Discussion on 10K 250W MH mogul bulbs

[michaelg]

I ended up getting the bulb from tridacnareef.com

Should be here in a couple days.

 

Michael

[Sph2sail]

Wow is that bulb blue.  Here ya go, Beltwaybandit.  The bulb was burned in for over 20 minutes during our officer's meeting at my home for all to see the difference.  I'm still heading towards the Iwasaki, as it seems more natural.  Check out the shadow line from the left middle down to the lower right.  That's the shadow of the center brace caused by the Iwasaki bulb.

 

s.

[BeltwayBandit]

Wowzer... Did you try it without your actinics?  I definately don't want to add actinic after looking at that.. at least til I switch bulbs.  I get a much whiter appearance without any actinic.

 

BB

 

Thanks for the update.

[Sph2sail]

Yeah, we tried it without the 03 Actinics on.  Still very blue.

 

Check this link out from DIYreef.com.  It shows similar results using various bulbs.  I found this page from the link MichaelG posted earlier in this thread.

 

I am getting more and more impressed with the CoralVue 10K bulbs after looking at these various images.

 

I must re-emphasize how much my corals like the Iwasaki's.  Unreal what polyp extension and growth is these days.  Just over a month of running them and you definately notice a difference.  The 03 actinics do a great job balancing with enhanced flourescing and whiteness.  May be nice for it to be a bit whiter (ala the Coralvue 10Ks) but I still want to do what I can to mimic the solar results.

 

Anyone have a 250W mogul Coralvue 10K bulb they can loan me to test with my setup?

 

steve

[ReefMon]

Check out JB's page on 250W bulbs  Cnidarian Reef.com 250 W bulb's

He's got more options than Basken Robbins got flavors!

[Sph2sail]

Glenn/Michael, look at the PAR tests from Glenn's link to cnidarianreef!  Down at the bottom of the page below all the pictures.

 

They put the CoralVue 10K way down in the middle of the pack and the XM 10K right up there w/the Iwasaki.  I thought it was the other way around?  Are these old tests compared to new data/bulb from CoralVue?  Who to believe?

 

s

[michaelg]

You got me on that one.  No idea.  The tests for the CV bulbs were done by an individual as well.....  The link Glenn provided was nice because a lot of different ballasts were tested as well.  To bad no details on the tests, or if the numbers are just an accumulation of what others have done.  The photos are all on Joe's tank though.  I am a bit skeptical about how the bulbs jump all over the place with different ballasts.  From Sanjay's tests, they didn't behave that way- were pretty consistent though the values differed a bit.  A bit scary how much the e-ballasts overdrive a 250W bulb by 80 plus watts.  Not sure what to think about it.  My new bulb will be here today-though it is a 400W bulb...not many people have done the same degree of testing on 400Watters so don't know what to expect.

[ReefMon]

I've been following this for several weeks now, if you have an extra hour or so here's the 24 page thread on Reefcentral.

 

250 Watt MH testing

[michaelg]

DUDE- give us the synopse!  Anyhow, I fired up my new bulb last night.  

2 quick comments- it sure looks a lot brighter (though my old bulb was 13 months old) and I mean a lot brighter.  The corals also look more colorful (blues and pinks especially).  Will see how it is looking after burning in for 100 hrs.  Oh yeah- the feed reactor is pretty cool- 1 unit with 2 chambers.  Pretty neat design- would be a rather easy DIY project with some PVC parts, a few nipples, and some acrylic tube.  My cultures of t-isocrysis and rotifers are coming next week.

 

Michael