250 watt SE MH lamps compared

[gregt]

This thread was automatically split due to performance issues. You can find the rest of the thread here: http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...36#post4764336

[ihosvany]

Hi , I need help I want to get 250 w mh for my tank it's 125. Which is best and what do I need ?

[orlenz]

that depends on many factors, do you have a canopy?, what are you going to keep in your tank? are you planning on running other lighting along with the MH ? are you more concerned with reliability or saving energy?

[samsfishnchips]

Now we need to include the xm 15k in the test

sam

[JB NY]

I'm waiting on a lamp from XM.

[Cakepro]

Excellent. How long of a burn-in time will you give it before publishing any results?

Thanks
Sherri

[JB NY]

Same as the others, about 120 hours.

[wastememphis]

I have been wondering how different the look of a tank would be running 2 XM 10000k's (250watts) with 2 VHO attnics (96watts) compared to running 2 XM 20000k's (250watts)? What would be the differences in coral growth (SPS only tank). Thanks.

[JB NY]

I have pictures of those combinations so you can see what it would look like. The 10K generally has much better growth than 20K.

[avgjoe]

The 10K generally has much better growth than 20K.

JB NY: when you say this, are you implying that 10K has a better growth rate than 20K just because of the PAR difference of bulbs of the same wattage? OR for instance would 250w of 10K have similar growth rates as 500w of 20K assuming equal PAR?

[gatohoser]

The science of it isnt that simple and is really unknown even in the scientific community I believe. You can't pin it on PAR because par doesnt include some valuable wavelengths. Just see what works for some ppl and what colors you like. Thats really what it comes down to. Thats why JBNY's work is so cool. You can just look thru all the different bulbs and get a general idea of growth from PAR. Each type of coral has different pigments and thats one of the few things that we do know. This means they work better at different colors.

[gatohoser]

I have a perfect example to back up this statement:

I have a 90g prop tank with actinics stretched equally across the tank. When i added actinics my sps colored at the tips with different colors. When i switched from a ushio to a BLV streetlamp they grew much faster. When i switched forwards or back from a radium to a xm10k they lost color and sped up in growth. From a catalina 10k to a xm 10 i get more yellows and less greens. What does it tell me? Hell if i know! But I know i liked what the 20k did with actinics. But its just too blue. So i settled with the xm10k's and actinics.

[ecojoe]

Any idea when you'll have results on the XM 15k?

[NOLACLS]

What he said

[JB NY]

bout a week

[JB NY]

bout a week

[samsfishnchips]

Originally posted by JB NY
bout a week

cool, thx for the hard work, will be waiting like a kid waiting to open the gifths

sam

[NOLACLS]

Thanks for the update

[paulpp187]

ok here is a question to all you lighting guys i asked this quest so many times yet have no straight foward answer i'm upgrading my 250 to 400 i want xm bulbs other than electronic ballasts what kind of magnetic ballast do i need is it a probe start ballast or pfo pulse start ballst i talked to a buddy he said probe i talked to someone else pulse start.which one am i supposed to buy

[samsfishnchips]

paulpp187,

http://www.hellolights.com/40magmagm59b.html

this ballast is the magnetic probe start, that is recommended to drive the 400w bulbs, good luck,

sam

[paulpp187]

thank you so much for that info

[samsfishnchips]

Originally posted by paulpp187
thank you so much for that info

no problem ,

sam

[bradbury]

i'm keeping this thread on file, thanks all

[conspicman]

Just alittle FYI. Durring a lecture at the aquarium show today a speaker showed PAR measurements. The measurements show that the light production for a 400 20k is half that of a 400 65k. So for all of the people who advocate that the 20k bulbs are the best. They may want to reconsider there thoughts. In addition he showed the the majority of the 20k bulbs are really not 20k. They measure far higher on the kelvin scale.

[conspicman]

P.S. the 20k bulbs loose half of the light production after three months.