SPS Tank O Death

[Nevin]

The metal mesh used for door/window bug screens would work, less likely to burst into flames than the gauze...

Regards,
Nevin

[Jason McK]

Sorry About the mess up with your Lighting. I have not heard a lot of good things about the 14K XM bulbs. Very low Par from what I know. You may be dealing with the revers problem. Not enough light

J

[michika]

Now that would be odd if I had too little light. I have a 250w bulb and ballast for my 180 that I would consider trying, although I'm really afraid of baking my tank.

I read that about the XM bulbs, this is my last XM bulb, after hearing about the PAR problems i don't want to stick with them. On the other hand though I've been running XMs for awhile now, 400ws on my 230g and 175w on my previous cube, and actually saw a lot of growth and nice colors from them. Still though I'm looking for a new bulb for my 180g project. I'll have to visit Sanay's site to pick out my next bulb choice.

I think I've figured out my next two tests;
1) the light, downgrade the reflector for a couple of weeks. Its a cheap test to run, I don't have to spend any money.
2) ORP and Ozone, first part will be testing my ORP and then from there either purchasing a ozonier or not.

Any other steps anyone can suggest I try?

[fkshiu]

Originally Posted by michika

Now that would be odd if I had too little light. I have a 250w bulb and ballast for my 180 that I would consider trying, although I'm really afraid of baking my tank.

I read that about the XM bulbs, this is my last XM bulb, after hearing about the PAR problems i don't want to stick with them. On the other hand though I've been running XMs for awhile now, 400ws on my 230g and 175w on my previous cube, and actually saw a lot of growth and nice colors from them. Still though I'm looking for a new bulb for my 180g project. I'll have to visit Sanay's site to pick out my next bulb choice.

I think I've figured out my next two tests;
1) the light, downgrade the reflector for a couple of weeks. Its a cheap test to run, I don't have to spend any money.
2) ORP and Ozone, first part will be testing my ORP and then from there either purchasing a ozonier or not.

Any other steps anyone can suggest I try?

The XM 175W 15K does have sucky PAR so I think we might be onto something:

http://www.reeflightinginfo.arvixe.c...&Submit=Search

Try an Iwasaki 175W 15K, which has the best PAR out of any 175W bulb on an electronic ballast. For a magnetic ballast, go with the AB 13K.

For the record, XM bulbs vary widely in terms of PAR output. Their 15Ks generally suck regardless of wattage whereas the XM 250 10K is the PAR king.