good comparason info on bulbs

[Delphinus]

Just throwing my $0.02 into the hat here ...

Over my 20g tank I have a Hamilton 10000K 175W, that I bought in November 1999. It hasn't been used all the time since then so it's not a full 2.5 years of use however it is probably fair to say that it has >18 months at either 10 hours per day or 12 hours per day. No nuisance algaes yet! And the softies are fine under this bulb however there is NO coloration on the one remaining SPS in this tank (unless you count brown as a colour :D )

For a period of time I had the 250W Iwasaki (non-R) over this tank. I switched back to the 175W because of heat issues, mostly.

But I don't like the smaller intensity now that I once had the 250W Iwasaki over it. You get spoiled, you know.. [img]smile.gif[/img] So what I want to do next for this tank is try the 150W DE 10000K. I know I won't get the same intensity as the 250W Iwasaki, but what I AM hoping for is a moderate improvement in intensity over my old 175W, but at a slightly smaller power draw. The long-term goal of this tank is really just a species tank for my green carpet and a few small softeys. I think this is a PERFECT application for the 150W DE bulb. This is, of course, me talking without having TRIED it, so, it is possible that one year from now I have a very different opinion. We shall see.

The only thing is, it is a rather expensive option. Most people I have talked to have tried to talk me out of this idea for my 20g based purely on the cost. And they might still succeed, I haven't yet bought the bulb or pendent yet. Maybe I'll just end up using my 150W e-ballast on the Iwasaki 150W blue bulb, and try that one on for size instead... I don't know yet.