best 20k 400w bulb

[zapata41]

ok i am wanting some info here and some pictures too. i am looking at either a helios 20k driven on a blueline electronic ballast, and evc 400w 20k on a evc ballast. i really like the evd ballast when it comes to other bulbs it can drive efficiently, but have a blueline available on trade.

oh the choices

Tim

[Ti]

XM

[KEEPERZ]

radium on a pfo hqi-

[zapata41]

dang, i could had sworn that i said best 20k on an electronic ballast, like evc. :D

i dont wanna pay the high power bill from the hqi ballast. how does the 20k xm compare to the helios 20k or the other 20k out there.

Tim

[twon8]

the evc drives both better
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/jan2005/feature.html

[zapata41]

anyone have any pics of the helios 20k

Tim

[KEEPERZ]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7263803#post7263803 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by zapata41
dang, i could had sworn that i said best 20k on an electronic ballast, like evc. :D


sorry bro-just trying to help

[ReeferMac]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7263786#post7263786 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by KEEPERZ
radium on a pfo hqi-

:thumbsup:
If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. Take your electronic ballast and go home. :D
{lol, just kidding, dude}

- Mac

[zapata41]

yeah i would love the hqi radium but then again i am sure there are other 20ks out there that look just as good. and its not the heat, it the energy. also new bulbs every 4-6mo is crappy.

keeperz, i knew you where just trying to help, hence the smiley face after my reply :D

anyone seen the coralvue 20k or the helios 12k

Tim

[zapata41]

oh screw it, pfo hqi it is, and some radiums. cant beat them i guess.

Tim and only 50w per bulb over what i was trying to stay at. now how do yellows look under this bulb

Tim

[zapata41]

and also how much more heat is this gonna be than my 2 250s, i have an open top canopy and the 400w bulbs will be mounted about 4" higher than my current setup is, also ahve two 4" fans blowing across bleow the lumenarc reflectors

Tim

[ReeferMac]

ROTFL!!! Can't beat 'em, Join 'em? LOL!
I don't argue, replacement bulbs blow severely oversized chunks. BUT... i've tried the Hamilton's, and the colors in my tank aren't the same as from Radiums. Dunno why, but... they rock, they really do. Wish I could get my LFS to stock them (so I can buy 'em w/ frags).
I have no trouble keeping yellow's with the Radiums. The corals take a greenish cast at times due to the other things that take place, but.. I don't think it's solely the bulbs spectrum that makes that color shift appear.
Heat vs. a 250 is not insignificant, but that's true w/ any 400 watter, not just the PFO HQI's.

- Mac

[zapata41]

ok now one other ? before i set the deal in stone, how often do you really have to replace the bulbs? also i see the helios make a 12k that burns at 15k color, is it any good. and can i see some pics of a radium pfo hqi lit tank

Tim

[goby1]

Have you tried any DE 400W 20kK bulbs? I'm assuming you're talking about SE, as I've only ever seen one kind of DE 400W 20kK, and only a small handfull of DE 400w at that.

G1

[zapata41]

havent tried any DE bulbs in any wattage. i am only talking about SE since my lumenarcs only hold SE bulbs.

Tim

[ReeferMac]

I begin to notice a decline around, or slightly after, the 6 month mark... unfortunately.
Cyano creeps up in the corners.

- Mac

[zapata41]

cyano from lights going south. i havent seen any cyano in my tank in forever. man such a tough decision, mainly since i have never seen in person or owned a 20k bulb, only my 10k xm. butthe par is greater than the setup i have now and the color is bluer so i am hoping for the best.

Tim

[ALTI]

i hate when the cyano comes back. it always means i will be broke soon. i have 6 haldies and 8 pcs that all need changing at the same time :(.

[zapata41]

ouch.

i dont know if i can handle replacing the bulbs every 4 months though.

it will take a long time for that to ever sink in and me except it

Tim

[ReeferMac]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7268843#post7268843 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by zapata41
mainly since i have never seen in person or owned a 20k bulb

\Whoah, really? You shouldn't be buying hardware then....
You wouldn't buy a car w/o test driving, right?

