New Bulbs - 175W Iwasaki 15000K

[neilanh]

So, I was overdue for new MH bulbs for my reef tank. The past year I've been running the Reeflux 12,000K bulbs. Growth has been good, I've been pretty happy with them, except that they're bluer than I wanted my tank to be.

So, I set out to do some research. Iwasaki 15000K bulbs were killing all the other 175W bulbs (As well as many 250W bulbs) in terms of PAR output and looked to be closer to what I wanted (well, "looked" as best as I can tell from photos.)

I use SE bulbs, by the way.

The price tag was a little concerning, but I've always been told you get what you pay for. Well, I happened upon a guy on RC selling a Brand New Set that he bought, then decided to upgrade to higher output lighting. He sold me these with no burn time on them at all for a really good deal.

I took a series of shots during the switch. Take a look and let me know what you think.

First - here's the tank on the Reeflux 12000K right before the switch.

Then, I swapped out just the right side bulb and took a shot with 1 of each. I made no adjustments to my camera prior to taking this shot. Look how much brighter the right side is!

Finally, with both of the Iwasaki's running. Again, no adjustment to the camera.

Then, I went and adjusted the white balance on my camera a little bit to get it to match closer to the eye. I left it alone in previous pics for a direct 1 to 1 comparison, even though the camera wasn't picking it up exactly the way it looks.

First impressions

• WOW, these are a TON brighter.
• The color is much closer to what I'm wanting (Crisp white is what I'm after) - Time will tell if it holds as the bulbs burn in. These are much whiter, I do see a tint of yellow in them, and maybe slight hints of blue. We'll see what they look like after a few weeks of burning in

So, now I'm reducing my MH hours down to 5 hours per day, then will slowly push them back up to 8 over a few weeks to give the tank time to adjust to the new light.

 

[JustOneMore20]

Wow, that is a heck of alot brighter! Your tank looks great!

 

[spoonman]

I wish I knew the names of the things that you have in there so I could tell you how much better they look. The large orangeish thing on the upper left of the picture looks completely different. And you can really tell the difference on the (overflow box?) on the top left of the picture. The white deposits on it show up with the new lights. Big difference!

 

[thincat]

Great comparison shots. Nice reef setup...

 

[ccCapt]

Tank looks great. As the bulbs burn in they will get whiter. Dunno if you will actually notice it tho cause it is very slight. You can really tell the difference when you change them the next time. The new bulbs will look slightly more blue....so in other owrds, you are seeing them more blue now than they will be when they are burned in.
Also, the bulbs are good for at least 18 months.

 

[neilanh]

Thanks Larry.

I thought MH had a 12 month lifetime before they started to shift. I've been running those reefluxs for 13 months, and I bought them used with 2-3 months burn on them already, so they were about due either way.

 

[InfernoST]

That's a Huge difference, looks much better with the new bulbs. Where did you get them I'm thinking of trying them in my 250 MH's?

 

[ccCapt]

I can't remember if you use SE or DE bulbs. Iwasaki doesn't make 15k 250w SE bulbs, but they do have DE 250w 14k bulbs that have basically the same PAR are the 175's. They do make 250w SE 65K bulbs which have great PAR, but will look somewhat yellow.
Anyway...I bought mine at HelloLights.

 

[InfernoST]

I can't remember if you use SE or DE bulbs. Iwasaki doesn't make 15k 250w SE bulbs, but they do have DE 250w 14k bulbs that have basically the same PAR are the 175's. They do make 250w SE 65K bulbs which have great PAR, but will look somewhat yellow.
Anyway...I bought mine at HelloLights.

I use the HQI DE 250's

 

[neilanh]

I got mine off of a guy on RC. He bought them, then never used them.

 

[BigMike75]

That's a Huge difference, looks much better with the new bulbs. Where did you get them I'm thinking of trying them in my 250 MH's?

Do you not like the 14000k Phoenix bulbs that you are using, or do you just want to try something different?

 

[InfernoST]

I do like them and they are doing a great job but the the other lamps have a stronger output for the same wattage (My tank is 26" high), besides it's nice to have alternatives.