14K Phoenix Bulb Seems Too Blue....

[dakota9]

My 150watt Coralife Clamp-On fixture came with a bulb installed, not sure what the K rating was, but looked very yellow. It also came with a new off brand (Artemis) bulb that was 20K, and very <span style="color: Blue;">blue </span><span style="color: Blue;">but really made my corals psychedelic colors. Being more au' naturale </em>, I opted for a Phoenix 14K and it still seems so blue, I'm wondering what the par levels would be. Am I wrong in thinking;

More Blue= Less Par
More Yellow= Greater Par

I'm refering strictly to MH lamps in particular.

Thanks for any thoughts you may have.
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[cr500_af]

Dak, I think it may be true in some cases but not all. For example, Radiums put out really good PAR numbers but are pretty blue. Odd observances on the Phoenix, though, as I have the same bulb in my wife's lamp and I would like it a little bluer. Maybe it's the difference in ballasts, or just the taste of two different people. Her 150W Phoenix IS bluer than the 250W Phoenixes (?) over my tank, and I've heard that from others as well.

 

[dakota9]

Interesting... I was thinking about my ballast as well. Do you have the stock ballast? As I remember, we have the exact same fixture.

As you may know, as the bulb is warming up, it quickly cycles through several colors, first yellow, then grean, then a white color I like, then the blue hue it ends with....

I'm wondering if it's my ballast........ Or yours for that matter.

Thanks Barry

 

[cr500_af]

No, she has a Viper K2 deluxe. I don't care for it, but it's more to do with how it has to fold to center over her particular size tank than anything. It doesn't change color much during warmup, it just starts really dim and gets brighter. I'm going to try to find either a Sunpod or a "disco ball" for it I think. It's in a very prominent area of the house so it has to look attractive and clean.

 

[dakota9]

Well thanks for your input!


I think if my tank had to look "attractive and clean", I'd end up having to take it down..... hehe

 

[cr500_af]

Tell me about it... mine is stuck off in the entry so that I can make it messy if I want... thank God.

 

[dmahoney82]

If you decide to change your bulbs I'd be glad to buy those phoenix 150w's from ya

 

[kernelpanic]

I have run AB 10K(13K), Radium 20K and Pheonix 14K in reef optix 3 reflectors and ice cap electronic ballast. To me the Pheonix looked slightly more blue than the radiums. I have read that the 150w Pheonix is more blue than the 250w. I have also read that the 250 Phoenix is more blue on an electronic ballast than HQI.

If you want a white bulb with insane PAR try the AB10k it is not yellow like many of the 10k's and is about 50% more intense than the Radium or Pheonix. It is more intense than some 250w 20k bulbs per Sanjay's data. The true color temp of the AB10k bulb is 10-11k. Most of the "10k" bulbs are really around 6-8k again per Sanjay's data.

 

[kernelpanic]

I wish I could find a nice cross between the AB10k and the Radium 20k.

 

[corigan]

I love the blue on them, they also are supposed to put off some pretty great PAR too if that is what you are worried about.

 

[ryuchi]

I have the same lamp and I thought it was a little too white so I added a t-5 actinic to get the colors to pop because everyone Ive talked to says the PAR on the 14k phoenix is amazing. I thought the same thing at first, Ushio makes a 20k 150watt but look at the charts and you will see a much lower PAR

 

[schwaggs]

I run Phoenix 14K 250W on a Magnetic ballast which overdrives it and I don't find it too blue. I suspect you guys are right in that the ballast can make quite a difference in the color. I overdrive some T5 Actinics with an Icecap 660 and those bulbs look almost white on that ballast. I bet the same applies to the MH bulbs.