+lewk Posted April 19, 2012 Share Posted April 19, 2012 Just got some Plusrite 14k DE 250's, and these are way more yellow than my Phoenix 14k's. Just wondering if anyone has found a cheaper 14k bulb similar to the Phoenix bulbs. I'm going to try and power through these bulbs for a few months, but I don't know how long I can make it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mFrame Posted April 19, 2012 Share Posted April 19, 2012 Yeah, you really want to go with the 20k bulbs with plusrites. discussed in these threads: http://www.austinreefclub.com/topic/20922-plusrite-bulb-questions/page__hl__plusrite__fromsearch__1 http://www.austinreefclub.com/topic/21542-1000bulbscom-plusrite-bulb-group-buy/page__hl__plusrite__fromsearch__1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+lewk Posted April 19, 2012 Author Share Posted April 19, 2012 Ah, the power of search... Wish I would have dug around a bit before ordering them! May get the 20k bulbs here in a few weeks then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
All WYSIWYG Posted April 19, 2012 Share Posted April 19, 2012 Not a big fan of the plusrites, the color shifted within just a few months and I started losing some acros. I have (5) 400 watt fixtures and they all had a slightly different color before I threw the bulbs away. I know that some people swear by them but I wouldn't ever buy them again. 5 plusrites cost me less than $100 and 5 reeflux cost me $350, I really wanted them to work! A friend with an amazing 300 gallon reef tank (don d) tried them too and had the same problem, you get what you pay for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+o0zarkawater Posted April 19, 2012 Share Posted April 19, 2012 I currently have them on my 55gal. Dual 20k 250w HQI. I actually like the color over the reeflux that were in the fixture when I bought it. They may have been a little old though. http://i.imgur.com/JujIx.jpg Messy barren tank. I'm not keeping lots of SPS so I hope I don't have issues with them down the road, but so far I'm liking them, especially for the price. I also thought that 500W MH was going to be too much for my 55gal, so I kind of wanted a cheaper bulb to maybe soften the blow. But overall everyone has been extremely happy and it's been almost 3 months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted April 19, 2012 Share Posted April 19, 2012 Par for par, those plusrites were tested and produced as much, if not more than some of the popular brands of bulbs. Of course I can't find the discussion thread I read last year stating that. I mean, the coloration isn't as awesome as the old reeflux 12k I used to run but it's not that far off either. I do replace every 6 months though. I do have a lot of nice SPS but they are just small frags right now, so the jury is still out for SPS. The frags I do have look great to me though. Ignorance is bliss I guess... but I'll say they don't look that bad at all. -Ty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pbnj Posted April 19, 2012 Share Posted April 19, 2012 I'm on record as being a big fan. As far as paying 5X more for other MH brands, I'll quote a wise ARC member: "They're all made in the same factory in China." FYI, 1000bulbs.com has been waiting on a shipment of 20K 250Ws for nearly a month now....new shipment is expected on/before 4/27. I think they have the 14Ks in stock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pbnj Posted April 19, 2012 Share Posted April 19, 2012 Par for par, those plusrites were tested and produced as much, if not more than some of the popular brands of bulbs. Of course I can't find the discussion thread I read last year stating that. http://www.wamas.org/forums/topic/35542-400w-se-mh-bulbs/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AquaJohn Posted April 19, 2012 Share Posted April 19, 2012 I liked the 20K after they had "broke in" for the first week or 2 they were more yellow than I liked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted April 19, 2012 Share Posted April 19, 2012 Thanks PBNJ for the link. Yeah, 20k all the way. There is a little burn in time of a couple of weeks, but then you are pretty good until around the 6-month mark. Then I change them because I can, not that I have actually observed the shifting of spectrum around 6 months. I just do it just in case and because they are only $13. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
troypt Posted April 19, 2012 Share Posted April 19, 2012 Now that I have my par meter, I want to get one and test it against my phoenix 14k's. I just replaced them, so it should be interesting to see what the difference is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted April 19, 2012 Share Posted April 19, 2012 Troypt, some of us ARC'ers are eagerly awaiting your pay for par readings plan. You still thinking about doing that? You can put me down as someone interested as long as the price is reasonable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