- Mac

[zapata41]

not a very fair analogy there mac. so you are telling me that everything you own that has to deal with this hobby you have seen in person or have used before. did you jsut wake up and the stuff was there, but only for like 10 minutes, just enough time to decide if you want to buy it or not. :D hence the reason why i am asking ppl on this forum that have onwed the bulbs before and hopefully i get real answers.

just look at all the ppl buying vortech pumps, how are they any different than i am. taking a stab at something and hoping you like it.

Tim

[twon8]

i think the 12k coralvue are nice, worth checking out at least.

[zapata41]

I can get a good deal on some helios 20k, so I am going to go down that road for the first set of bulbs, then I might try the 12k that they make. one of the big reasons I wanted to use the evc ballast is that I might not drive the bulb as hard as the hqi but it can drive a lot of different bulbs very well. all of the 20k bulbs that I am looking at push out more par than my setup so I don't think that I will hate the decision

Tim

[ReeferMac]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7276773#post7276773 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by zapata41
taking a stab at something and hoping you like it.

LOL! With your money perhaps. ;)
No, careful research, is what lead me to have most of the equipment I have. I bought the 250 Hamilton ballast 7 years ago, because I heard lots of users tell me they had them for years w/o any problems. I run Iwasaki's and Ushio's in that... again, due to the copious number of people I've seen have success with them (w/ my own 2 eyes). And one of the best tanks (color-wise) I ever saw, was KMagyar's 65 lit w/ a pair of 400W HQI Radiums... been in love w/ 'em ever since.

- Mac

[Covey]

I can make it a little easier Zap.
http://oceanencounter.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=OE&Product_Code=EVCEB400&Category_Code=EVCEB
The EVC 400W ballast have been out of stock for like 2 months now and Vince didn't know when he was getting anymore in.

Unless you have another source?

[zapata41]

yeah i found a source for some reef fanatic ballast.

and i dont feel that it is taking a blind stab at it or risking my money. i liked my 250w setup, just that nmy vho ballast went out so i decided why by a new vho ballast when i can upgrade to 400w. i have done lots of research as far as numbers go on all the balalst and bulbs that i am interested in and just wanted to get real work experience like true bulb life from setups like the hqi radiums. i have no regrets with the 250w setup that i ahve and i am pretty confident that i wont have any regrets with the 400w setup that i am getting. :D

thanks to all those that have shared their experiences here, without some of the little things i might have been real surprised when my radiums poped after 4 months.

Tim

[CamBarr]

Radium

[Leopardshark]

Trust me and all other who vote for Radium. Corals will never look as nicer than with this bulb.
I´ve tried ushios, XM10k, Coralvue, Hamilton and none of them look as nice and brings out the colors better than Radiums. Yes it is a PITA to change them every 6 months but I think they are worth it.
BTW, I´ve seen radiums with icecap ballasts and they look amazing too, but a lot bluer which makes the corals glow even more but the tank is definitely bluer.
Here´s a pic of my tank with 2 radiums on PFOHQI400w and on the sides there are hamilton 250w 14k with Icecap ballast.
You almost can´t tell the difference in the color but the radiums are a little bit bluer and far more intense (obviously, they are 400w).
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/6256Tanque-med.JPG

[smcooler]

I have tried every lamp out there and have to agree the radium is the way to go my corals never looked beter running 400 watt hqi with 4 160 vho on a 180. It's worth the extra $, sell a few frags to make up the cost.

[ReeferMac]

LOL! I wish I still could, Stan. My LFS told me I'm the only bloke running them, and he has to order them by the case... So I either need to trade in a whole bunch of corals at once, or find a new way to pay for 'em. :D He's gotten me Hamilton 20k's, but they just aren't the same.

- Mac

[zapata41]

wow, radiums and vho's, that must be pretty blue.

well i went ahead and got a reef fantatic ballast running helios 20k

will post some pictures asap


Tim

[smcooler]

Mac sell them local or with your local reef club if you have good frags and the not so common you should be able to sell a few a month.

Helios are way bluer then radiums when you run radiums on the hqi ballast there not that blue, xm 20k's and evc 14k's are much bluer.


stan

[Leopardshark]

Radiums on the PFOHQI are not too blue.
On icecap ballast it is another story.

[zapata41]

well all is ordered and on the way. no one had reef fanatic ballast in stock but i got a nice deal on a pair of new icecap 400w wihch i am told are the same as the evc tech and reef fanatic ballast, they all three look identical
Tim

[Leopardshark]

which bulbs did you get?

