New Bulbs...acclimation?

[AVALover5498]

Do you have any pics dc 909?



-chris-

 

[Smarsh]

so, if you are just replacing your bulb with the same exact bulb (just a new one) do you all aclimate your coral to the new bulb? I am about to do this but I don't know if I need to aclimate them or not being as it is the same exact bulb.

TIA,
Sandy

 

[minibowmatt]

I just got off the phone with HelloLights. They will exchange my bulbs which is waay cool. They reccomended the Ushio 14K or the Iwasaki 15K. after talking with the guy, he said the Iwasaki's registered 11K on an E-ballast. They didnt have any data for it on a magnetic. The Ushio he explained,is whiter than the XM15, but bluer than the XM10K.
Im leaning toward the Ushios. I am currently testing my XM15K with different combinations of VHO's.. Maybe even remove the VHO's altogether. I would love to see the ushio's in person, so I am gonna try to find a local with them.

I was very surprised to find out that HelloLights would take them back, I mean, it was my decision to buy them.. they dont have any responsibility to me after the purchase...Thats great customer service.

 

[surfn]

i got an iwasaki 15k back right when it came out last year, i hated it. it was just me though, it was a WHITE bulb. didn't really offer any flourescence to corals IMO. just about MUST to run with actinics.

i haven't seen many with 175w Ushios, also interested to see people's opinions.

look to see if Reeflux makes a 175w bulb, they have good 250w bulbs.

 

[jocoxVT]

Alex how long did you run the iwasake? If you ran it for a decent amount of time how was the growth? Only reason I ask is i am wondering if it would make a good frag tank bulb. I know it packs a pretty big punch

 

[surfn]

Alex how long did you run the iwasake? If you ran it for a decent amount of time how was the growth? Only reason I ask is i am wondering if it would make a good frag tank bulb. I know it packs a pretty big punch

i ran it for 2 months on a magnetic ballast. the sps looked "ok" under it, my pinks were much more noticable obviously. zoas/lps didnt seem to care for it though.

as far as growth, i'd say its negligable since i get more growth out of my radium now. but that could also be b/c I also have a litermeter doing my dosing too.

 

[jocoxVT]

So I am taking it you like your radiums? How often are you having to swap them out, if I remember correctly your overdriving them right?

JC

 

[surfn]

yeah, i like my radiums. not crazy about the price tag though.

yeah, running it on an HQI ballast, which if i remember correctly...is around 330w.

the last one i changed out had 6months on it. is there a noticable difference b/w a brand new bulb vs. a 6month bulb? yes.

with the older bulb, after running it about 6hrs the bulb becomes more and more white. maybe slightly dimmer.

did i notice a change in growth b/w the older/newer bulb? probably a little bit. but i'm more about things looking good than corals growing like weeds. if corals grow too fast that just means more time i have to spend cutting them or upgrading. so i just assume they grow slow and look good.

the only downside to the radiums that i can see is pinks dont pop as much on some corals. but it may be that the corals just have to get used to the bulb. my pink milli with blue tips looks hot right now. but the pink had faded around the 4month mark on the older bulb. took several weeks to get back on the newer bulb. thats the only real color difference i've seen in any corals.

but then again, i cant blame that all on the light since my calcium/alk ratio was jumping around for a bit while i got my litermeter zero'd in on the right settings after about 2 months.