New 20k bulbs from Light Spectrum Enterprise

[ballardjr2000]

Ok so everybody can see the differance i just changed out my old bulbs that I know one was a 10k corallife and i am sure the other was as well (couldn't read the label) to the LSE 20k I paid 52 bucks shipped to my house for these they are the 150w 20k DE. And I must say WOW. The first pic is with the 10k and the second is with the 20ks crappy pics due to iphone but you can see the difference. ME likey

[ErikH]

Major difference! They are some great bulbs for the price! Tonight my schedule is to remount my 4th halide, and take par readings tomorrow. Should be interesting to compare to my old 75's par readings. Thank Minh (OrionN) for the link to those bulbs originally, I had to search and search to find it again. After experiencing how good they are first hand, I try to spread the word as much as possible so they stay in business because DANG they are so cheap!

Are the colors popping alot more? Did you shade your 10ks before replacement? Sometimes corals get shocked from the change because with a higher kelvin, the PAR will drop.

[ballardjr2000]

I shaded for a couple days before the swap but the corals seem sooo much happier now they POP more also yeah great company i had my bulbs in 4 days with standard shipping (mail) which encluded the weekend so really awesome. but i did not get a shipment confermation but thats OK it was a nice surprise when i checked the mail.

[ramsey]

I just bought 2 20k 250w bulbs from them. I'm not currently using the fixture I bought them for but I did install one and plug it in. I put it over my nanocube just to see and it looked really nice. I must admit, I was a bit skeptical about a $20 bulb but they seem to do a nice job. Can't wait until I use them full time to see what they're really made of.

[ErikH]

Yeah I thought I may be in for a bad algae outbreak or something, but there was nothing! Very very very very pleased.

[Roo&Lis]

I got some too! I hope the company is here to stay.

[glennr1978]

Interesting. Can any of you provide a link so I can look into these for myself?

[glennr1978]

Nevermind. I found them with a quick google search, lol. Have any of you guys tried their 150w 10k's?

[jrsatx20]

Lmk when someone orders again don't know if shipping would change for 4 bulbs but its 12 for 2 if it doesn't change or not by much we can share shipping

[Mr Cob]

I have been using these bulbs for some time as well. Very pleased for the price and a decent product.

I have had a bad bulb before and customer service is not very good in my personal experience as there wasn't any offer to replace the bulb because they blamed my ballast...which works fine...lol. I did not make a big deal out of it though....one bad bulb out of 6 isn't so bad at that price, which is about the price of one from many of the top name brand companies.

I still buy bulbs from them and like them.

[ErikH]

Nevermind. I found them with a quick google search, lol. Have any of you guys tried their 150w 10k's?

Glenn every ballast will affect the bulbs differently. I can say this though, I have 2 SE and 2 DE with 3 different types of ballasts and the bulbs (after burn in period) all appear to look the same. 10k are uber white, go with the 12k, they are white with just an inkling of pop.

[justahobby]

What about 14K, comparable to say a phoenix 14k?

[ErikH]

IIRC the Phoenix 14ks are much bluer than the standard 12k bulbs I have seen, I would say the 20 is probably closest in comparison, without actually knowing. I think Rob has the 20ks, so maybe he can help SHEDD SOME LIGHT! haha at the double pun.

[Mr Cob]

I think the 20k bulbs from Spectrum Enterprises are extra blue with very little crisp white light IMO...just a hair too blue though but it is a decent trade-off considering the price. I personally was not too happy with their 14k bulbs as I thought it lacked the crisp white light and had too much yellow in comparison to XM bulbs. I have not used Phoenix bulbs.

Jack has also used their 14k bulbs.

This is also coming from someone who does not use actinic supplemental lighting.

[Jarob]

Would you go with their 12k or 14k is I were to use supplementation also

[txav8r]

I got great growth from the 14K bulbs but I too thought the color was a bit lacking. Still a great bulb for the price, though.

[Mr Cob]

Would you go with their 12k or 14k is I were to use supplementation also

Personally, I would go with 14k because i think their bulbs run more yellow in comparison to namebrand bulbs. I think 14k with actinic supplemental lighting would be perfect...BUT I like blue....so depends on your taste though. If you typically like 20k bulbs by themselve's then go with the 14k and actinic. If you prefer the true 14k colors from namebrand bulbs over the 20k's then go with 12k with actinic.

[glennr1978]

Thanks for the info guys. I may just order one of each 10k, 12k, and 14k. At $20 each it's worth it to me to buy all three to see which one I like best. Fwiw, I had originally planned to use two 150w 10k's and four 36" T5 actinics over a 42"x21x16" tank. I'm thinking that should be plenty of blue light to balance out the yellow of the 10k.

[ErikH]

Thanks for the info guys. I may just order one of each 10k, 12k, and 14k. At $20 each it's worth it to me to buy all three to see which one I like best. Fwiw, I had originally planned to use two 150w 10k's and four 36" T5 actinics over a 42"x21x16" tank. I'm thinking that should be plenty of blue light to balance out the yellow of the 10k.

Just make sure you give each bulb ample burn in time before making your decision! :) Also shade your light as necessary to avoid frying, or dying corals.

[Mr Cob]

Just make sure you give each bulb ample burn in time before making your decision! :) Also shade your light as necessary to avoid frying, or dying corals.

Good points Erik. I just bleached some SPS from switching bulbs and they didn't come back :(

Also...the 14k bulbs were really yellow the first week and a couple weeks later they began to burn out a bunch of the yellow tint.