Best place to buy 20k 150watt MH bulbs?

i would get a 14k phoenix bulb. they are super blue for 14k and have good par and relatively cheap.

 

http://hellolights.com/150watt-2.aspx they have a ton and bulbs are free shipping

 

For 150w DE I would probably have to go with chris on this one and recomend the 14k phoenix

 

+1 on phoenix 14k. I bought some 250w de at spring fest and they are great.They are really blue so id imagine the 20k's are super blue

 

From what I've read 20K bulbs aren't the best choice when considering coral growth. They're the best looking bulbs but are too blue and lack enough of a color spectrum for good PAR. One thing to keep in mind is that corals have the highest growth rate under 6500 kalvin temp, because it's the closest to natural sunlight. The farther you get from 6500 the lower the PAR gets, generally speaking. It's the same reason actinic bulbs produce almost no growth and are best used as supplemental bulbs.

The flip side to this of course is if your 20K bulbs are bright enough to compensate. Under intense enough light corals will get enough useable light to grow quit well under 20Ks. I've heard ninjjax777 uses 400watt 20Ks for this reason. So a couple questions to ask, "What kind of growth are you looking for?" and "Are your halides intense enough to get that growth using 20K bulbs?" As always it boils down to personal preference. You're corals will be healthy under the 20Ks and look fantastic but the trade off might be growth. You can always go with 12K or 14K bulbs and supplement with actinic to get a similar look to 20Ks with a higher PAR.

Here's an article you might find useful http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Aquarium_Lighting.html. Get's a little in-depth at times but overall lots of good information.

 

The link doesn't seem to work, go figure. If you Google "aquarium lighting" it's the third link down, just under the shopping results.

 

i love my phoenix hexarc 14k bulb, it is an icy blue instead of a windex blue of a 20k.. i also recommend hello lights

 

I just got a new 150 watt 14k Phoenix on my Biocube and I think it looks great. "Icy" is a great description for this bulb. And Kylie I'm with you on the growth thing. It seems everyone is out to get optimal growth of their corals, been there done that. All that happens is you run out of room and never have any room for anything new. I'm into it for the looks, not the amount of frags I can produce.