Ronjunior Posted November 22, 2007 Share Posted November 22, 2007 I got some awesome colored zoos this weekend and I was having my blackout weekend and only had the VHO actinics on and thought Wow! Monday when turning on the 50/50 actinic whites with the blue actinics, the colors were OK, but didn't have the nice fluorescent pop at all. Some were hard to tell which was which. My moonlight cold cathode lights make them look neon as well. I'm upgrading to halides finally and frying my brain researching bulbs. I'm leaning towards the Hamilton 250watt 14k bulbs. Anyone using these? Do they give good growth and POP as well? Are other bulbs better for that? I would like to only use vho blues for dawn/dusk and not for the WOW factor. I don't have the budget to buy, test, replace, buy, test, replace bulbs like I've seen many people do to find the color satisfaction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefboy Posted November 22, 2007 Share Posted November 22, 2007 I think to get pop factor id get a good quality 20k bulb like radium's or other top brand 14k will work but to get that pop you want i think you'll still need to supplement with atnic's most 14k's ive used(xm,coralife, ext cheaper brands) are more of a blue white and may not give you the results you want id see if any local to you is using 14k lighting so you compare for yourself. I gess the big thing to remeber is everyone precieves colors diffrent its best if you can see in person if possible maybe a local shop is running some diffrent types you can look at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefgeek84 Posted November 22, 2007 Share Posted November 22, 2007 I got some awesome colored zoos this weekend and I was having my blackout weekend and only had the VHO actinics on and thought Wow! Monday when turning on the 50/50 actinic whites with the blue actinics, the colors were OK, but didn't have the nice fluorescent pop at all. Some were hard to tell which was which. My moonlight cold cathode lights make them look neon as well. I'm upgrading to halides finally and frying my brain researching bulbs. I'm leaning towards the Hamilton 250watt 14k bulbs. Anyone using these? Do they give good growth and POP as well? Are other bulbs better for that? I would like to only use vho blues for dawn/dusk and not for the WOW factor. I don't have the budget to buy, test, replace, buy, test, replace bulbs like I've seen many people do to find the color satisfaction. do you have SE or DE? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronjunior Posted November 22, 2007 Author Share Posted November 22, 2007 do you have SE or DE? Double ended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefgeek84 Posted November 22, 2007 Share Posted November 22, 2007 I would go with pheonix 14k bulbs, they will yield much better par and have great color!!!!!!!! Hamiltons are not the best bulbs out there....I am running 12k reeflux bulbs, they are SE...but I do not think it would matter, and they are super great as well... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronjunior Posted November 23, 2007 Author Share Posted November 23, 2007 Double ended. I was wrong, they're 1 sided on an HQI 250 ballast. It came with a couple of 20K Coralife bulbs, it will probably be a few days 'til I can rig up a temporary canopy to hang them from. Edit: Coralvue bulbs, not Coralife. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefgeek84 Posted November 24, 2007 Share Posted November 24, 2007 I was wrong' date=' they're 1 sided on an HQI 250 ballast. It came with a couple of 20K Coralife bulbs, it will probably be a few days 'til I can rig up a temporary canopy to hang them from.[/quote'] In that case the reeflux 12k's are awesome or Radium 20k's are suppose to be super good as well... If you are interested in seeing some colors of my corals under reeflux 12k's I could probably snap some... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ocboat Posted November 26, 2007 Share Posted November 26, 2007 I would definitely use the Radium over the 12k Reeflux on an HQI ballast. The radium is actually an HQI rated bulb that should last over a year. The SE Reeflux is a probe start bulb that is meant to be fire on a regular m58 ballast and would be severely over driven on an HQI ballast. This is the same setup I use and have used both of these bulbs. If you would like to see what both bulbs look like on the HQI ballast you are welcome to come over some time and take a look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronjunior Posted November 26, 2007 Author Share Posted November 26, 2007 I would definitely use the Radium over the 12k Reeflux on an HQI ballast. The radium is actually an HQI rated bulb that should last over a year. The SE Reeflux is a probe start bulb that is meant to be fire on a regular m58 ballast and would be severely over driven on an HQI ballast. This is the same setup I use and have used both of these bulbs. If you would like to see what both bulbs look like on the HQI ballast you are welcome to come over some time and take a look. Yeah, I wouldn't mind taking a look. I'll be in downtown Oregon City this week for jury duty.....ick...... No jury trials on Monday, but it's day to day. PM me when good times would be good for you. (it's not like I'm that far away, I go to the West Linn library about once/week. I rigged a temp ballast holder and it's much better than the VHO's for colors. The zoos I have don't all look brown. It's not as much as blue actinics only, but nicer. My red palys show red and the oranges look orange etc. I stuck the VHO blues on and can't really see too much difference except for a candy cane and hydnophora. I'm running topless now, and now I'm going to have to kick the heater up. We may just leave them exposed, except I'm a little worried about getting "sun" burned with the light shining on us on the couch. It's great for reading though, and will save energy without having to turn lights on to walk around the house now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisW Posted November 28, 2007 Share Posted November 28, 2007 Hey Ron...those zoas sound NICE! Are ya up for some trading??(nutty)(laugh) Dennis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyles Posted November 28, 2007 Share Posted November 28, 2007 I would go with something in the 10k or 15k range depending on what color you preffer (radium personally) and use actinic supplementation. This gives you excellent penetration for growth and great color. But everyone has there own preference on color. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay Posted November 29, 2007 Share Posted November 29, 2007 What is a hqi ballast? Do you meen electronic ballast? I have ARO electronic ballasts will they fire a HQI DE bulb? Jay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronjunior Posted November 29, 2007 Author Share Posted November 29, 2007 Hey Ron...those zoas sound NICE! Are ya up for some trading??(nutty)(laugh) Dennis Now that's funny right there. Do I have something you don't and vise versa? If so, let me know. What is a hqi ballast? Do you meen electronic ballast? I have ARO electronic ballasts will they fire a HQI DE bulb? Jay As far I'm aware, it's just another way of firing the bulbs. It basically runs double ended bulbs just fine, but when using a single ended, it runs at a higher wattage and puts out more light at the expense of longevity of the bulb. Electronic ballasts will run any bulb. After buying this system, I realized it was a SE pendants and the price of bulbs are about $20 more each. (scary) Couldn't pass up the deal from Steve though, my wife would never allowed it otherwise. Figured not putting up Xmas lights will cover the expense by saving it in the electric bill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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