New 125 pics

[BL1]

I think they both look good and have ups and downs as far as looks go. I can't decide which bulb I like better.

I've read that your corals will grow faster under 10k than 20k, that'd be interesting to see.

 

[PRC]

I like it. I think it gives the tank a little more pop

 

[Bifferwine]

I like the before pictures better. I'm not a fan of overly blue tanks. And that's too blue, IMO.

 

[OhNoNemo]

Great Tank,i really like the 20k,
yeah i really like the blue look,gives it a deep depth look which i like..

 

[ccCapt]

I like the before pictures better. I'm not a fan of overly blue tanks. And that's too blue, IMO.

I don't like them either. I'm used to white light and this is just way too blue for my taste. I'm going to run them a few days and see if the grow on me...but I doubt it. ;)

 

[ccCapt]

I just picked up the PAR meter. In case anyone was wondering, in Northeast PA at the end of August when the sun is highest in the sky, this is the kind of PAR the sun is putting out.

Later I'll take some PAR reading in my tank with both 250w XM 20k's and XM 10k's.

 

[fastrd400]

I like the look of the 10K bulbs better I think. The 20K appears like the color washes out on some stuff. Just wondering, have you tried the 14K or the 15K at all? And what's your experience with them?

 

[ccCapt]

The only bulbs I tried in 250w are the XM's.

Here's the results of a bunch of 175w bulbs I tested.

 

[fastrd400]

I've been running the 14K Phoenix bulbs on my 250's. I was considering moving to the 15K Iwasaki bulbs after reading the good things to reported about them.

 

[dcantucson]

I like the 10K better. Just looks more natural to me.

 

[ccCapt]

I've been running the 14K Phoenix bulbs on my 250's. I was considering moving to the 15K Iwasaki bulbs after reading the good things to reported about them.

The PAR on both the 250w Phoenix 14k DE and 250w Iwasaki 15k DE are virtually the same as the 175w Iwasaki 15k. I have those results above. The 175w Iwasaki 15K is a freak bulb. It puts out more PAR than lots of 250w bulbs.

This is from Sanjays site. For DE bulbs, use the results for Yes on shield since a UV shield must be used on DE bulbs. Sanjay tested with and without the shield
250w Phoenix 14k DE performance
250w Iwasaki 15k DE performance
175w Iwasaki 15k SE performance

 

[fastrd400]

The PAR on both the 250w Phoenix 14k DE and 250w Iwasaki 15k DE are virtually the same as the 175w Iwasaki 15k. I have those results above. The 175w Iwasaki 15K is a freak bulb. It puts out more PAR than lots of 250w bulbs.

This is from Sanjays site. For DE bulbs, use the results for Yes on shield since a UV shield must be used on DE bulbs. Sanjay tested with and without the shield
250w Phoenix 14k DE performance
250w Iwasaki 15k DE performance
175w Iwasaki 15k SE performance

Great info, thank you.

 

[ccCapt]

Here are the results of my PAR test. I measured it the same as the test I did for the 175w bulbs.
1st # is the reading above the water about 6" below the bulb. The meter goes up to 1999. The 250w XM 10k pegged it, so I don't know how high that really goes.
2nd # is 1" below the water surface.
3rd # is 12" below the water, about 1/2 down in my tank.
4th # is on the bottom, which is about 24" of water.

XM 20K~~~1280~~~375~~~220~~~155
XM 10K~~1999+~~1060~~~520~~~340

 

[rwynn]

I'm a bit of a novice on the technical end of this, but higher PAR is better right? The 10k seems the clear and away winner here.

 

[ccCapt]

Yes, the higher PAR the better. Also, they all draw the same amount of power, as in the 250w vs 250w and 175w vs 175w. Even tho a bulb may put out 2x the PAR or more, it still uses the same amount of electricity as the lower PAR output bulb.

 

[rwynn]

So that would be a very big gain. Awesome research, thanks!

 

[BL1]

Capt, does the type of ballast you're using have an effect on the PAR output of the bulb?

 

[ccCapt]

Yes. Some bulbs put out more PAR on magnetic ballasts, some more on electronic ballasts and some bulbs will only run on HQI ballasts.

 

[BL1]

what's the difference between electronic and HQI? the description for mine says: 2x External 250W Electronic HQI Metal Halide Ballast with Power Switch

 

[PRC]

Good stuff CCapt. I just bought a Hamilton fixture used. In my old lights I had the XM bulbs, looks like I'm going back to them or the Iwasaki when I need new bulbs.