Phoenix 14K 250W DE vs 20K 250DE

[leepink23]

I just run my halides during the day and the Orphek at night,

I do the same, halides run by themselves, Orphek bars at night. These are my Phoenix 14k but on icecap ballast so they run like 300 watts instead of the m80. You have a beautiful tank @Bpb !

This is with t5 blue plus/actinic added to halides

 

[leepink23]

This is Halide with 2 Orphek blue plus

 

[cwk84]

Do you have an orange filter you can use? I’m sure this is far from what it looks like in person.

 

[leepink23]

Do you have an orange filter you can use? I’m sure this is far from what it looks like in person.

It’s a lighter blue but close, with an orange filter on it looks like the halides without Orpheks

 

[Bpb]

I’m not a fan of Orange filters. They over represent reds and oranges on an image. It’s such an unrealistic look and too many people fall for it. The blue led/Orange filter combo are the biggest contributors to coral pricing shooting up 1000x what they were a couple years ago even.

 

[cwk84]

Hm then it’s almost too much blue haha. I guess I’m really specific and nit-picky. I think i might get a better fixture for single ended bulbs with 4 optional T5’s so I can run 1x Fiji Purple or coral plus 1x Actinic 2x blue plus and 2x20-22k halides. So I can have T5’s running for 10 hours and the halides only for 4.

 

[cwk84]

I’m not a fan of Orange filters. They over represent reds and oranges on an image. It’s such an unrealistic look and too many people fall for it. The blue led/Orange filter combo are the biggest contributors to coral pricing shooting up 1000x what they were a couple years ago even.

So corals look punchier with these filters?

 

[Bpb]

So corals look punchier with these filters?

Unrealistically so. Your above suggested light setup should work real well

 

[leepink23]

Hm then it’s almost too much blue haha. I guess I’m really specific and nit-picky. I think i might get a better fixture for single ended bulbs with 4 optional T5’s so I can run 1x Fiji Purple or coral plus 1x Actinic 2x blue plus and 2x20-22k halides. So I can have T5’s running for 10 hours and the halides only for 4.

The Giesemann Spectra would be a se fixture with 4 t5

 

[Bpb]

The Giesemann Spectra would be a se fixture with 4 t5

Gotta find one used. All those giesemann fixtures are discontinued. The Hamilton Cebu sun is the only one left still in production I’m aware of

 

[A. grandis]

Closest, and the best way, you can get to the colors you want is to get the 14K halides and VHO actinics as supplements.
If you use 4 T5s, like with the Spectra, you could have 2 actinic blue 420nm Giesemann and 2 ATI Blue Plus with the halides. Or 4 actnic Blue 420nm Giesemann with the halides.
Using LEDs to achieve that color would be the Reef Brite Hho blue, I think.

 

[A. grandis]

Gotta find one used. All those giesemann fixtures are discontinued. The Hamilton Cebu sun is the only one left still in production I’m aware of

Yes, Hamilton Cebu is great! Bulky and with fans, but a great fixture.

 

[Bpb]

Yes, Hamilton Cebu is great! Bulky and with fans, but a great fixture.

I love the cebu. I got all my mh gear free so I’m not complaining. But if I were dropping money on new stuff right now I’d get a cebu sun no questions asked. All one unit. No retrofitting or managing multiple devices or diy stuff.

 

[cwk84]

Closest, and the best way, you can get to the colors you want is to get the 14K halides and VHO actinics as supplements.
If you use 4 T5s, like with the Spectra, you could have 2 actinic blue 420nm Giesemann and 2 ATI Blue Plus with the halides. Or 4 actnic Blue 420nm Giesemann with the halides.
Using LEDs to achieve that color would be the Reef Brite Hho blue, I think.

The Giesemann actinic blue and the ATI Blue Plus are so similar, you can not really see a difference. My favorite 4 bulb combo is 1 Giesemann Super Actinic, 1 ATI Coral Plus, 2 ATI Blue Plus. The color looks very violet-blue which I like. My wife likes this combo as well. This would be perfect for dusk and dawn viewing.

Gotta find one used. All those giesemann fixtures are discontinued. The Hamilton Cebu sun is the only one left still in production I’m aware of

Really? Last time I checked on BRS they were still available.

 

[alton]

I never ran the M80 ballast, I guess I never needed the extra power. I started with Coralvue Electronic ballast and never changed. Here are some pictures of old of my 65 with one 250 W Lumenbright pendant with a 14K Phoenix DE lamp 8" off of the tank with no other lighting. It was powered by an electronic ballast. Two 250 MH on a 75 is a lot of light!

This was about a year before with my BSJF which was a Ham

 

[cwk84]

Everyone on the internet says you need M80 ballasts for Phoenix or Radium bulbs. I still don't know why. There are lots of other ballasts that can under and overdrive bulbs. So why do I need an M80 ballast? I thought about another solution. I could get an electronic ballast and underdrive the bulbs. Not only would that make them bluer, but it would also increase their lifespan significantly.

EDIT:

What are HQI ballasts? I've been reading a debate on a forum about electronic ballasts and HQI ballasts. One person says electronic ballasts can't be HQI and the other person says they can. The IceCap ballasts BRS sells has a 250HQI option. Do I need a HQI ballast to drive Radium or Phoenix bulbs? I probably overdrive my bulbs, close to 300W with my ballasts anyway.

 

[alton]

What is funny is today you see threads with Led users on one side and Metal Halide users on the other. Years ago it was M80 ballast users against Electronic. Its kinda funny how history repeats itself sometimes just for the sake of arguing. There are only two different ballast whether magnetic or electronic and that is Pulse start or Probe start. Probe start ballast are m57 to m59. Pulse start are M80 and above (sorry too many numbers to remember). A pulse start ballast will start a probe start lamp, but normally a probe start ballast will not start a pulse start lamp or if it does it is well under powered.

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

 

[cwk84]

I find this electronic vs. HQI ridiculous. There seem to be a lot of people dirving DE bulbs with IceCap ballasts and they don't seem to have any problems. I can't find mor information on that.

 

[alton]

You where not here 10 to 12 years ago

 

[cwk84]

I don’t need to have been around 12 years ago to notice that these debates are rooted in a misunderstand of how ballast work. I guess I will have to ask an electrical engineer to find my answers rofl.