To experienced MH users..

[KahluaZzZ]

All right, i'm tired of my Giesemann Nova 2. I checked out some other Giesemann, and even if they're quiet, light, rust proof and all, they're weak...they just don't shoot enough light. The PAR of a 10000k isn't much higher than the 20000k i have. I've checked 150 and 250w ones. I'm done buying overpriced Giesemann.
I dunno but the mogul bulbs looks more powerful than the HQI, even tough it's supposed to be other way around. I might be wrong...need comments.
So..i could get an Icecap + assembly parts + XM 250w 10000W for 275$ tax in. ( Like 255 USD with our new, lowered tax of 14% ) ...
But...for like 60 buck more there's a Coralife 250w HQI + actinics included that i can order online, but i can't compare...it's not in store.
If you guys can tell me your opinions on single MH of 250w it could help me decide.

 

[wayne]

Umm, I quite like my gieseman, I have that + a Bresslein, given they're the same ballasts , and the same bulbs they are unsurprisingly the same output. So to define them as weak is a bit odd, it's a bulb + ballast + reflector combo in some kind of fixture, and the different brand names are for different fixtures, ... but to asnwer the q's.....
The PAR of a 10000k isn't much higher than the 20000k i have - what is it. How old are the bulbs, and what sort of bulbs? Do you have a lux meter or a PAR meter? A lux meter is far cheaper, and will be very useful in these situations if you don't have one. While you aren't strictly after LUX, the real differences in the ratios of LUX to PAR are pretty meaningless, and rarely worth bothering with. Considering how many people swap 60 - 100 buck bulbs round willy nilly, I'm surprised more people don't have even the cheapest 50 buck lux meters to actually measure how much their bulbs have degraded form new (especially 20K, 50K owners)

I dunno but the mogul bulbs looks more powerful than the HQI, even tough it's supposed to be other way around. I might be wrong...need comments - no you don't need comments, go to Sanjay Yoshis webpage and compare some setups side by side ......

SANJAY's REEF AQUARIUMS

Look in the reeflighting archives. Frankly without knowing what bulb and ballast is in the coralife it's anybodys guess how the two shape up - assuming it is a basic HQI with an AB bulb and a non electronic ballast, the two fixtures are utterly similar.

A big point I would bear in mind is that Sanjay only has stuff from new bulbs published , but there is data around on aged bulbs. It doesn't take long to drop 30% of output, a year , maybe for 10K, 6 months for 20K and 3 months for 1000 Watt 20K! So beware comparing a year old 10K to a new 20K.

Actinics - up to you.

 

[KahluaZzZ]

Tnx Wayne, i was waiting for your comments

You're right i should get a lux/par meter.

My bulb is old. Like 1y old..yup...i know. I don't see any differences in lighting, but i know the eye can't see a change until the bulb is very very old.
I read on wetwebmedia that some stats are exagerated and a "correct" lifetime of some working bulbs can be up to 3 years before it's completely useless. The lucky frags/corals that are higher on the top of my reef are thriving under the MH compared to others...that's why i wanted another more powerful bulb. Also my 77g is like 24" deep.
Oh my bulb is a Giesemann megachrome 20000k 150w HQI running 9h per day.
Tnx for the link
Actinics - useless i know. I replaced mine from my tank with 6700k fluorescents..and under mh i got the same vivid colors that i had with actinics.

 

[wayne]

Yes a lux meter is a really nice thing to have. A par meter is better, but frankly for most people a lux meter is just as useful as a rough guide. One year is a long time for MH. As the bulb ages the metal halides in the bulb that glow 'blue' degrade faster than those that glow 'red' so you get a shift in colour towards red, plus an overall drop in intensity.

But over 24 inches in water then 250 watts might be the way to go. There is plenty, plenty evidence though that to maintain colour, intensity you work equally hard on water quality. Are you running carbon 24/7 for example, have you done any of the standard tests for optical clarity - if you have 2 pots, one of RO, one of tank water, and look from above onto white carboard are they equally clear, or do you see a yellow colour (caused by organics that DON'T degrade into then nitrogen cycle), and so on..... yellowing really inhibits light transmissability in water

lots to think about, but at one year you likely do need new bulbs.

 

[Joe Fish]

I'm assuming you want a bulb with the higher PAR reading?

 

[KahluaZzZ]

i did .