troypt Posted April 19, 2012 Share Posted April 19, 2012 I am going to do that. I got the meter a few weeks ago and have been trying it and also life just got busy. I have done my tank with 250 watt MH and a friends (Woods) tank with LEDs. We are planning on posting those numbers. We put the sensor next to each coral and got readings and what I have found most interesting is that the par can change drastically within an inch or two either up/down or sideways. I am planning on keeping the price reasonable (though that depends on your definition) it took about an hour to hour and a half to do our tanks I will hopefully post something soon, but you can always just send me a message Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted April 19, 2012 Share Posted April 19, 2012 Hmmm, I bet that's due to the internal reflections in the tank and the actual reflector variations themselves. I would imagine for the most part the bulb spits out the same par uniformly, barring build construction qualities. It would be interesting to see your numbers and Woods overlayed on a picture of the tank. I'll PM you concerning the par meter readings on my tank. Thanks. Sorry, didn't mean to hijack the plusrite thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dapettit Posted April 19, 2012 Share Posted April 19, 2012 I just started to use them. Not as blue as I would want but the corals are reacting nicely & at $13.00 a bulb I think I can replace them every 3 - 6 months. Dave- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherita Posted April 19, 2012 Share Posted April 19, 2012 I've been using them for over two years. Looking at the growth I get out of my corals, I am happy as a clam with them. The tank I run them on (72g) has everything from chalices, nems, softies all the way to sps. I wouldn't switch away from them for anything, not when I can get an inch of growth a month on my red planet, stylos, birdsnests, digis, millis, etc. And the chalices are growing all over the place too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
All WYSIWYG Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 Honestly I'm really glad that these bulbs have worked out for so many people. I think $75 for a 400w reeflux is a joke so like a said before I really wanted it to work. If it had I would be singing their praises right now trust me! Its completely possible that I got a bad batch of bulbs but I can tell you with 110% certainty that the bulbs I bought, and that Don D bought ended up being junk. If I didn't have a thousand pics on my computer I could probably find the pic of the lights before I changed them. It seemed that all 5 had a slightly different color and within 3 months or so they started to change to a soft purple instead of the blue when I first bought them. The reason that I posted wasn't to knock the bulbs, I wanted to mention in case someone was using plusrite and having problems with any acros they should consider that it could be the bulbs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pbnj Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 (edited) Some tank shots from the last few months.... Edited April 20, 2012 by pbnj Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
All WYSIWYG Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 Really nice tank PBNJ!!! What is that black striped fish in the second pic? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pbnj Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 (edited) Really nice tank PBNJ!!! What is that black striped fish in the second pic? Thanks. That's my freakish Sgt Major. He's the first fish I put in my tank almost 4 years ago and he's still going strong. He's about 4"-5" and his coloring keeps getting better (gold highlights), which is not typical of most Sgt Majors. Edited April 20, 2012 by pbnj Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
All WYSIWYG Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 Really nice tank PBNJ!!! What is that black striped fish in the second pic? Thanks. That's my freakish Sgt Major. He's the first fish I put in my tank almost 4 years ago and he's still going strong. He's about 4"-5" and his coloring keeps getting better (gold highlights), which is not typical of most Sgt Majors. Honestly I thought that's what it was but its so big it really threw me off. I like it! I'm going to get a giribaldi damsel soon for my tank, they get to 10" and are the biggest damsel in the world (that's at least what I ready). I'm going to order a large one, they don't have the blue spots like a juvi but the orange color is awesome. http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.getahugetank.com/images/damsel-garibaldi.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.getahugetank.com/garibaldi-damselfish-p-1594.html&h=413&w=640&sz=67&tbnid=H74Gtqnz9_JGCM:&tbnh=92&tbnw=143&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dgaribaldi%2Bdamselfish%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=garibaldi+damselfish&docid=3N44Z7Je5lixvM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=aMyRT5K1OqiY2wWe-4H4BA&sqi=2&ved=0CEYQ9QEwAg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 For those that use the DE bulbs, where have you guys been ordering them? I'm going to switch from SE to DE and can't find where they sell the DE bulbs. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+o0zarkawater Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 I get mine from eBay from a seller called 'TrustDeals' Just message him before and make sure he has them in stock. He does sell another brand on the auctions, but will ship Plusrite if you ask for no extra charge. www.ebay.com/itm/3X-Set-of-3-Lamps-250W-watt-10K-14K-20K-Aquarium-HQI-Double-Ended-Fc2-Base-/350555849016 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+lewk Posted June 22, 2012 Author Share Posted June 22, 2012 Trust Deals for me as well. He just had them on sale last week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+etannert Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 I use LSE (Light Spectrum Enterprises) from eBay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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