hector1520 Posted February 11, 2004 Share Posted February 11, 2004 Well, after endlessly wiping my mouth dry from drooling over jdsabin's tank, I went on one of my impulses and bought a brand new 175W 20000K XM bulb for $50 shipped on ebay (BTW, was this a good deal?). What I want to see are more tanks lit by these bulbs!! I have almost every kind of lighting possibility at my reach, minus the aquarium specific brands (coralife, JBJ, etc..) because my dad is the maintenance manager at the local mall so I had 70W (mogul style, not HQI), 150W, 175W, 250W, 400W, and 1000W ballasts to choose from the garage. I know 70W HQIs are all the rage now but does anyone besides jdsabin have their tanks lit by one of these? I tried doing a search but I specifically wanted XM bulbs and those two letters were too short for the search so I ended up with a thousand results. Anyone? Link to comment
Jahkaya Posted February 11, 2004 Share Posted February 11, 2004 175w 20k's are nice and blue, but somewhat dim. they work well on Jd's tank because his tank is shallow and he has two. Try Reef central for the 250 XM's for a color reference. depending on what you want to keep 175's 20k will be fine for a mixed reef no taller than 16". The SPS will grow a bit slow because of the lack of intensity. If you are into Clams and SPS go for the 250 20k to make up for the lack of intensity. Two questions: What size tank? What do you want to keep? Link to comment
skeletor Posted February 11, 2004 Share Posted February 11, 2004 the bulbs are $59 brand new from hellolights.com (plus whatever shippping is) so depending on the age of the bulb, you probably saved a few bucks. I've got a 175w 20K XM over my 20, along with 2 55w PC actinic bulbs for a bit more blue as Jahkaya pointed out, you neglected to mention the size of tank and what you want to keep. lighting isn't everything, but it sure helps I really like the color, it's a nice white with a hint of blue. and my SPS and clams seem to like it too. not sure exactly what sort of pics you are after so here's a random tank pic.. -skeletor- Link to comment
serjuanca88 Posted February 12, 2004 Share Posted February 12, 2004 I have 175w XM which I plan on placing on a 12g tank. Seems to be rather dim, but oh well, it was cheaper than 64 watts of PC. Obviously the bulbs produce less visable light, but what about light usable by corals? Is this reduced as well? Also, does the light produce as much heat as a "normal" bulb? I would assume so, but just wanna make sure. Link to comment
hector1520 Posted February 12, 2004 Author Share Posted February 12, 2004 well guys, I appreciate the comments. The bulb I got for $50 shipped brand new. I only have a 10 gallon and plan on going on a 15H at the most later so intensity is not a big issue. As far as corals, I'll take anything I can get my hands on lol, my tank is pretty bare at the moment, so I guess I'll end up accomodating my coral stock to the lighting I have. Here's a recent pic of what I have right now. The color looks like sh!t if you ask me, I hope it all changes once i get the bulb in. Keep the pics coming guys Link to comment
Jahkaya Posted February 17, 2004 Share Posted February 17, 2004 What bulb are you running now? I think that a 10 or a 15 will be fine with a 175 20k. I want a 250 20k on my 18 cause it is 18 inches high. Link to comment
hector1520 Posted February 17, 2004 Author Share Posted February 17, 2004 the bulb is being shipped as I'm typing. It will be a 20K XM, I have a core and coil ballast which I am going to use and have the pendant hang from the ceiling. Since the ballast I have was the kind my local mall used for the parking lot lights, all I have are those orange 3000K bulbs but it is sufficient for testing the light leakage and heat. Would anyone know what's the longest I can have the bulb from the ballast? The ballast is a quad tap Advance 71A5590 Link to comment
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