Saki bombing my tank, but what ballast

[XeniaMania]

Ok guys, after much reading on the Iwasaki 14K bulbs, I'm psyched and ready to get one, but here's my current dilemma. I have the Hamilton Canopy set currently driven by the magnetic ballast, but I also have their e-ballast sitting next to it, I just haven't driven the unit to Hamilton to get it converted. The magnetic ballast will overdrive the bulb and looking of Sanjay's chart it does seem to bust out more wattage, but with the increased PAR, wouldn't the e-ballast sound like a better route?

I was looking into AquaCool's 14K High Output bulb which I believe their claims are to be like Iwasakis, however, since there's no data out there, it's hard to say. I do believe in getting what I pay for, so despite the Iwasaki's being almost 2x more than Aquacool's, I'll put my money on reputation.

 

[robsmith32]

if you have the eballast sitting next to it, then why not swap it? my understanding is you want the par not necessarily the watts.. the watts just mean more heat and more you pay the electric co and the end of the month.

 

[XeniaMania]

There's no benefits to increased wattage? Only asking because I'm curious, not doubting you..

 

[robsmith32]

um, not if there isn't increased par with that wattage.. the par is what counts, the corals don't use watts. they use photosynthesis.
typically the par increases with wattage.. which would make it seem wattage benefit.. plus the old watts per gallon thing, which is like the inches of fish a gallon..
a 40brdr doesnt' take the intensity it takes to penetrate a 40g tall, same gallonage.

 

[XeniaMania]

lol...ok...cool, thanks..