175W MH search/questions

[glxtrix]

Alright so I think I might want more blue to my tank. I have 15K Iwasaki's right now and I cant put any actinic supp on the tank because the reflectors are ginormous and with the depth restrictions on a 55 I'm kinda stuck. I'm thinkin of going with 20K's but I have no idea which bulbs are good in that K rating. Does anyone have any suggestions, or possibly some older bulbs I could borrow or have so I could test to see if I really want to go this route before spending 150+ on bulbs. If I end up going with the 20K's I'll have some stuff up for sale, like 2-65W actinic 03' bulbs with no use on them, plus some other things but that'll go in another thread. Thanks for any help.

Lee

 

[lorenk]

Lee, there was a guy on reef central that had a bunch of used bulbs that he was going to basically chuck. I think it was $30 for 6 bulbs and I think they were 175s.

 

[glxtrix]

ya know what, "X" that idea I just looked up sanjays testing with my ballast and the some of the 20K bulbs I was looking at and the results are bad, I'ld be quite a bit of PPFD. My Iwasaki's kick an impressive 86.9 ppfd! The 20K bulbs I was looking at are: Hamilton 20K = 35.1ppfd, Ushio 20K = 37.3ppfd, XM 20K = 37.2 and the Helios 20K = 47.1 The Helios was my top option to begin with but to loose half my ppfd, yeah I dont think so.....guess its time to explore other options of actinic supp....oh well.

 

[glxtrix]

ya know what, "X" that idea I just looked up sanjays testing with my ballast and the some of the 20K bulbs I was looking at and the results are bad, I'ld be quite a bit of PPFD. My Iwasaki's kick an impressive 86.9 ppfd! The 20K bulbs I was looking at are: Hamilton 20K = 35.1ppfd, Ushio 20K = 37.3ppfd, XM 20K = 37.2 and the Helios 20K = 47.1 The Helios was my top option to begin with but to loose half my ppfd, yeah I dont think so.....guess its time to explore other options of actinic supp....oh well.

 

[glxtrix]

thanks Loren but I think i gave up already, lol.....unless someone local has some 20K 175's to toss at me just to humor me But Im not going to go 20K, its just not worth it with the low wattage bulbs.

 

[xyzpdq0121]

The XMs that I got are either a 14K or a 10K (I gotta look again but I believe they are a 14K.) They are starting to look bluer then the Iwasaki's I have seen. They still might not be blue enough for your liking since I still want to run Actinic on mine... You ar welcome to trade out and see if that gives you the color you want more. (Plus I have wanted to test the Iwasaki but I stayed true to the bulb that is in there.)

 

[glxtrix]

XM 10K puts out 69.2 ppfd and the 20K is at 37.2, its prolly safe to say the 15K hits around 48-53.2 ppfd... I'ld try it but it would only be for a short time, thats around 30 less than the Iwasakis, my coral would prolly freak out w/o the extra light seeing how its an SPS/anemone tank. I mean its def bluer or I should say more along th elines of a hyper white, looks really nice, its just actinic helps the colors pop more and I needed to add some....I have 1 in the canopy right now all kinds of jerry rigged...it def was the lil kick I was missing, once i get the other one running (need a 65W ballast...anyone have one?) then I should be happy. Brandon if you want to test my bulb, I'll gladly come over with it so you can see how it is...I love them! And you cant beat the output either, its higher than most 10K lights! But I'll have to leave with them..sorry man. Let me know tho.....I might be able to do it tomorrow sometime if you'ld like.

 

[xyzpdq0121]

Ya I would love to test it out. I was debating going witht he 15K because it IS higher then any other 175W bulb!!! You still got my number, give me a call. I would be very interested to see the color of those bulbs for the future!