Going shopping for a new 250 watt HQI DE bulb

[islandcreation]

Can anyone give me their experience on name brand HQI DE bulbs? So far after research I'm headed for a phoenix 250 watt 14k blub. The close rival to getting great reviews was the Ushio 14k... Any other contenders especially if it can help the wallet situations. And can anyone tell the diffrence from a cheap HQI and a name brand? I seen some on ebay for $14.99 and even if you had to replace it every 5 months its still cheaper. Thanks

 

[reefman23]

Personally I think I would go with the Phoenix. No other lamp has the combo of high output AND blue tint. Plus the price cant be beat. The Ushio 14,000k isnt as blue and doesnt have as much output... even the Ushio 10,000k doesnt haev as much output as the Phoenix.

The cheaper lamps arent going to be consistant quality, the spectral output can differ from lamp to lamp, the spectrums will probably shift faster... go with the phoenix. It is tried and true.

HTH,

Jesse


BTW, I dont know if you have seen this site or not but it is a huge resource when comparing lamps. the PPFD is the output of the lamp and you can get an idea of how blue a lamp is by comapring the spectral plots.

http://www.reeflightinginfo.arvixe.com/

 

[islandcreation]

Thanks Jesse....