What 250 watts light bulb would you recommend and where would I buy them? I recently got a MH light fixture and looking for double ended 250 watts bulbs is not that easy apparently. I got one from Amazon “marine color” but reviews are mix.
What 250 watts light bulb would you recommend and where would I buy them?
- Thread starter Danscolyv
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crusso1993
7500 Club Member
It really depends on what color appeals to you. The higher the Kelvin the bluer the light appears. If you’re not familiar with MH, I recommend running a search on the site. Below are links to bulbs and also a recent thread discussing MH lighting.
Hamilton 250W HQI Metal Halide Bulb, Double Ended - AquaCave.com
14,000K 250 watt double ended HQI metal halide lamp. A bright mix of blue and white light producing a crisp ice blue color. This bulb is brighter than a 250 watt 20K double ended bulb and is a great choice for reef tanks...
Your favorite Metal Halides for Acropora Growth and Coloration
If anybody has any pics or if you want to discuss, please chime in. Looking for suggestions on Ballast’s, Reflectors, Bulbs, Wattage, 20K, 14K, etc. Looking for Do’s and Dont’s. Also, is it still relatively easy to find bulbs?
www.reef2reef.com
A. grandis
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Marine Color is a cheap bulb. You pay for what you get.
Hamilton is pretty decent and should be in stock. They are not making those wonderful fixtures anymore, but are selling the bulbs.
Ushio and Phoenix are great. You need to find what pleases you the most aesthetically though.
Dave at Hamilton told me it will take 2 month for them to get more bulbs as they ran out of them. I’m looking for Ushio and phoenix brand and open to all spectrums as I want to experiment, but they are not easy to find. Amazon was selling “ 250w” 14k phoenix bulb but when I got 2 of them they were 150w so I returned them.
some old school reefers used Ushio 65k and said it used to grow acros like crazy, I’m curious about this bulb too but I think Ushio does not make MH bulb anymore.
Bpb
2500 Club Member
High quality 6500k metal halides are kind of in short supply for 250 watts. Most horticulture sites carry 600-1000 watt ones typically, or the 315 watt ceramics which are more common for Hort uses. 250 watts is kind of wimpy for horticultural purposes as they typically are needing high par over a much larger area than a typical aquarium would require. Hamilton advertises carrying a 6500k bulb but I’ve not met a single person who has tried it. Best of luck. Reef brite, giesemann, hamilton, and radium are pretty much the last remaining common reef type bulbs around here in the states anyway. And even those are hard to come by on occasion
A. grandis
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You need to have patience.
There are so many people going back or trying halides now that Hamilton just can't put up with the demand!!! I think Hamilton still didn't open their eyes for what's going on now!!! They could make so much money selling fixtures and bulbs! They must be still afraid of the LED propaganda and overtaken the market, and they are perhaps waiting a bit more to observe the market? How much more though!?!? I know people that went to T5s because they can't find halide gear and don't want any LED in existence!!!
Go to Ushio and get bulbs. They sell from their website!
Aqualite™ Metal Halide | Ushio America, Inc.
These metal halide lamps feature the best combo of color balance, color rendering & photosynthetic light output for healthy marine aquarium & reef systems.
Radiums are still in production too! Great mogul 20K bulb!
Tullio also sells bulbs, but I've never tried them. ReefBrite had that Twin-arc. I think they don't make them anymore! What's going on!?!?
Hamilton also makes 65K. Unfortunately you need to wait for Hamilton or get what you find online. The old Iwasaki was the bulb we used to enjoy. If you are a just a hobbyist get a 10K instead. It's a "whiter" bulb and still have some of the power of the 65Ks.
It's a shame to have so many people looking for halide gear and no one is taking this seriously! I get messages from all over the world asking for help to find halide gear! Sometimes I get involved to help and manufacturers don't have anything because they sold out!! How many times per year do they sell their entire stock!!!?? I know a store owner that sold 22 ReefBrite fixtures in a week!!!!! What the heck is going on here? People want halides and the market is empty. Some one out there please wake up!! If the metal halide companies do some ADVERTISING it will explode!!! The truth is there is a huge number of people that left halides because of the rumors sying they won't be produced and blah blah blah. Now the those rumors are actually becoming reality in a sense. What a shame!
How can a big bulb be hesitant to take over the market of a little tiny one? LOL!!!
Skynyrd Fish
Valuable Member
Phoenix 250W 14,000K Metal Halide Bulb, Double Ended at the best price
Phoenix 250 Watt Metal Halide HQI 14000K Bulb gives a nice crisp white light with a bluish tint perfect for any saltwater application. No actinic supplementation needed.
great bulb. They also have Hamiltons in stock.
Bpb
2500 Club Member
You need to have patience.
There are so many people going back or trying halides now that Hamilton just can't put up with the demand!!! I think Hamilton still didn't open their eyes for what's going on now!!! They could make so much money selling fixtures and bulbs! They must be still afraid of the LED propaganda and overtaken the market, and they are perhaps waiting a bit more to observe the market? How much more though!?!? I know people that went to T5s because they can't find halide gear and don't want any LED in existence!!!
Go to Ushio and get bulbs. They sell from their website!
Aqualite™ Metal Halide | Ushio America, Inc.
These metal halide lamps feature the best combo of color balance, color rendering & photosynthetic light output for healthy marine aquarium & reef systems.www.ushio.com
Radiums are still in production too! Great mogul 20K bulb!
