Looking For Lights

[newreefbishop]

I have come to the conclusion that two 175's may not be enough for my 110. As such Im lookinf for a pair of pc's or a pair of T-5's or VHO's if you only have one set let me know. I would like to make a move asap, local only as I would like to pick up. Anyone have anything?

 

[ReefWreak]

I would suggest against PC or T5 without reflectors. T5 w/ reflectors or VHO if you're looking for actinic supplement.

If you don't feel that there is enough light going into your tank, you can try the one pair of REALLY HIGH PAR bulbs for 175 (15k iwasaki I believe), or you should sell your 175s and upgrade to 250s.

 

[coralfragger101]

PM sent

 

[newreefbishop]

ReeFWreak I definately need reflectors I was thinking of going with 250's but dont have the funds for that just yet. you say 15k iwasaki are extremely high Par? Can you confirm this? I would definately be interested in a pair of those. coralfragger I have just responded....

 

[ReefWreak]

The only issue is that the bulbs are like ~100 or a bit more per bulb... which makes it a more difficult decision. Maybe Matt (ding2thedong) or keith know better than I which bulb specifically it was, since we talked about it before.

 

[newreefbishop]

and do you know if these are avalable locally? I found them online....i saw they where 100 per bulb and I also foundthe graphs that support the cost.....-

 

[ReefWreak]

I doubt that you can get them locally... But no harm in trying... But if you do, I've never seen halide bulbs come inexpensively in an LFS. I've never seen a bulb under... maybe $130 per bulb... Regardless of wattage or brand... Except at Reeflife, where Pat had Hamilton 14ks for less than they go for online, somewhere around $55 or so. I don't know if he still has them or not, but I didn't like the bulb anyway. I just needed a bulb, and the price was right.

 

[Bret61081]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11971213#post11971213 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by newreefbishop
and do you know if these are avalable locally? I found them online....i saw they where 100 per bulb and I also foundthe graphs that support the cost.....-

Any LFS can get them for you...just make take a few days. Just ask most will match online prices and take the cut in pay to make a customer happy!

 

[ReefWreak]

I have never seen an LFS price match an online store before... And I completely understand why. I most cases, their distributors charge them more than the online stores charge us. Sad state, but it's frequently just what happens.

I honor and respect any store that can get their price even within the online dealer's prices. David at CRF did that for me for VHOs, Pat at ReefLife did that for me with the Hamilton bulbs, and now I'm a customer for sure from them. I would like to know if I could order any thing from them and get a similar price to the online (within $10-15 of the online price, after shipping prices) but I don't think they can make money on that, more often than not, so I wouldn't really ask of it.

To be fair, since I don't have much $$$ to spend to begin with, I don't blame them for charging me full price when I go to the LFS, because I don't buy and spend a lot. I bet people like Rogger and Manny don't pay as much as I do, but that's totally fair, because they buy a LOT more than I do. It all makes sense why the casual buyer doesn't get much discount at LFS, but the frequenters do, and I totally respect that, and it is how it should be.

 

[ReefWreak]

Services is important too, forgot to put that in there

I shop where I receive good service (except Barrier Reef by my house, but I go there because they're 5 minutes away, while the other LFS are 30 minutes away, each way.)

 

[ahoyhoy239]

I run the Iwasaki 15K, i bought it for $80 on hellolights with free shipping for all MH bulbs, but that was last summer, idk if the price went up on them.

As far as the PAR output, yes it is true, they do put out more PAR than many 250w bulbs. Search for it through here or on google for this bulb and Sanjay Joshi's tests if you want to confirm it, also Ive read a few threads where people tested them and confirmed this as well.