MH bulbs

[Ziggy953]

I'm using 10,000K bulbs from Greatdel. I've used the 14,00ks that he had as well but wasn't happy with them. I switched to the 10,000k and have seen a marked increase in growth on my corals. When I was using the XMs (I paid $75 plus shipping each) I was very disapointed in the light I was getting and I really didn't notice much coral growth.

I'm on my second set of 10,000K bulbs from ebay now (I change my bulbs every 6-8 months) and I'm very pleased with how my tank looks and the growth I'm getting from my corals.

[cmor1701d]

Scott, your fixture came with Coralife MH bulbs as did mine. I replaced them with cheap eBay bulbs in January (10k). I don't have a meter to check them but the corals I got from Ziggy are doing great under them. I'm considering replacing them at the end of June (6 months) instead of waiting a year like I did with the Coralife's.

My eBay bulbs were like $10.00 vs. $60.00 each for the name brand bulbs. Replacing 3 bulbs every 6 months vs. a year is worth it to me for the $150.00 savings.

Next bonus I may buy a light meter

[ccCapt]

Originally Posted by Ziggy953

I'm on my second set of 10,000K bulbs from ebay now (I change my bulbs every 6-8 months) and I'm very pleased with how my tank looks and the growth I'm getting from my corals.

That's cool. I probably would have stuck with the 14k bulbs if I was happy with them. I tried XM 10k's and didn't like the color so I never really thought about trying them (10k) from Ebay.
After my bad experience with the 1st one blowing out, then Sanjay telling me about their "quality", I figured lighting is pretty important so I'll stick with the more proven bulbs.
Bottom line is you got to stick with what is successful for you.

[ccCapt]

I got my bulbs in today (and a free t-shirt..lol). 1st impression...WOW! These bulbs are B R I G H T. Here's some pics comparing the bulbs. My camera isn't the greatest, but all the pics were taken with the same settings. All I did was resize them. I took pics of the Hamiltons, turned them off. Put in the Iwasaki's, let them warm up for about 15 mins, then took the pics.

Here is the Hamilton 14K.


Iwasaki 15K



Hamilton 14K


Iwasaki 15K

[Ziggy953]

Very nice!! I like the new look!

[cmor1701d]

That's a pretty big difference. How old are the Hamilton bulbs?
Re-take the photo in a couple of weeks after the new bulbs reached their burn in period (about 100 hours?).

[ccCapt]

The Hamiltons are exactly 1 yr old. I get replacement bulbs every year for my birthday

Yeah, I'm thinking they may "blue-up" a little more after they break in. They are very white now. I'll take a few more pics in a couple weeks to see if there is much of a change.

[cmor1701d]

Happy Birthday Larry

Mine was the week before.

I'm thinking of heading up to TooFishy after lunch for some 89¢ base rock, a royal gramma and perhaps a new clam. Though with gas prices approaching $4.00 I keep re-thinking that idea

[mandown123]

looks great. is this the first time you're going with iwasaki?

[ccCapt]

cmor - Thanks. Mine was last weekend

mandown - Yes, first time with the Iwasaki's. I've used Coralife 5K, Coralife 55K, Coralife 65K, XM 10K, XM 15K, Ebay cheapos (I think they were AqauMacz..or somthing like that), Hamilton 14K and now these Iwasaki 15K.