Good Lights?

[WickedReefer]

Hey Everyone,
I recently got a used aquactinic light and am needing some new bulbs. Does anyone know whats a good site or place to get new 175watt mh bulbs and 54watt t-5s. Also what would be a good brand to get. I heard that XM is good for mh, but I dont know about the t-5s.

Thanks

 

[Siffy]

hellolights.com and championlighting.com

marinedepot.com also sells lighting "stuff" if you need other things as well. as does drsfosterandsmith.com

Hellolights would be my first choice. As for brands and temps, it depends what look you like. The Hamilton 14K is a highly regarded bulb in the 250w version, not sure about 175w but likely. I run an Iwasaki 15K w/ URI VHO actinics (ran actually, ballast recently went out and replacing with T5s soon). I really like my MH bulb. It puts out white light and a lot of it (I believe it still has the highest PAR of any 175w bulb, and higher than a few 250w lamp/ballast combinations actually). A 10K will look more yellow and a 20K will look more blue. I prefer to control my blue cast with actinics. And you can almost never go wrong with Ushio MH bulbs. I would stay away from the XM bulbs. They tend to run hotter than most other brands. More heat == less light, and more costs to cool during summer.

For the T5 (I assume actinics), I've heard good things about TRU but have no personal experience. If no one else chimes in on this thread for a couple days, you may want to ask in the Lighting forum.