10,000k or 20,000k 175 watt MH BULBS?

[annewayne]

I was just wondering which MH bulbs to buy. When uncle sam brings me my tax refund i am going to buy either two 95watt Vho's or 4 of them. Right now my halides are 20,000 k (don't ask me why)and i run NO's for daylight(10,000k) bulbs. Here's the question should i bite the bullet and replace my MH bulbs with 10,000k bulbs and run VHO's actinic. Or keep the MH bulbs 20,000k and run 10,000k VHO'S?
If anyone has pictures of 10,000k bulb use vs. 20,000k bulb use. like a before and after use that would be great. I currently know nobody to let me try a 10,000 bulb or i would ask them... Wayne

 

[glaspie69]

run 14k hamilton's then you won't need actinics

 

[lllosingit]

This might help.

 

[jeolson]

I realy like the look of my Hamilton 14ks but everyone has a different opinion I do run these with actinics and get great color from my sps.

 

[annewayne]

Does the 14k look like a bright white with a hint of blue or all blue?
Thanks for the link John. Did you buy any corals yet, or going fish only still.

 

[glaspie69]

the 14k hamilton look like 10 k's with vho actinics

 

[xroads]

I use the 14K and really enjoy them. Not real blue, not real white

 

[mwood]

Par of Iwasaki 14k's can't be beat. As strong as most 250w bulbs. Very white look. Combine with 4 vho's would look good. Be careful to light acclimate though. Don't want to burn your corals.

 

[annewayne]

What type of MH ballast do you run these with (Iwaski)?

 

[got2lb]

I'm running 14k hamiltons 250w on my tank.

If you're going to run 175's I would go with the 14k Iwasaki. I've seen pics of them compared to other bulbs and they are way brighter than other bulbs.

If they end up making them in 250's I will probably give them a try when i need to replace my hamiltons.

 

[annewayne]

You guys are gonna get me divorced, i just looked Iwasaki 175 MH bulbs on hellolights they sell them for $85.00 for the 15,000k.
Compared to the $59.00 XM 20,000k bulbs.

 

[got2lb]

Just explain to her that the $85 bulb will make your corals grow faster than the $59 bulb. That way everything will grow so fast you'll have to frag everything all the time and you'll be making tons of $$$ selling frags. So it's def. worth the better bulb!

Sounds good anyway!

 

[jbrunken]

There is a guy on Ebay who sells "Reef Optics" bulbs for around $30 each. There's a huge thread in the Lighting forum about it and a lot of people have a lot of good things to say about them.

I think I'm going to give them a try if he gets the DE's in stock when I'm ready to buy. If not, I'll probably go with the hamilton 14K's myself.

-JB

 

[mwood]

Iwasaki 15k bulbs run best on electronic ballasts, but they should run fine on a magnetic ballast as well.

What type of ballast do you have?

 

[rc1214b]

check reefexotics on the sponsor page, they have reeflux in 175 for pretty cheap and free shipping right now on 2 or more bulbs. I run a 12k but I hear people like the 10k as well. The only problem with the 20k in 175 is they just don't have the output.

 

[cabenn]

I think if you bite Bullet you need to ask his permission first or you could be in for a world of hurt come hunting season :>

 

[Covey]

It would be nice if Iwasaki came out with a 250W and 400W version of that bulb. Although I don't know if a 300ppfd bulb would even be very usable.

 

[SI_rEEfer]

I like the combination of the Aqua2 Iwasaki and XM20K. It blends really nicely.

 

[leeweber85]

the Iwasaki 15k looks really nice from the pics I have seen. It has the most par of any 10k, 14k, or 20k bulb. It has a nice CRISP white. I think I will get one of these when I get my frag tank setup.

Here's some more info:

$72.95 here and Hellolights.com should price match it: http://coralreefecosystems.com/


Here is a picture of some guys tank with them:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=901659&perpage=25&pagenumber=3

 

[annewayne]

Thanks for the link leeweber85, well i'm leaning towards 3- 10,000k with 2-95 watt actinics and dumping the 20,000 k and upgrading a professional reflector from hellolights instead of my sheetmetal diy..