Buying new de bulbs

B

BnG

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I'm going to order some new bulbs this week.

I've run Geismann 13ks for the last 18 months and have really liked them, but I think might like to try something different.

Can anyone point me to some current comparison sites?

Good places to buy?

Opinions?

Experiences?

Thanks

B
 
If you want a bulb that will pound your corals :twisted: think about the DE ushios. if i ever made the switch back to Halides from T5's thats what i would use..

http://www.cnidarianreef.com/lamps.cfm

A little searching on the big boards will net you all the information you will ever need..

Happy Reefing!!
 
Brad has given you the best site. Some e-friends of mine have great things to say about the Coralvue DE Reeflux bulbs, but they look best on e-ballasts. You can get them from www.acropora.net or Premium Aquatics.
 
I used Ushios and XM 10ks in my DE 250s and love them both. I ran them side by side a couple months and couldn't tell the difference so I went XM only after that since it's cheaper. Both put out tons of light. Pretty white though. For sure need the actinics.

Hearing great things and like the looks of the Reeflux but man the PAR drop from the XM is very significant!
 
@kwl1763 wrote:
Hearing great things and like the looks of the Reeflux but man the PAR drop from the XM is very significant! said:
IMO people are PAR crazy these days. Granted mine is SE on an e-ballast, but it's plenty bright and the color is oh-so-cool. :D
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The more I look into it the more I think I will stick with what I'm running - 13k Giesmann's.

I have absolutely no complaints ( except maybe the price...). I don't run any actinics, the 2 250's are my only lights and the viewing color is perfect to my eye.

I was just in the mood to possibly experiment. I was kind of curious what the "hot new" bulb was right now, but it's too much money to have to live with it if I wasn't happy.
 
@NathanSE wrote:
[I]@kwl1763 wrote:[/I][quote="Hearing great things and like the looks of the Reeflux but man the PAR drop from the XM is very significant! said:
IMO people are PAR crazy these days. Granted mine is SE on an e-ballast, but it's plenty bright and the color is oh-so-cool. :D"]

Meaning what? When people say it's plenty bright I never know what to think. Do you think we give to much PAR or it's not important or what? I haven't really seen people decreasing PAR significantly causing good growth rates. I mean I want it to look good also but not at the sacrifice of growth! That's what they make actinics for!
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There was a great thread on RC about people switching back to SE bulbs from DE
I mean for me if you go snorkel or something is it really that bright where corals grow in nature?

I do not have the craziest lights out there but I have seen other tanks with brighter ones and the corals did not seem any healthier, It is pretty much a personal look for most.
I tried switching from 12K reeflux to 10K just to see if higher par would help my sps but it didnt, and I miss the look of the 12Ks
SPS interested me but for some reason mine all have polyps extended so much that the colors underneath are rarely seen. I am told that means they are happy
 
@kwl1763 wrote:
[I]@NathanSE wrote:[/I][quote="[I]@kwl1763 wrote:[/I][quote="Hearing great things and like the looks of the Reeflux but man the PAR drop from the XM is very significant! said:
IMO people are PAR crazy these days. Granted mine is SE on an e-ballast, but it's plenty bright and the color is oh-so-cool. :D"]

Meaning what? When people say it's plenty bright I never know what to think. Do you think we give to much PAR or it's not important or what? I haven't really seen people decreasing PAR significantly causing good growth rates. I mean I want it to look good also but not at the sacrifice of growth! That's what they make actinics for!"]

Meaning that the highest possible par number is not necessarily the best thing for your tank. Sanjay rated the 250W CV Reeflux 10K SE on an IC e-ballast (closest to my ARO) in the high 80s. Can I get a higher PAR from a different bulb? Definitely. Do I really need it? In my opinion, no. I've seen the XM 10Ks and they're OK. Bright, yes, pretty, not really. Ushio 10Ks - bright as hell, ugly as hell. With the Reeflux I feel I've struck the right balance of color and growth.

My tank isn't especially deep (12" right now, the next one will be 17") so I don't need to blast every possible spot. Even with my measly 80something PAR (PPFD, whatever :D) I think I may have a little too much light.

My other consideration (and this is a personal one) involves electricity consumption. Maybe I'm splitting hairs, but I'm happy that I can get the color and the growth out of one bulb and don't need to (needlessly?) burn VHO tubes (which are pretty inefficient) or T5s (more efficient but still a lot of W) to get color correction. As a conservationist and sustainability buff, it makes me all warm and fuzzy inside to use just what I need and no more.

But that's a personal choice. Some day down the road, we'll all be MUCH more energy concious. Hell, there may be a point where we have to shed ourselves of luxuries (like reef aquariums) just to survive, but that's a discussion for another thread.
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@TJay wrote:
There was a great thread on RC about people switching back to SE bulbs from DE I mean for me if you go snorkel or something is it really that bright where corals grow in nature? I do not have the craziest lights out there but I have seen other tanks with brighter ones and the corals did not seem any healthier said:
I think part of what you're talking about was just the aftershocks of the mad rush to DE bulbs following Sanjay's original review of the ROIII reflector (and the many misconceptions that came in it's wake). Having used both, I think I prefer SE but I couldn't really put my finger on why.

As for your SPS, you just have to start collecting specimens with awesome polyp colors :)
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I think the lighting is a personal preference type of thing. I know sps do not need as much light as I give them to survive and probably grow very well. But do I think I would have the same color no. I also run the 10k ReefLux single ended bulbs which I think are very good bulbs. In fact they may not have the same par level as XMs, but for color and coral response they beat the XMs I ran for 8 months hands down. But I do run actinic VHO bulbs also and I can show you if I switch the actinic off and on you can definately see the color loss without the actinics on. Sps are odd creatures they can be so different in two different tanks, sometimes with the same light. There are just so many variables other than the light on the tank. I used to think polyp extension had to do with the amount of light. Well my brother-in-law and I have exchanged corals for years. he never has had very much polyp extension from sps that are fuzzy as hell in my tank. And he has a lot less light.
I probably have too much light for some tastes, but I know I can move one very light blue sps from under the bight light off to the side and it will be just green. But like I said at first it would probably survive and grow very well, but I prefer the nice colors that is why I pay the the electric bill.
 
Good stuff, interesting thread. I think there needs to be a lot more research in the area. I know Sanjay is of the opinion the coral doesn't care that much about spectrum but I've personally seen and heard way to many stories of corals rsponding well to the Reeflux and other lower PAR bulbs which leads me to believe there is more to it then that. I know Tyree and others who have done some research swear by 20k lamps due to the pigments of the coral and chlorophyll types in the zooxanthellae.

I tend to agree with Rick that living and growing and thriving with it's natural color are different beasts.

Having said that I'm really leaning toward the reeflux 10ks for my new tank even though the PAR is dramitically less. I think I'll keep an XM 10k over my frag portion of the sump and see if there is a significant difference in growth rate.
 
Borneman doesn't really draw a conclusion in the Illuminating Lighting article beyond condeming most tanks because "In aquaria, all three aspects of energy are skewed; there is usually not enough food, too much dissolved nutrients, and inadequate light. "

Interesting read though, as are most of the other ariticles.


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