15K Iwaski vs 14k Hamilton?

[rottface4]

I was wondering if any had experience with using the 15k Iwaski and what they thought about them. From Sanjay's data it seems to be pretty impressive. I was wondering if for the extra 20 bucks is this bulb worth it. I looks to have almost double the par, and some more 600nm spikes. I know most people are very happy with the 14k Hamilton and I was planning on buying that bulb until I saw this data.

Here the comparison from Sanjay's page let me know what you think.

 

[surfn]

i used one when it first came out last spring, and i absolutely hated it. i ran it with some super actinic VHO's and all my zoas lost color.

some of my sps looked better, but most of them bleached, while my zoas all turned brown and some bleached.

the iwasaki bulb gives off absolutely no flourescence, so supplementing is an absolute must.

but if thats how you like stuff to look, its all up to you.

 

[I-K@ndY]

I used 14k hamilton on my 75 few yrs ago and not happy with it.. color is good but growth is on the downside!.. tried 14k Phoenix its a nice bulb with nice growth but I recently changed mine from 10k ushio to 14k ushio which I think the best bulb I have seen. Colors are not that blue and growth in the past 2 weeks on my acro's are awesome...

 

[minibowmatt]

I did a lot of research about this very subject. The Iwasaki bulbs are waaaay whiter than hammys. It measures somewhere around 11K.. If you like blue, dont get the iwasakis

 

[CherryCorals]

I was looking into those 14k Ushio's, good to hear you like them. Maybe I won't have to buy new fixtures just to get the Phoenix bulbs, I can use Ushio's.

Bummer about the Iwasaki's that Par is killer!!

 

[I-K@ndY]

Yeah Todd it a crisp white with just a hint of blue...no need to turn my T5's on ...

 

[surfn]

there isn't really anything out there you can compare iwasaki's too as far as visual color to the naked eye.

however, i think as far as coral color response...i think with 250w 10k AB's (DE's), corals react very similar to them as they do iwasaki's. so if you've ever seen someone with 10k AB's, the corals will look very similar. but the visual light will be whiter on the iwasaki's than the AB's (AB's look yellowish to me)

 

[dc_909]

Here is my tank with 2 175w 15 Iwasakis, supps are 4 T5HO 54w (2 ATI B+, UVL SA and UVL daylight.

 

[dc_909]

By the way, you can get 15k Iwasakis at coralreefecosytems.com for 72.95 or have Hellolights match that.

 

[Chelsey]

the 15k bulbs you need to aclimate your corals to the light

the 14k hamiliton were dim compaired to the 10k bulbs (very low par)


the 15k 175W had as much par as the 250W 10k bulbs

 

[rottface4]

so from what I'm understanding this would not make a very good stand alone bulb. You need to supplement with it for good color. The tank it will be running on is only 8 inches deep, so I don't think I need a ton of par. What would you all recommend?

 

[twon8]

i don't have experience with a 175w, but if the tank is only that deep i would go with a 20k bulb

 

[rottface4]

Maybe I should have gave detail in the beginning. The bulb I'm looking for is to be a stand alonebulb like I said to go over a 30x24x8 prop tank. I'm looking to grew out mostly zoanthids and a LPS, but would like to also grow some SPS if I have the desire to. I am setting up three grow racks with the ability to using one rack to shade others if neccessary. I was planning on Have higher lights zoas and sps on the top rack, zoas and lps on the middle rack and live rock rubble on the bottom tank. Would a 20K XM be better than using a 14k hamilton?