Aqualine 150 watt 20k bulb

[reefer916]

I swapped out my Aquamaxx bulb about a month ago after 8 months because my corals looked good, but didn't seem to be growing. Some of them lost their color and polyp extension was good, but I knew my tank had better potential. I've used Phoenix 14k's, Radium 20k's, and the Aquamaxx over the last few years. My favorites were the Phoenix 14k's by far because it provided good growth and a decent whiter look than the Radiums and Aquamaxx. However, I decided to try out the Aqualine bulb because a reefer was selling a new one on here for $70 shipped compared to the $95-$120 retail price tag.

 

Wow, I've been very pleased with the results of the bulb. I did a little research and Aqualine claims to have a better PAR than the competition bulbs, even though it's 20k. It seems to be true. My corals have literally taken off in growth just in the last month. I have about 50 different frags and small sps colonies squeezed into my 24 gallon, along with a variety of nice zoas, chalices, and an acan. I've literally run out of room and they're all growing into eachother. Everyone of my corals colored up and ones that had very little growth under the Aquamaxx bulb have taken off. To the point where I could see noticable growth almost daily. I had to move my Crayola Plana frag because it started branching into my Tyree Purple Polyp cap literally overnight. One of my two of my Garf Bonsai mini colonies, ORA Blue Bottle Brush, and Strawberry Shortcake are growing into eachother. So far none of them are fighting, so I'm just letting them grow. It's now creating a bigger problem of space because all my frags are growing and branching about an inch in the last month. The only ones that haven't shown a minimum 1 inch growth is the Reef Farmer Ice Fire Enchinata, which are known slow growers. However, it did grow at least 1/3 of an inch. It was a small frag when I got it in a trade, so I decided to pick up another one from Your Reef:)

 

I will be replacing my 2 Radium 20k bulbs over my 95 gallon with the Aqualine's next month. Anyways, I'll try to get some updated pics of my tank and corals. It's changed alot since my last pics 3 months ago.