Who makes the best brand 175watt MH bulb?

salty3 · #1 10/29/2007, 09:16 PM

I'm getting ready to order a new 175 watt SE bulb, but which one? Who makes the best light? Oh this will be on a m57 ballast. If you don't know which is best could you atleast tell me which ones to stay away from? reflux, coralvue, XM, iwasaki, hamilton, coralife? Thanks for any help.

salty3 · #2 10/29/2007, 09:25 PM

Anyone? I know other poeple have 175watt MH what is your experience with the ones you use?

Dansbak · #3 10/29/2007, 10:08 PM

salty3,
I have used the 14K Hamilton for about a year now and I am every happy with the performance. The 14K is a good choice it you are only running Metal Halides and not separate actinic VHO’s. I will say mine are starting to color shift into a bright crisp white ~10K, but remember I have had mine over a year. Overall, I have been very pleased with the bulbs and I’m going to order some more They recommend changing them ~12 months. The specs are: Bright ice white blue appearance, full spectrum consisting primarily of high spikes in the 440-460 nanometer range with additional smaller spikes in 550, 590 and 690 nm range. Get desired color effects without the need to add actinic blue fluorescents to your metal halide. -Kyle

kimoyo · #4 10/29/2007, 10:17 PM

The iwasaki 14k is the stuff. I've had one for about a week and am very pleased. Ridiculous par, better than a lot of 250W bulbs out there and great color. Gives off a crisp white with a good blue hint. My 2 vho's makes it bluer and just right for me. The color isn't 20K's but is bluer than a t5 aquablue if you've seen those before. I'm running them on an icecap ballast and I don't think they perform as well as with other ballasts.

Radiography14 · #5 10/29/2007, 10:33 PM

10k xm chrisp white supplement with t5 deep blue...its tight

oct2274 · #6 10/29/2007, 10:42 PM

the iwasaki is probably the best and isn't a 14k, it's a 15k

here is a link:
http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewIt...ct~MB4711.html

you might be able to find it cheaper elsewhere

dc_909 · #7 10/29/2007, 11:44 PM

Yep, but get from here

http://coralreefecosystems.com/

kimoyo · #8 10/29/2007, 11:56 PM

Some places list the iwasaki as 15K other places 14K, no idea which is correct. Premium aquatics has them listed as 14K I believe, kinda confusing.

cutegecko3 · #9 10/30/2007, 02:28 AM

iwasaki is the best,always was,and always will be unless they start making them here.hahaha.

kysard1 · #10 10/30/2007, 07:30 PM

The iwasaki 15k (its actually 14k) gives more PAR than any 250W driven 14K bulb. But you need an electronic ballast for it to reach its potential.

salty3 · #11 10/31/2007, 12:32 PM

Thanks everyone. I just asked Hello lights for a run down on the par spec if these bulbs are ran on a m-57 ballast. The bulbs I asked about are the coralvue 10K, hamilton 14k, iwasaki 15k and xm 10k. Here are the results according to hellolights
Bulb PPFD
coralvue 10k N/A
Hamilton 14K 29
XM 10K 62
iwasaki 15K 71

Hello lights also sent me a cupon for 10% off from 7:00 to 11:59 today, and there is free shipping on all halide bulbs, so I'm getting one tonight. I decided to get the XM 10K only because I dont have time to get the extra 20.00 into my paypal account and still get the deal. So I'll get the XM now and the iwasaki next time.

salty3 · #12 10/31/2007, 12:53 PM

Ok I just lokked at the link DC gave and it said the aqualine blue had a PPFD of 73 which is higfher than the iwasaki so I asked hellolights and they said the aqualine only has a PPFD of 53. Which one would be right. I scrolled down and all the rest matched up with hellolights.

markandkristen · #13 10/31/2007, 01:05 PM

salty from experience..... the xm 10k is a good bulb on a electronic ballast. but on a magnetic m57 your tank is going to have a yellow hue.
if you are only running halides i would opt for the hammys or iwaski.

just my two cents

oct2274 · #14 10/31/2007, 01:40 PM

i wouldn't recommend a 10k bulb unless you have suppliments to offset the yellow. Some people like the look, but most do not.

GrandeGixxer · #15 10/31/2007, 02:28 PM

I am running Reeflux 10k with 2x39w T5 Actinic+ G-mann bulbs. It is by far the best color combo that I have ever had on a tank. I absolutely love it. These bulbs were highly reccomended to be by many people. They are not too expensive either.

ElDiabloPollo · #16 10/31/2007, 02:38 PM

you can use sanjays light study to cross check ppfd

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

ElDiabloPollo · #17 10/31/2007, 02:40 PM

Also, check this out.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/12/review

werdlone · #18 10/31/2007, 09:47 PM

the iwasaki is the best 175watt MH bulb hands down. It has the highest PAR or PPFD and is closer to the performance of a 250watt bulb. A very crisp white color. I have had 10K XM bulb and liked it, but I have seen the iwasaki and it will be my next purchase

salty3 · #19 10/31/2007, 10:10 PM

Thanks for the great links. Well I ordered the XM for now and will try a iwasaki, hamilton, or aqualine bushke next. The list form the link said the aqualine has the best PPFD of 73. I need to do some research on all the meaning of the numbers and figure out my next bulb choice, well I got about a year to figure it out I guess. If anyone has some good links with more info please add them here. I love all the info I can get. Thanks again everyone.