46.5 VHO Bulbs, is there something wrong with em?

[grav]

I have a 150g high acrylic tank. Wanted to run 250 MH bulbs but was worried about heat. Started with 6 "regular" (10k 50/50 and 03 antinic 48 inch bulbs and used them for a year. Everything did very well, softies, LPS, SPS.... everything.

Didn't like the top sticking out so far (tank is an island) so decided to swith to 46.5 inch bulbs and rework the canpoie.

Everything is sliding down hill now.

LPS (lower in tank) faiding, losing a Pacillipora slowly, other SPS nolonger thriving, just getting by.

Do these corallife (right? there is only one mfg that makes em) 46.5 inch bulbs put out less Par??? Anyone else have the same or similar results? Should I switch back (at a cost of $40 * 6)

Thanks in advance.

 

[Anonymous]

I used URI's 46.5" bulbs for five years in combination with 175W MH's. I had two 110W VHO's and two 175W MH's over a 75G tank. SPS, clams, and everything else did fine.

I don't think you lose much. It's a few watts per bulb.

Louey

 

[minibowmatt]

I have a 150g high acrylic tank. Wanted to run 250 MH bulbs but was worried about heat. Started with 6 "regular" (10k 50/50 and 03 antinic 48 inch bulbs and used them for a year. Everything did very well, softies, LPS, SPS.... everything.

Didn't like the top sticking out so far (tank is an island) so decided to swith to 46.5 inch bulbs and rework the canpoie.

Everything is sliding down hill now.

LPS (lower in tank) faiding, losing a Pacillipora slowly, other SPS nolonger thriving, just getting by.

Do these corallife (right? there is only one mfg that makes em) 46.5 inch bulbs put out less Par??? Anyone else have the same or similar results? Should I switch back (at a cost of $40 * 6)

Thanks in advance.

What do you mean "regular" bulbs? were they PC, or NO (normal output)?
Did you upgrade your ballast when you switched bulbs? By chance are you running VHO bulbs on a NO ballast? << In this case, yes, you are not getting near the electricity to ignite the bulbs so they are not putting out the par...

 

[grav]

Sorry, by "regular" I was talking about 48inch bulbs. Yes I have VHO ballasts.

The 48s where much whiter, these have a more pinkish color.

 

[Anonymous]

IIRC, the 48" bulb is 130 watts. The 46.5" is 110 watts. I doubt that slight decrease in wattage has caused your problems.

Louey

 

[minibowmatt]

Hmmm.... maybe a bad batch of bulbs?

 

[grav]

I think they are all 110w.... is is the same ballasts driving them, so the output should be the same either way, but I think they are all stated at 110.

Since only coral life makes them in 46.5, and those bulbs are a little different in to the eye, (though they claim to be 10k, 03 and 50/50) I was thinking more along the lines of different color.

Any other ideas?

thanks all

 

[Len]

I've only used the 46.5" actinics and those worked fine. I don't know if the daylight bulbs are different. I'm guessing it might be a quality control issue (I don't see why they'd change ingredients for the two different tubes). But these are just wild guesses.

FWIW, the output is the same, according to their specifications and also based on how much my icecap draws the same power.

 

[Len]

Oh, URI also makes the 46.5". Maybe you should give those a shot. I've always like URI's bulbs.