New bulbs

Sorry about helping you get some low PAR bulbs Monty, I guess I assumed you did your homework on them and thats why you wanted them. I just figured the 400 watters have fairly decent PAR, that the 175's would be good too....like you said live and learn. You can get higher PAR bulbs next year, or i guess you could try and sell them and get the bulbs you want.

 

I ran XM 20k 175w bulbs on my tank for about a year. While my growth was not great the color and overall look of the tank was really good. Just make sure that all the other parameters are correct for good growth and you will be happy with the results. Montiporas and sps towards the top of my tank always did well.
Billy

 

Posted By BigBlue on 11/10/2007 11:06 AM
(Jermey tell me your secrete)/site/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/_default/emoticons/wink.gif
I wouldn't want to know.   Just giving you crap, Monty!
Seriously though, if you feel you're not getting enough light you can always lower your lights to help make up for the lower output of the XM's.

 

im kind of at a loss on the par of bulbs, ive read quite a few posts about bulb par and the red spectrum of light not penetrating more than 2 feet of water anyways.

isnt it true that most corals are at far further depths than what the red spectrum penetrates?.

not trying to start an argument just asking a question.

 

BigBlue, i hope you have better luck with your 20,000k's than i did. Hardly any SPS growth at all. I just switched them out a month ago for xm 10,000k, and i swear i can see the growth already from my sps. I will agree the 20,000 looked better though. Good luck

 

Monty, I think you will be ok with those bulbs. Heck my 150 watters grow sps.. they just don't hold color too well, but it's also 22" deep. I know the 150 watters I have can't be pushing much more than 20 PPFD. I think you will be fine for how shallow the tank is.

 

I like 10K or 14K 175 watt MH's supplimented by either VHO or PC actinics. I would say I love T5, but I have never owned them. They do look sweet though.

 

My 20K 175 watt xm's were so blue I never could tell if my dual 96 watt pc actinics were on... They sure make the greens pop though.

 

I think every other bulb XM ships is a differnt "K" , i know 2 out of 3 10,000k bulbs.i got are white the other one is yellow..

 

If you haven't tried it already, I would start adjusting the orientation of the nipple on the bulbs.  The color can change quite a bit depending on where you have them.  The most popular is at the 12 o'clock position.  I truly believe each bulb is different though.
I have also found that changing it every 10 minutes doesn't allow it enough time to "settle" into the new position.  I would change it at a rate of one hour position a day until you see a notable change.  In the picture below, I have circled it for ya.  Sounds kind of funny?  Yeah, it does...but it also works!

 

I thought you just said that your bulbs weren't that blue?  Sounded like you were expecting more...  Come on Monty, give 'em a twist!

 

Oh noo...you did not just say NIPPLE!