What kind of Lights on a 175mh?

[mebo926]

Im trying to see what kind of lights to put on my new MHs (10k, 14k,15k 20k). I want a really white light to go on them, but also want to get alot of growth out of my corals. These will be going on my 75g tank. I have all diffrent kind of corals in there also.

THANKS

 

[Mariner]

Well, "really white" is going be a lower kelvin, like 10k or possibly 12k, certainly not 20k. The higher the kelvin for a given bulb, the bluer the light will be, but it is not consistent from brand to brand. I have a 175w 14k Blueline bulb that is "bluer" than my 20k XM. Hamilton makes a 14k bulb that I've used that they advertise as "ice blue" -- I like it a lot.
FWIW,
Mariner

 

[mebo926]

Which will give great growth on corals?

 

[JR's Reef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14870032#post14870032 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mebo926
Which will give great growth on corals?

10K in most cases. Best color IMO is 20K

 

[DOTZ]

10 K Gives you the most growth. The best ones and ones with the most par are the XM 10K and iwasaki 15K. Both very white and give great growth with iwasaki being the best of the two.

I ran the xm for about 8 months and then changed to an iwasaki and the difference in brightness is extremely noticeable. I actually just put my XM back in this morning to see and while it's a bright bulb it looked down right dim compared to the iwasaki.

Iwasakis do cost a fair amount but IMHO are the best choice as far as 175 watt go. Plus they supposedly last twice as long as other bulbs.

 

[mebo926]

Yeh i have been looking at Iwasakis but are expensive. Im going to try the XMs first.

 

[DOTZ]

XM's are great, but I have read the iwasakis last 2 years instead of one so really the extra cost will pay for itself.

hellolights offers free shipping on their bulbs then they have a 5% off for RC members and often offer 10% off.

 

[mebo926]

Well I may have to look at that!! Thanks

 

[The0wn4g3]

I would definitely recommend putting in the extra cash for the Iwasaki's. The difference really is noticeable, and they have an excellent bright white color.
If I remember correctly, the PAR of 2 Iwasaki's is equivalent to 2.5 XM's, or something along those lines haha.

 

[mebo926]

I heard the one iwasaki is equal to a 250mh 14k

 

[The0wn4g3]

According to SanJay's test, an Iwasaki puts out about 71 PPFD and the XM puts out about 39 PPFD. That's nearly an 82% increase.
Looks like the XM 250W puts out about 50-80 PPFD depending on the ballast

http://www.manhattanreefs.com/lighting