First impression of a South Pacific Sunlight (SPS) metal halide lamp.

[zheka757]

Are you still running them? How's the growth compared to other MH bulbs?

i see zero difference visually, acropora still grows, and by compare, i mean to radium bulb,
and just to be clear im using 20k 400w chinese bulbs now,

 

[56longroof]

i see zero difference visually, acropora still grows, and by compare, i mean to radium bulb,
and just to be clear im using 20k 400w chinese bulbs now,

Sounds promising. Do you plan to continue using them? The price on them is very attractive.

 

[zheka757]

Sounds promising. Do you plan to continue using them? The price on them is very attractive.

im happy with results vrs price, i mean time will tell, i plan on testing par on them on 1 year mark

 

[56longroof]

im happy with results vrs price, i mean time will tell, i plan on testing par on them on 1 year mark

Keep us updated!

 

[SpSDrew]

im happy with results vrs price, i mean time will tell, i plan on testing par on them on 1 year mark

Any updates on the bulbs and how they are doing?

 

[zheka757]

Any updates on the bulbs and how they are doing?

still works, my ballast burned out and had to replace one, but bulbs still hold. I mean its not just MH, i got t5s and blue leds also

 

[SpSDrew]

still works, my ballast burned out and had to replace one, but bulbs still hold.

Awesome thanks! I picked up a few but never have ran them long term. I wish a 6500k option was available.

 

[zheka757]

Awesome thanks! I picked up a few but never have ran them long term. I wish a 6500k option was available.

i just realized who you are, i love your acro collection, i don't know if i can be a fan of yellowish look of 6500k bulbs. unless i add crazy amount of blue leds to compensate.

 

[SpSDrew]

i just realized who you are, i love your acro collection, i don't know if i can be a fan of yellowish look of 6500k bulbs. unless i add crazy amount of blue leds to compensate.

Thanks! I put a iwaski 6500k in one of my fixtures last night just for kicks and it’s more of a clean white on the corals with blue xhos mixed In. Bulb beside it is a 14k ushio.

 

[zheka757]

Thanks! I put a iwaski 6500k in one of my fixtures last night just for kicks and it’s more of a clean white on the corals with blue xhos mixed In. Bulb beside it is a 14k ushio.

im not knowledgeable enough on these bulbs, i only got 3 years experience with MH, and radions and these marine bulb is all i got also have 14k 250w bulbs that also look bluish like radium look at my early post i made here a year ago.
again in not knowledgeable enough on these, but what makes this bulb (iwasaki 6500k) stand out from any other bulbs that are available online? regular 6500k 400w mogul base bulb if i google it online, i see bulbs under $15

 

[SpSDrew]

This is under 6500k, Reefbrite xhos, and an overlap from a reefbreeder fixture. Decent white color.

 

[zheka757]

This is under 6500k, Reefbrite xhos, and an overlap from a reefbreeder fixture. Decent white color.

wow looks good actually! i might buy one bulb just to experiment.

 

[SpSDrew]

wow looks good actually! i might buy one bulb just to experiment.

Yeah it gives me a good white look in the end. I still think a 10k or 14k is more my look but for growth, I’m sure the 6500k gives off more par and full spectrum.

 

[oreo54]

im not knowledgeable enough on these bulbs, i only got 3 years experience with MH, and radions and these marine bulb is all i got also have 14k 250w bulbs that also look bluish like radium look at my early post i made here a year ago.
again in not knowledgeable enough on these, but what makes this bulb (iwasaki 6500k) stand out from any other bulbs that are available online? regular 6500k 400w mogul base bulb if i google it online, i see bulbs under $15

Well historically they were literal par monsters on M80 ballasts.
Second there seemed to have been multiple versions of it. There was a 6500k for aquariums and a 6500k for other uses.
The aquarium "6500k" was actually a bit bluer or less yellow.

Mogule Base Metal Halide Bulb
6500 Kelvin Color Temperature
Made in Japan (Iwasaki MT250DL-E39/41R version for aquarium trade) Designed to run on Mercury Ballast, standard halide will run the bulb with little color or output loss. This new 41R bulb actually specs out around 7600K, but is still listed as 6500K.

Radium metal halide bulbs will not be produced anymore!

So I received the Iwasaki today without any notice or tracking. The store was not a scam! It fits the description of @A. grandis as it also has white salt spary like marks inside. Excited to compare Iwasaki with Hamilton 20K right next to it. Does the bulb look okay to use?????? The photos...

www.reef2reef.com

As a side note there is no "trusting" any k ratings in the 14000 or over range.Most if not all are in no way even close to their rating in a measurement sense. It's more a "looks like" thing.
If you are curious Sanjay did a TON of MH crunching "back in the day"..
https://reefs.com/magazine/product-...of-250w-mogul-base-metal-halide-lamps-part-i/

HQI (M80)

373W

122V

3.23A

189.6 PAR

6266 CCT

But since m80 ballasts are extinct and unless you have the model number you don't know if you have the aquarium or other bulb and afaict nobody's tested current and iwasaki bulbs together its hard to say what if
any differences there are.
Iwasaki 6500k's also had great color rendering scoring 90 to 95-ish CRI.
I suspect current cheap ones may not score so high or so consistent lot to lot.
It gets even messier..

https://www.lightbulbs.com/catalog/product_pdfs/iwasaki/Iwasaki-CleanArcCleanAce.pdf

 

[zheka757]

Well historically they were literal par monsters on M80 ballasts.
Second there seemed to have been multiple versions of it. There was a 6500k for aquariums and a 6500k for other uses.
The aquarium "6500k" was actually a bit bluer or less yellow.

Radium metal halide bulbs will not be produced anymore!

So I received the Iwasaki today without any notice or tracking. The store was not a scam! It fits the description of @A. grandis as it also has white salt spary like marks inside. Excited to compare Iwasaki with Hamilton 20K right next to it. Does the bulb look okay to use?????? The photos...

www.reef2reef.com

As a side note there is no "trusting" any k ratings in the 14000 or over range.Most if not all are in no way even close to their rating in a measurement sense. It's more a "looks like" thing.
If you are curious Sanjay did a TON of MH crunching "back in the day"..
https://reefs.com/magazine/product-...of-250w-mogul-base-metal-halide-lamps-part-i/

HQI (M80)

373W

122V

3.23A

189.6 PAR

6266 CCT

But since m80 ballasts are extinct and unless you have the model number you don't know if you have the aquarium or other bulb and afaict nobody's tested current and iwasaki bulbs together its hard to say what if
any differences there are.
Iwasaki 6500k's also had great color rendering scoring 90 to 95-ish CRI.
I suspect current cheap ones may not score so high or so consistent lot to lot.
It gets even messier..

https://www.lightbulbs.com/catalog/product_pdfs/iwasaki/Iwasaki-CleanArcCleanAce.pdf

Thank you for that info. I came into this hobby when everyone says LED is a way to go. So I transition from led to led/t5 combo, to led/t5/mh combo.
I guess no I'll even take a step more to transition into what type of bulb for MH. Am I moving backwards? Lol