Going to upgrade to Metal Halide - what type?
 

I have a 75 gallon reef that is running 390W of Power Compact lights.
I'm going to upgrade to Metal Halide and have decided on 2 - 175W 10K
bulbs.

There seem to be various types of sockets for bulb out there (i.e.
mogul, dual socket, etc) What is best for reef and why?

I'm looking at a retro kit that has 2 mogul sockets, but am not sure
if these are the best.

Also, I've heard that halide bulbs need to be replaced every 6 months.
But I've seen some vendors claim their bulbs are good for 12 months.
Are their certain types of bulbs that last longer?


Thanks in advance for any advice,
Scott

I would take a look at the new IceCap 150-watt pendants:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...hreadid=317607

"ScottK" wrote in message
om...
I have a 75 gallon reef that is running 390W of Power Compact lights.
I'm going to upgrade to Metal Halide and have decided on 2 - 175W 10K
bulbs.

There seem to be various types of sockets for bulb out there (i.e.
mogul, dual socket, etc) What is best for reef and why?

I'm looking at a retro kit that has 2 mogul sockets, but am not sure
if these are the best.

Also, I've heard that halide bulbs need to be replaced every 6 months.
But I've seen some vendors claim their bulbs are good for 12 months.
Are their certain types of bulbs that last longer?


Thanks in advance for any advice,
Scott

Hi Scott,

First off, let me congratulate you on your decision/ability to move to MH.
My level of enjoyment increased 10 fold when I was "finally" able to put MH
on my reef!

I went with the mogul base bulbs and as they say, hind sight is 20/20. The
DE (double ended) HQI bulbs may be more expensive but the appear to be a
better quality and I have heard (not read) that they last longer.

Also, speaking from experience, a mogul base has a down side... The
position of the bulbs is not uniform and sometimes, you cant get the bulb to
sit "just" the way you would like it.

I'll admit, I am a picky SOB, but when my bulb is cocked to an angle it just
bugs me. I might not be able to see a difference in the tank but something
just doesnt sit right with me when I cant make a $100.00 bulb fit straight
in to a socket.

FWIW, my next MH purchase will be DE...

hth

~Mort


P.S. I recently saw a reef that was BEE EEE A - U-tiful and all it had was
DE hamilton 14k bulbs...

MH bulbs are good for 12 months. And Sanjay Joshi just did
a presentation at MACNA last month (that I missed!) and
apparently his studies indicate they are actually good even
longer. It is our eyes that tell us they aren't good anymore.

I'd like to hear more on that before I buy into that concept.

Marc


ScottK wrote:

I have a 75 gallon reef that is running 390W of Power Compact lights.
I'm going to upgrade to Metal Halide and have decided on 2 - 175W 10K
bulbs.

There seem to be various types of sockets for bulb out there (i.e.
mogul, dual socket, etc) What is best for reef and why?

I'm looking at a retro kit that has 2 mogul sockets, but am not sure
if these are the best.

Also, I've heard that halide bulbs need to be replaced every 6 months.
But I've seen some vendors claim their bulbs are good for 12 months.
Are their certain types of bulbs that last longer?


Thanks in advance for any advice,
Scott

--
Personal Page:
http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

MH bulbs are good for 12 months. And Sanjay Joshi just did
a presentation at MACNA last month (that I missed!) and
apparently his studies indicate they are actually good even
longer. It is our eyes that tell us they aren't good anymore.

Hi Marc.
I think that they last for 12 months is too much of a blanket statment.. I was
pretty sure that radium 20KK lamps (per Sanjay) had the PAR of a 40 watt
florescent at 6 months. and many of the other higher K lamps also did not hold
their RAR for long. Some of the 10Ks will go a year, and iwasakis hold PAR much
longer at 18-24 months..

So how do you know when its time to change the bulbs?

"Marc Levenson" wrote in message
...
MH bulbs are good for 12 months. And Sanjay Joshi just did
a presentation at MACNA last month (that I missed!) and
apparently his studies indicate they are actually good even
longer. It is our eyes that tell us they aren't good anymore.

I'd like to hear more on that before I buy into that concept.

Marc


I would let the tank decide when to change, since the tank is taking in the
ray.

CapFusion,...

Rod, I tend to agree with you. Originally, there were only
a few spectrums to choose from. Now that has changed
considerably.

Marc


Rod wrote:

Hi Marc.
I think that they last for 12 months is too much of a blanket statment.. I was
pretty sure that radium 20KK lamps (per Sanjay) had the PAR of a 40 watt
florescent at 6 months. and many of the other higher K lamps also did not hold
their RAR for long. Some of the 10Ks will go a year, and iwasakis hold PAR much
longer at 18-24 months..

--
Personal Page:
http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

Guess I'll add my two pennies to this one.

Options are in my opinion :

Figure out what animals your going to keep then get the equipment (lights
included) to match.
or
Get whatever equipment (lights included) many currently recommend then
choose similar animals that they have or at least try to get those that
match the equipment you ended up with.
or
Use the Toss a coin method... Ignore it all and just slap it together and
watch what happens. Some very interesting tanks have happened this way.

I guess I'd want to know what's going on in the tank and *why* you are
"upgrading" before attempting to answer the "what is better" question. For
examples- You want to move from softies to stonies, you just don't think you
have enough light cause the Jones's have Xillion watts/gallon, you just
hate the color of your current lights, feel/heard/read that halides are just
better, etc. The reasons for the changes should help dictate your choices
more than anything else in my opinion.

One thing that was made crystal clear to me some time ago was that using
Halides for more than several hours a day is a waste. If what you want to
actually keep do not require them at all your wasting even more. Not to
mention all the other changes (some positive and some negative) in a tank
that go along with changing lighting. So considering that many use them
8-14 hrs a day and replace them at the year mark **Blatant general statement
that just happens to be often real near the truth*... one might just get 18
months out of those same bulbs if only on 3-6 hrs/day. Keep in mind of
course that some types just typically last longer than others.

Ok, enough of that , I'll hush now.

--
--

My Web Site: http://showcase.netins.net/web/reefpage/


"Marc Levenson" wrote in message
m...
Rod, I tend to agree with you. Originally, there were only
a few spectrums to choose from. Now that has changed
considerably.

Marc


Rod wrote:

Hi Marc.
I think that they last for 12 months is too much of a blanket statment..
I was
pretty sure that radium 20KK lamps (per Sanjay) had the PAR of a 40 watt
florescent at 6 months. and many of the other higher K lamps also did
not hold
their RAR for long. Some of the 10Ks will go a year, and iwasakis hold
PAR much
longer at 18-24 months..

--
Personal Page:
http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

Hi Marc.
I think that they last for 12 months is too much of a blanket statment.. I was
pretty sure that radium 20KK lamps (per Sanjay) had the PAR of a 40 watt
florescent at 6 months. and many of the other higher K lamps also did not hold
their RAR for long. Some of the 10Ks will go a year, and iwasakis hold PAR much
longer at 18-24 months..

Ive just replaced my 20k radiums after 18 months. The spectrum change
over 18 months was not noticeble..the intensity much the same (less
that 5%). Thats with 12hrs /day useage. A LFS have a set of 400w
raduims over there coral tank that havent been replaced for 5 years!