Metal Halide bulbs
- Thread starter Reef Wall
- Start date
You LFS store lied. Get a new LFS. (consider standard lecture about LFS often being clueless inserted here)
Metal halide bulbs and ballasts MUST be matched. In other words, you can NOT use a 250w bulb with a 175w ballast. You also can NOT use a 175w bulb with a 250w ballast.
While the mogul socket is the same, and the bulb will fit, if you change to a 250w bulb, you must also replace the ballast.
175w bulbs are easily available. Check online stores. You can even buy them at Home Depot, but they are 6500K bulks and not recommended for a reef system.
Metal halide bulbs and ballasts MUST be matched. In other words, you can NOT use a 250w bulb with a 175w ballast. You also can NOT use a 175w bulb with a 250w ballast.
While the mogul socket is the same, and the bulb will fit, if you change to a 250w bulb, you must also replace the ballast.
175w bulbs are easily available. Check online stores. You can even buy them at Home Depot, but they are 6500K bulks and not recommended for a reef system.
Reef Wall
Member
Thanks for the input. I will choose a different LFS. I did look online and found some 175w 14000k mogul bulbs for as little as 12$.
MH 175W 14K Metal Halide Aquarium Light Bulb, Pulse Type, Mogul Base
$11.50 new
Why is it so cheap? others are up to 95$.
Phoenix 175 Watt 14000K Mogul Base Metal Halide Bulb
$94.99 new
I Can tell you this much... you may save some upfront but you'll quickly go back to the "other" bulbs. I was using some of those "eBay/Online" bulbs and after one round with them (roughly 6 months) I went back to the QUALITY bulbs. Not all bulbs are created equal and your tank will tell you so.
Reef Wall
Member
Varga, Phoenix run about 90$ right?
Icecap and coralvue are about mid-range 50$. Has anyone had any experience with these?
swissgaurd
Member
i got the icecap 250
now for a week and so far i likes it
vic
now for a week and so far i likes it
vic
reef dummy
Member
Reefwall, go to SOS lighting. I bought 14k phoenix' 250w for 66 each.
See if AquaMaxx makes bulbs that will fit your unit. The company was started by some people FROM the Phoenix Bulb Co. and so far I'm hearing VERY comparable results. I am running them in my MH (I'm only running it a couple of hours a day though) and so far (been 3+ months now and they look SWEET!
Iwasaki may make the best 175.
I also love Phoenix 14k, but the Iwasaki is a really sweet bulb
I also love Phoenix 14k, but the Iwasaki is a really sweet bulb
Varga
Well-Known Member
I got a 250W Phoenix 14000k for $64 on Ebay.