Need Suggestion on Kelvin Rating

[reefs4life]

I currently have 2-20,000K DE 175 watt metal halide bubs running on my fish tank. I've had them for a while now so I definitely think it's time to change them. I don't really know if I should keep the rating the same. I have a 75 gallon reef tank with lots of caves and a couple fish but mainly going to be inverts and corals. Would like some suggestions and also where I can find 175 watt DE bulbs since I've mostly seen mogul base 175 watt bulbs only. Thank you

 

[House of Laughter]

I wound go with the iwasaki 14k SE bulb in 250 - nice crisp white with a blue overtone.

HTH

House

 

[Killerdrgn]

I would go with the iwasaki 14k SE bulb in 250 - nice crisp white with a blue overtone.

HTH

House

??? but he has a 175w DE bulb system.

I currently have 2-20,000K DE 175 watt metal halide bulbs .... Would like some suggestions and also where I can find 175 watt DE bulbs ...

Wow I can't belive how slim the pickings are for 175W DE bulbs. What brand bulbs do you have right now? Might help in nailing down what to suggest.

 

[reefs4life]

yea but I have 175 watt lighting fixtures so I'm going to need 175 watt bulbs

 

[reefs4life]

I really have no clue what the brand is. The bulbs came with the fixtures so I'm clueless about the brand

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

I like the 14k bulbs. The coloration is nicely mixed between white and blue.

 

[cybermeez]

What they look like will depend greatly on the ballast you are running them on. I was running 150w 14,000k Current bulbs in a Current fixture and they looked to my eye to throw off a nice balance white light. I upgraded to a 250w fixture with Coralife ballasts. The 10,000k Coralife bulbs the fixture came with were too yellow for my eye. I'd seen the Iwasaki 250w 14,000k bulbs running in an Icecap ballast and it was a nice whiteish blue so I go a couple for my fixture. They look too yellow for my taste on my Coralife ballasts so for the first time I'm going to give 20,000k bulbs a try. So, the moral of the story is, despite its kelvin rating, how a bulb really looks is going to be dependent on your ballast. If you can find some one who has the same fixure you have they can probably give you the most accurate assesment.

 

[reefs4life]

Thanks for the replies guys. I'm searching for 175 watt double-ended bulbs but I can't seem to find any. Anyone know where I can find them?

 

[tommy818]

try championlighting.com.i have coralife 250de ballasts.came with 10k bulbs and they were a little yellow.i switched to phoenix 14k great color

 

[prattreef]

AFAIK, there is only 1 175 W DE lamp around and that is the one you most likely have. Someone posted about this many months ago and I didn't believe they existed at all. I'd try to figure out which ballasts you have and see if they might be OK with 150W lamps. If so, you have lots of nice options, if not you have one choice only.

 

[reefs4life]

Well I'm only 17 and I don't really make that much money to spend on my tank lol but I managed to buy 2-175 watt Odyssea all-in-one lighting fixtures which are kinda like the Coralife all-in-one lighting fixtures but they're cheaper. Even though they are cheaper they've got the job done for the past 2 years so I don't mind them it's now time to change the bulbs so I don't know where to get replacements. And like you guys have been asking, I don't really know what kind of ballast they really have because everything came together so I don't really have a clue that's why I'm looking for help on here

 

[tommy818]

i would try to get my hand on an old 150 wt bulb and try it or call championlighting and ask advice from someone.there very helpful

 

[jackson6745]

It's been a long time since I ran 175's but I liked the ushio 10k with VHO actinics. There are many new bulbs now. Today, if I had to choose a 175 bulb I would probably go with XM 10k with actinics.

There really isn't a bluer 175w bulb that I would use alone because they tend to be a little dim.

HTH

 

[tommy818]

yeah but he has 175 double ended

 

[jackson6745]

DOH!!!! Disregard my last post. I didn't even know they were making DE 175w bulbs...LOL

 

[reefs4life]

Omg...this isn't really helping lol. My fixtures hold DOUBLE-ENDED 175 WATT METAL HALIDE BULBS. Someone please help me. Maybe...does anyone have an old 150 watt bulb I can try, like what's the worst that could happen?

 

[Sean]

I've never seen 175 DE bulbs?????
I don't have an answer for you
but the bulb has to match the ballast.

I found this for you, can't tell you if it's good or bad.
http://cgi.ebay.com/175W-175-watt-1...rium-Bulb_W0QQitemZ350044398584QQcmdZViewItem

 

[rgun2515]

Omg...this isn't really helping lol. My fixtures hold DOUBLE-ENDED 175 WATT METAL HALIDE BULBS. Someone please help me. Maybe...does anyone have an old 150 watt bulb I can try, like what's the worst that could happen?

Did you try this?

http://www.aquatraders.com/

http://www.aquatraders.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=134