Which MH should I get?

[JTrigger]

Hey all,

It's about time I changed my MH bulbs so I was trying to decide between:

250W Mogul XM 20k
250W Mogul Venture 14k
250W Mogul XM 10k

I know the 20k will be much more blue and make things look a bit more enhanced, but will not promote as much growth... but I can't find any feedback on the Venture 14k bulb. I wanted something with a bit more blue tint so I was not getting the traditional 10k ushio and such...

JT

[JTrigger]

Oh yah, and I couldn't find any information anywhere on the PAR for the Venture bulb unfortunately...

[Fish]

First off I will say that I am not familiar with Venture bulbs - sorry.
I bought an xm10k initially and have recently switched to a hamilton 14k and have to say that I love the look of the 14k! I know that the corals would grow faster under a bulb with a higher par but it isn't like I'm in a race with anyone. 14k seems like a nice compromise between looks and growth.
Have you seen the 250w comparison thread on Reef Central done by 'JB NY' ? That might help out. HTH

- Chad

[AndyL]

You also may want to look at the ARC 14k's from aquaria canada... Nice color - better price

Andy

[Gools]

I have the 14K ventures (PFO) on my tank. Thay are 400w. But they are nice but more blue then I thought. but still give off a nice whit with a blue sparkle. Mind you I've always had 10K ushios. I've only had them on for 3 weeks, just starting them at an hour a day cause the 400w is new to my tank, so not sure if after a short burn in period they will whiten up. Send me your email and I can show you a picture of what they look like.

[JTrigger]

Yep, I had seen all the reefcentral comparison threads and the www.cnidarianreef.com comparison as well... but ultimately found out that aquaria canada was selling such reasonable 14k ARCs that I went with them

JT