Not the 20k I was looking for By Roman on 5/28/12
Roman wouldn't recommend this product to a friend
I have been testing a lot of different bulbs and combos lately and thought I would give this one a shot. I was expecting much more blue. I guess I may be biased because I tend to run a fairly blue bulb (14k Pheonix). I must say the Pheonix is bluer than the 20k Ushio and the Pheonix has a higher PAR level. I guess this bulb would be good if you want a whiter look and to tone back the brightness of the tank a little for examply if you have a shallow tank or have lower light needs for things like chalice or acans. But otherwise I would look for a different bulb. I would be curious to try some of the other Ushio bulb spectrums to compare to the 20k. The problem is metal halides get a little pricey to experiment with too much. The bulb does have a blue tinge but don't think you are getting a blue bulb in my opinion. It is heavy in the white range with a touch of blue. I would call this more 14k or possibly even more 12k, while the 14k Phoenix probably is closer to a 20k.