Replacing old MH Bulbs. Good source?

[Runner]

It has been a year and it is time to replace my 175W MH bulbs. I have never purchased new bulbs before and was wondering if you guys know of a good source?

I have a regular magnetic ballast and a M57. Definitely probe start. So I need an "American" single-ended bulb. I was looking at the American Hamilton 14000K -- something a little bluer than my Ushio 10000k (which have had starting troubles because of they are more suited to pulse start setups).

 

[cee]

Runner:

The PAR on those Hammy 14k 175 W is really poor compared to your Ushios. Have you considered the XM20k, EVC20k, or the Iwasaki 15k? The Iwasaki has PAR comparable to your Ushios, and comes in at a true 15k. BTW, Roes used to have the best prices on the Hammys, but it looks like they've raised their prices. Check this out:
http://www.reeflightinginfo.arvixe....Advance&BallastName=31&shield=N&Submit=Submit

Dave

 

[Runner]

Are any of those made for probe start (American) ballasts? I can see everything on your link was tested on the M57 ballast, but several of those bulbs are European and not made for that. I don't want to go through the hassle and possible failures that another set of Ushios (which ideally need pulse start ballasts) could cause.

 

[Runner]

From looking at that link, though, I should use the Iwasaki 175W 15000K if I want a good PAR and the bluer color. At least it tests out to the color temp that it advertises. And the stats are definitely better than those of the Hamilton bulb.

 

[Runner]

I've done some searching around (when I should have been working) and discovered that the Iwasaki Aqua2 is made for the M57 ballast. With that PAR and that color temp, I will definitely go with them. I can get there at this link for $76 each plus about $7 in shipping:
http://www.coralreefecosystems.com/ltg_bulbs-mh.asp

The spec sheet:
http://www.eyelighting.com/tb/MH/ColorArc/Aqua/EQS-N-52-78-57713.pdf

Does anybody know anything about Coral Reef Ecosystems? Or where I can buy the Iwasaki's for a better price or better reliability?

 

[Runner]

Just got my 2 bulbs. It took a week to ship from California. I'll wait until the weekend to install them, though. I want to be here to watch them fire up.

The only thing that concerns me are the UV warnings for not using a glass filter plate in the warning sheet compared to the UV warning about not using a broken lamp shell on the box -- both is grammatical bad the translations going Japanese. It seems strange for a mogul base bulb to require a separate UV shield-- if that is what they are really asking. Perhaps they are mixing up the words "luminaire" and "lamp". After reading a little more, I have decided I don't really need a UV shield since it has the outer glass shell around the arc tube like all other mogul bulbs. May I not fry all my corals and bubble the eyes off my fish...

 

[cee]

Many others have used them on RC. Try posting on the lighting forum, I bet you'll get some feedback there.

Dave