

06/12/2009, 02:43 PM	#70
henrystyle Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: East Stroudsburg, Pa Posts: 668	So bottom line. Which is the best 20k bulb powered by the coralvue 250w e-ballast? SE BULB.... __________________ HENRYSTYLE - That Henry Guy Current Tank Info: 30g frag tank/120g sps dominant reef

06/12/2009, 05:50 PM	#71
Wrench Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Maryland Posts: 2,004	About a year ago I went to Reeflux 12k's because at the time they were the hot ticket. Coralvue ballasts, reeflux 12k bulbs. They looked good and corals colored up ok but the growth was dismal. PAR was less than 80 on the sand of a 24" tank. This was compared to the aquaconnect 14k's I was running before and the XM 10k's I ran before that. About 6 months ago I switched to Radiums on M80 ballasts. Color is a touch more blue than the 12k. Color and growth has more than doubled and PAR is up 30%. I'm not a fan of really blue tanks but I'm very happy with this setup. I would never run a 20k bulb on an e-ballast because of sacrificing PAR.

06/13/2009, 10:42 PM	#73
Wrench Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Maryland Posts: 2,004	I'd try the phoenix and see how you like it. I have one on my frag tank and get good results.

06/14/2009, 09:52 AM	#75
Wrench Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Maryland Posts: 2,004	I have the Phoenix on an M80 ballast which will burn it much harder than an e-ballast and it's got a touch of blue. A touch more blue than a Hamilton I'd say.