Huge Difference In Bulb..Halide

got my new ushio 15k in today..check out the difference..xm bulbs are soo dim and it was a 20k at that..the 15k is more of a natural whiteish purple blue color in person..trying to adjust white balance..but heres a couple pics

before: xm 20k


after: 15k ushio...still trying to get cameras white balance adjusted..

 

That is a big color difference. 20k is too blue for me.

 

I just got phoenix 14k's and LOVE them. I previously had 20k's and prefer the natural color of the 14.

 

The higher the kelvin, the lower ocean level depths reproduced by the bulb. 20k produces a light that is found lower in the ocean (where less light is found than that of the surface of the ocean), thus, the light produced is dimmer than a bulb with a lower kelvin. I found a happy median (personal preference) with the 14k Phoenix bulbs. They provide adequate lighting without the saturation of yellow but a nice white/blueish tone. Not only am I completely satisfied with the color, they are a very reasonable price in comparison to alternatives. I paid $54 shipped for: 250W Phoenix 14k DE.

 

Make sure you are light acclimating the corals. I.e, if they were at 12 hours under the old bulbs, maybe run the new bulbs at 6 hours for a day or two, 8 hours for a day or two, and so on.

 

Yea I am. I ran it 4 hours today

 

Congrats - I fired up a 14k ushio 150w halide in my new aquamedic halide/T5 fixture - have it running off an IceCap Electronic ballast. Wow. Big difference on my end too from my old coralife.

matt

 

looking good! looks much more natural now.

 

WOW! What a difference!

 

yea i really like the look..