[zapata41]

i got the helios 20k 400w bulbs on the icecap ballast. looks pretty darn good. just the look i was hoping to get. a 10k with blue suppl. look. i did loose a tiny bit of yellow and red though. but then again there is a lot more blue, makes the xm10k look super yellow. will post some pics tomorrow

Tim

[Ceak]

pics please!

[zapata41]

ok here is a quick pic i took with one 250w 10k xm bulb and one 400w 20k helios bulb. the 400w bulb is mounted about 4" higher than the 10k. sorry the pic is crappy. the bulb was only on for about 5 minutes when i took the picture. will get some more pics tomorrow when my replacement bulb comes in as i broke one of the helios while installing it.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y175/zapata41/20khelios002.jpg

Tim

[zapata41]

i am gonna do a radium and helios comp later on tonight. my buddy is bringing over a brand new radium so we can compare the two. should be interesting. will post pictures later

Tim

[zapata41]

ok here is the comp. pics. the first pic was taken with auto mode on the camera. the helios is on the left and the radium is on the right. the helios has about 10hrs burn time and the radium has about 10min. both are run on the new icecap 400w ballast, both are in lumenarc reflectors at the same height. now one interesting thing is that the radium mogul base is mounted in the highest mounting hole on the reflector, puts the bulb closer to the top of the reflector, where as the helios mogul base is the opposite, its in the lowest mounting holes. i have noticed that with the moguls mounted different, with the 250w 10k setup, that the tank look more intense, brightness, with the reflector that has the mogul base mounted higher in the reflector, must be focusing the bulb in the reflector way better.

ok well here are the pics. the second pic is taken in M mode on the camera, shutter speed is the same and WB is set to metering mode so it doesnt look super 20k'ish

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y175/zapata41/20khelioscomp001.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y175/zapata41/20khelioscomp002.jpg

enjoy

Tim
here is my conclusion with the two bulbs. i like the helios better. the radium seems to wash out some shades of green, still give great pop on other shades of green though. other colors are pretty similar to the helios, just some look a little washed.

Tim

[ejocam]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7276784#post7276784 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by twon8
i think the 12k coralvue are nice, worth checking out at least.

I love the colors I get from Radiums, but the life span doesn't thrill me. However I still use them on one of the tanks. Now the 12K Coralvue Reeflux iis not only is it bright and a nice crisp color, it is run on the CV E-Ballast. Best of both worlds I guess. Corals seem to love it too :eek2:

[zapata41]

yeah, give me a few months and i will try out some other bulbs. at the rate i am going it will be 1000w though. my 250w setup barely made it 3 months until i felt the need to change them :D

[alazo1]

Tim, are those MJ mods?. How are they working for you?. Can you pm me your parts list, thanks. Sorry to highjack.

I have 2 400 watters in my tank powered by Magnetec ballast. One is xm20k and the other is a radium. Both look pretty much the same (very blue). XM 20k is a bit brighter though. Like it's been said the radiums with hqi looks much different.

Albert

[zapata41]

yeah i will pm it you tomorrow, tired of typing for the night. well if you xm is brighter than the radium, and i feel the radium is brighter than the helios, then maybe i need to buy a xm to compare a little more. gonna have to get a par meter so i can start doing stuff like sanjay, : j/k

Tim

[Leopardshark]

Zapata, I preefer the first pic!
Both bulbs look nice, the radium looks less blue.
Marco

[zapata41]

yeah it does look a little less blue but how will both bulbs look after they burn in is the ?

Tim

[Ceak]

I saw the 250W Reeflux 12K at the LFS, it's nice and bright and colors were awesome...they were running them on electronics didn't seem to know the brand.... I only wish Sanjay tested them so we would have PAR values... Coralvue say the 12K has the same performance as the 10K with more blue...

[Horace]

I think you guys just talked me into saving for a set of 400w halides! I have been thinking about this for a while. The whole problem was having room for both the actinics and the 250w halides. The PAR on the higher kelvin bulbs was just too low IMO so I decided to stay with my T5s....I really think going to the 400w is the answer. Higher kelvin bulbs + high Par 400w + No Actinics = Win......I will deal with the heat with fans...I think I will be oK :P

[Leopardshark]

Horace,
You won´t regret it. Radiums are my recommendation.
Good luck!