cheap bulb - impressed

Discussion in 'Metal Halide Aquarium Lighting' started by DSC reef, Mar 13, 2015.

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  1. DSC reef

    DSC reef Giant Squid

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    On the 125 I have mostly a fowler tank but a few corals have made there way into the tank, strange I know. I was running a 2 250 watt radium mogul based bulbs in large 400 watt hamilton reflectors on top of the canopy and the bulbs were only a month old when I got them from a friend. The look was out of place so my wife scored a 3 x150 watt current fixture with no bulbs. We just wanted some light in the tank so I bought some 12 dollar 20k bulbs online and almost 2 months later I'm amazed at the color and growth. My monti is really red and my ricordia rock is exploding. Now, I'm not gonna ditch my radiums on the reef tank but I had to report on how well such a cheap bulb is doing at the moment. I know tons of research goes into making these bulbs and i stress to never go cheap on lighting for a reef tank but this isnt the reef tank and I am impressed so far at the results I've achieved. We shall see what it looks like in the coming months. Also, no algae has grown which was something I was worried about.
     
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  3. Midnight_Madman

    Midnight_Madman Montipora Digitata

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  4. Todd_Sails

    Todd_Sails Giant Squid

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  5. DSC reef

    DSC reef Giant Squid

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    No brand name. Just 20k HQ DE bulb for 12 dollars on ebay
     
  6. DSC reef

    DSC reef Giant Squid

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    Crazy right!
     
  7. Vinnyboombatz

    Vinnyboombatz Giant Squid

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    [​IMG]
     
    Todd_Sails, chris adams and DSC reef like this.
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  9. Pickupman66

    Pickupman66 Tassled File Fish

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    To add fuel to the fire here, back when I ran halides I had really good success with some of the cheaper off brand 250 watt single end bulbs. they did really good for me. I only moved away to go to LED.
     
  10. jkat21

    jkat21 Bangghai Cardinal

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    I used them also. I believe the brand was plus rite. I had great success before swapping to LEDs.
     
  11. DSC reef

    DSC reef Giant Squid

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    So far so good with the bulbs. There more purple than my radium 20k though but seem to be doing a good job
     
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  12. Ashevillian

    Ashevillian Pajama Cardinal

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    nice find! how are they coming along? i fear that since they are so cheap, they have low quality parts. but i know nothing about lights.

    why do you run 20k? im looking to buy a new 250w buld too, and i dont know which color to choose

    i already have 3 panorama pros as actinic for a 40g