Metal Halide Light Bulb Q

[BananaHammox]

Hey,

So i recently got a 72" coralife light fixture with 4x 96w compact fluorescent ascetic and 3x 150 w metal halide lights to go over my 180 gallon tank.

They came with 3 10K bulbs in the MH's, so I switched to 15K then to 20K bulbs. I upgraded lights all from ebay very cheap around 10$ per bulb. When i went from 10K to 15K there was barely a change in color, but when I went to 20K the color was more to my liking, however I thought the lights would be brighter. Would changing to an expensive 50-60$ bulb make much of a difference? Basically I'm wondering if the cheap MH bulbs are as bright as the more expensive ones, even though they have the same specs.

Any input is much appreciated!

 

[EddieM]

I've found the PAR and color varies greatly from one manufacturer to the other, even when they have nearly identical specs. I personally run 14K Phoenix 250w HQI on LUXCORE selectable ballasts. I've tried Ushio, Aqualine, Hamilton, XM and Reeflux and always end up back with Phoenix. My opinion is find someone with a similar setup (ballast and reflector) and see how you like their lighting. The other thing to consider is what are you trying to achieve? ...are you looking for growth? coloration? or is just aesthetics? Each bulb comes with its trade offs. IMO, Phoenix offers a nice mix. Not the growth of a 6500k Iwasaki or the colors of a 20K Radium, but a nice mix of each without much compromise.

 

[Andy V]

I'm not being a jerk when I say this, but bulbs are more than just being bright.

There are vast differences between bulbs in terms of output, spectrum, etc. Given that lights are one of the most important pieces of equipment you can buy for a reef, this is not an area I would "cheap-out" on. If this is a fish only tank, then it doesn't matter. If it is a reef, I would only go with the trusted brands.

 

[dz6t]

There is very limited option for good 150w double ended bulbs these days. The top choice is phoenix 14k since radium no longer offer the 150w de bulbs.

All the K rating are all over the place. Ushio is ok but even at 14k, it is much whiter than Phoenix.

There are some bulbs that should be avoid at all cost:
Odyssea bulbs of any types are really really bad. They are yellow and very sub-Par.

Coralife bulbs are not very impressive either.

Current USA is not much better than the two mentioned above.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[this is me]

I wouldn't touch those ebay bulbs with a 10 foot pole!

 

[BananaHammox]

Thanks for the help fellas.

Yeah I currently have odyssea 20K's in right now and am not too impressed. After hearing your input and looking at mad reviews on diff 150W bulbs, I went with the Pheonix 14K's, pumped to get em!!

 

[tmanmtb]

Thanks for the help fellas.

Yeah I currently have odyssea 20K's in right now and am not too impressed. After hearing your input and looking at mad reviews on diff 150W bulbs, I went with the Pheonix 14K's, pumped to get em!!

#lovethepheonix

Absolutely my preferred bulb

 

[cilyjr]

That was the bulb I used when it was made in SE but they discontinued the SE version