aquamedic pendant bulb choice

[aschke]

I've settled on the Aquamedic Ocean Light 250W HQI lighting fixture from hellolights.com ( http://www.hellolights.com/ocli25hqiame.html ) thanks to the help of all you guys.

Now I have to choose a bulb. It never ends. I won't have any supplemental actinics (at least not now) so I want a higher K value light, but there's quite a few options. The 15,000K, the 20,000K and the 20,000K Aqualine bulb.

Any advice on which to go with? Will 15,000K be blue enough? Is it worth the extra money for the Aqualine bulb? What's the difference?

Thanks

 

[aschke]

also, it has a magnetic ballast. i heard those flicker the light and that electronic is better. is this true?

 

[ChrisRD]

If you're running on a magnetic ballast, the Aqualine 20K will not be overly blue - more of a blue-white. Lamp color is highly subjective, but IMO the AB 20K is a nice look on a mag ballast. The Aqualine lamps are a bit pricey, but they are high quality german made lamps. There are cheaper brands out there but they are generally of lesser quality.

As for the magnetic ballasts flickering vs. electronics - if anything the opposite used to be true (ie. the older electronic lamps had flickering issues). I've never known anyone to have that problem with magnetic DE ballasts. Probably nothing to worry about either way - these days most quality electronic ballasts don't seem to have such problems.

As for which ballast type is better - there are advantages and disadvantages associated with either ballast type - pretty tough to say one is better. When is comes to ballasts intended to light DE lamps (often called "HQI" in the hobby), the magnetic versions will generally produce greater output from your lamps than the electronics but will use more power and generate more heat. They are also larger and heavier than electronics.

HTH

 

[SnowManSnow]

I have an aquamedic pendant. Unless they have changed their 20K bulb looks more like a 10k. I ended up putting a 14K Blueline in mine. Looks much better.

B

 

[Anonymous]

I'm with snow on this one, the 20k that came with my aquamedic is very 10k looking. I've never had a problem with it flickering, it's one of the best lighting investments I've made. Although, I am going to go with snow's recommendation on the 14k blueline when it's time to replace the lamp.

 

[ChrisRD]

Having run AB DE 20Ks as well as a variety of DE 10K lamps (all on magnetic ballasts), personally I would not say that the AB 20Ks look like a 10K lamp. IMO they are noticeably bluer and dimmer than 10Ks (although brighter and whiter than many other DE 20Ks). I guess there's an example of that subjective thing I mentioned... :wink:

Of course that brings up another subjective aspect of lighting - lamp designations. Since what one manufacturer calls 10K, 14K or 20K can be a totally different output spectrum (and look) from another manufacturer's lamp of the same rating, the designations can be almost useless for comparison in some cases...

Your best bet is to see if you can get a look at some of the lamps you're considering in-person. I know it can be hard to do, but sometimes if you check around at LFSs or local club members' tanks you might get lucky. You can try looking at pics of lighting online too, but they can be pretty inaccurate.

 

[ChrisRD]

BTW if you're looking for the blue-white look and high PAR in a 250 watt DE lamp, the Phoenix 14Ks are another one to consider...