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I currently have a 150w 20k radium that ist nearing its end of life.
I decided that this time I will go with a less bluer bulb.
Does anyone know what is the best 150 W 14 k bulb out there?
it's not all personal preference. some put out alot less PAR (photosynthetically active radiation) than others. check out sanjay's lighting page for the rundown on most of the common brands.
you should also consider what corals you are keeping, and from what depths these corals were collected.
I dont have too much input as Ive only used about 3 different bulbs, but lately what I have been noticing is that a lot of people are using reeflux bulbs. When I had 150s i had 10k ushios and they were way too white for me. I then switched to 250watts and tried out the new ice cap bulbs last when they first came out. I used 2 14k bulbs and 1 20k bulb. Couldnt really tell a difference I thought they actually looked pretty good, but in my opinion they didnt last too long. I recently just switched to reeflux 20k bulbs and they are deffinately a lot bluer than the ice cap bulbs. They some time to get use to because of how much blue they are, but they really make the colors pop with no supplimental lighting. Temperature is all about your prefence and what youre trying to do with your corals, the bulb manufacturer you need to read up on because as said earlier some put out a much butter PAR value then others
I used to use 10k's but i really like the phoneix 14k hqi its in my opinion a good amount of blue without being over kill and all my corals love it i dont do alot of sps but montis, digi, and clams all do well at the bottom of my 180g tank.