Tullio also sells bulbs, but I've never tried them. ReefBrite had that Twin-arc. I think they don't make them anymore! What's going on!?!?
Hamilton also makes 65K. Unfortunately you need to wait for Hamilton or get what you find online. The old Iwasaki was the bulb we used to enjoy. If you are a just a hobbyist get a 10K instead. It's a "whiter" bulb and still have some of the power of the 65Ks.
It's a shame to have so many people looking for halide gear and no one is taking this seriously! I get messages from all over the world asking for help to find halide gear! Sometimes I get involved to help and manufacturers don't have anything because they sold out!! How many times per year do they sell their entire stock!!!?? I know a store owner that sold 22 ReefBrite fixtures in a week!!!!! What the heck is going on here? People want halides and the market is empty. Some one out there please wake up!! If the metal halide companies do some ADVERTISING it will explode!!! The truth is there is a huge number of people that left halides because of the rumors sying they won't be produced and blah blah blah. Now the those rumors are actually becoming reality in a sense. What a shame!
How can a big bulb be hesitant to take over the market of a little tiny one? LOL!!!
Gotta be honest. I have a hard time believing Hamilton is afraid of stocking and selling product. I think a far simpler explanation is a reduction in manufacturing beyond the retail level due to reduced demand globally. Let’s not forget, Hamilton and reef brite are simply the final phase of the chain. Dave and tullio aren’t laboring away in their shop hammering and riveting blanks of polished metal, or operating bulb manufacturing. They’re simply ordering in bulk from the people that make this stuff, and those people have either scaled down or retooled to produce more relevant products based on what their many brands are ordering. It’s not a conspiracy
A. grandis
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Dave told me the other day that the demand is HUGE! He doesn't give me numbers, but he assures it's a lot!! The lack of materials to build the ballasts is indeed a problem now, but there is more to it in terms of marketing in the long run. Thy need to be sure of the number of demand in the long run. I told them if they don't want to advertise it will be a problem! That is what backs it in terms of investment! The head of the company is who decides, not Dave.
Again, both Dave and Tullio have told me the demand now is HUGE. More than they has for years! It's not only in terms of public aquariums anymore. I wouldn't print this words here just because of what I wish. LOL!
xabo
Valuable Member
Store Lighting Supplies Double Ended Metal Halide Bulbs
Buy online XM 250 Watt 10,000K Double Ended HQI MH Bulb.
Hurricane Aquatics
Valuable Member
That's funny, he told me just the opposite a couple of months ago when I bought all the 14k and 20k bulbs he had.
I do see more people using MH and they will continue as more people start fragging and selling for side money. However, the demand isn't that large in the USA.
I agree, it should be and could be, but no one is marketing MH. They're all on the LED bandwagon. In my case, utilizing MH and LED is working out fantastic.
A. grandis
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I know Dave for a long time. I can guarantee that the reason the sales of metal halides went down is not because of demand! Sorry, but I won't want to go any further than that here.
It's just an unfortunate position in the market today.
Bpb
2500 Club Member
I’m sure the information is pretty close to cuff with these guys. But who is the manufacturer for Hamilton or reef brite for their bulbs? Presently and previously. Those companies I would be interested in the volume they’re moving now versus 20 years ago. I suspect THAT difference in demand is more impactful here. Not reefer demand. I’m sure lots of people in the hobby want halide bulbs. No doubt there. I was more insinuating it is possible the companies actually manufacturing them aren’t putting out the volume they were 20 years ago which would better explain the shortages at the retail
Brand level.
Brand level.
Doesn't help people are hoarding bulbs for 10 a year year supply.
Pretty good way to pad the stats though.
I LOVE numbers like huge with ZERO comparative figures...
Like 20 per customer or doubled from 10 to 20.
Without comparisons, current vs historic data ect.it is pure propaganda....
Scream all you want..it's meaningless.
Maybe manuf. will increase their small lot run, maybe not.
Either way large customers will get what's made first.
For $4200 you can get the whole market report.
Pretty good way to pad the stats though.
I LOVE numbers like huge with ZERO comparative figures...
Like 20 per customer or doubled from 10 to 20.
Without comparisons, current vs historic data ect.it is pure propaganda....
Scream all you want..it's meaningless.
Maybe manuf. will increase their small lot run, maybe not.
Either way large customers will get what's made first.
For $4200 you can get the whole market report.
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I agree. Ran these for many years. Really like this color. Ran it on a m80 ballast, that thing was a tank.Phoenix 250W 14,000K Metal Halide Bulb, Double Ended at the best price
Phoenix 250 Watt Metal Halide HQI 14000K Bulb gives a nice crisp white light with a bluish tint perfect for any saltwater application. No actinic supplementation needed.www.aquacave.com
great bulb. They also have Hamiltons in stock.
Bpb
2500 Club Member
Doesn't help people are hoarding bulbs for 10 a year year supply.
Pretty good way to pad the stats though.
I LOVE numbers like huge with ZERO comparative figures...
Like 20 per customer or doubled from 10 to 20.
Without comparisons, current vs historic data ect.it is pure propaganda....
Scream all you want..it's meaningless.
Maybe manuf. will increase their small lot run, maybe not.
Either way large customers will get what's made first.
For $4200 you can get the whole market report.
A measly $4200? I can’t afford NOT to
Bpb
2500 Club Member
That’s a lot to digest. But even lightly scrolling and scanning the first 50 pages or so, it seems based on this one report, my assertions were pretty accurate.
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