Thoughts-- 400xm to 175 ushio...

[Charlie Davidson]

I have been trying a ushio 175w14k for a week. I and so impressed with this bulb (thanks Josh) (your to blame :D )
That I am thinking about replacing my 400w 20k xms.
I would however have 3 175w bulbs verses 2 400w..
BTW, I would "stage" the bulbs. Say-- 8am-8pm (1) center, 11am - 6pm (2) outside bulbs.
(4ft tank, 11" of water, bulbs 12" over water)

[Charlie Davidson]

OH! If I get electronic ballast, will the Par value drop /increase? different color?
Money save on power bill.. pay back time?

[mr294]

With only 11" of water I think you would be just fine with the 175s as long as you lower the reflectors a bit.

[Charlie Davidson]

Had some moon lights, temp intstalled, ;)

[surfnvb7]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11570362#post11570362 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Charlie Davidson
OH! If I get electronic ballast, will the Par value drop /increase? different color?
Money save on power bill.. pay back time?

hmmmm, not sure with Ushio's.

but you should also get an 175w Iwasaki 14k and try that out on an electronic ballast. its incredibly bright, might even be as bright as your 400w XM20k. your clams would love it that is for sure.

the 175w Iwasaki 14k also works on a magnetic ballast, but the PAR isn't as good as on the electronic ballast, and i think the bulb won't last as long as it does on electronic.

[J. Montgomery]

Charlie, I'm glad to hear that you like the bulb :thumbsup: My corals and clams love that light, though I find myself wishing it brought out their colors more. Sadly, bulbs are too expensive to experiment with different combinations :(

[Charlie Davidson]

Josh, what other bulb would you try?
Yes, I am making list :)
Al, I may just order a Iwasaki first, try it then deside...
(smoke from ears) you have me thinking :D

[Charlie Davidson]

Hey found some 175 10k xms in my bulb pile.. (dang things look almost new) I m going to try one of those , in place of a 400xm.. This should tell me if 175's will be enough..
(I have one pulse start 175 and one probe start ballast)
If I think the 175 too weak, Iwaski make a 250 14k?
Is the Iwaski the one that Antony reccommed I try?

[J. Montgomery]

I'd like to try running 20k bulbs in the 2 x 175W (12hr) and then have the 250W bulb as a 10k (6hr) daylight bulb. Right now I have the reverse.

[mr294]

Iwasaki only has a DE 250w 14k/15k. The advantage of the iwasaki 175w is that its PAR output is equal to (and in some cases greater) than a lot of other 14k 250w bulbs. You’re definitely getting more PAR from your 400w XM setup than you would from the 175’s, but the question is, do you really need that extra light with only 11” of water? Also, you could probably achieve pretty close to what you’re getting out of the 400w 20ks if you lower your reflectors down for the 175s.

[Charlie Davidson]

I was looking in lighting forum , for the table of PAR values. Can you point it out... I want to see pars on 14k and 20k ushios, and verses elec. and mag ballast
The reason I like having my lights high is , I can look at clams from above :D
I think it was the aquaconnect twon recommended.. (its price is alittle steep for testing) :eek2:

[mr294]

http://www.reeflightinginfo.arvixe.com/

[Charlie Davidson]

Thats the one i am trying. Doesn't work for me.. Maybe hs something to do with windows Vista..??
I think in general-- if you go from 14k to 20 you drop PAR greatly... (right?)

[surfnvb7]

doesn't look like there is any data on the ushio 14k, but they do have the ushio 20k results.

ushio 20k (175w)
mag ballast: 37 PPFD
icecap electronic ballast: 35 PPFD

ushio 10k (175w)
mag ballast: 75 PPFD

iwasaki 14k (175w)
mag ballast: 71 PPFD
icecap electronic ballast: 86 PPFD

XM10k (175w)
mag ballast: 62 PPFD

XM 20k (400w)
mag ballast: 128 PPFD

[mr294]

What browser are you using? I have trouble with mozilla but internet explorer works fine.

Bulb ratings are so subjective that it's hard to make any definitive statements. A couple examples… the XM 20k puts out more PAR than the XM 15k and the 175w Iwasaki 15k puts out more par than most 175w 10k’s. Manufacturer’s Kelvin ratings are often close to useless IMO.

[Charlie Davidson]

IE.. I get a message saying something about a counter file needing to be created.. your running Vista, i take it,,,
the 20k verses thing.. you are sayin in general that -- one can not make general statments on bulbs,, right? :D :lol:
Man, this is alot of work.. ;) (ARO elec ballast $90)

[mr294]

I'm running 2000 at work and XP at home, haven't made the jump to vista yet.

I would say that in general you are correct about my statement on generalizations.