MH doubts

[zoanutty]

I recently purchased a gutted 72" coralife fixture with 3 x 150w de mh, and 2 T5 (4 x 36" bulbs). The guy who sold it to me said he didn't know the age of any of the bulbs. Today I got to installing it and measured the par on it. At 18" above the water it is a disappointing 50 par an inch from the the surface of the water with all bulbs turned on. I have never used 150w mh before, but I am assuming it is the age of the bulbs causing that par to be so low, right? In contrast, I have a 250w mogul with a well used Radium bulb running on an electric ballast (coralife's are magnetic), and par is in the low 1000s at the same depth and height.

Also, I have been/am researching bulbs to replace the ones on there (ushio 20k), and I'm considering Radiums because I love the blue look, but at $75 a pop I am shy to pull the trigger on 3. Are there any other comparable bulbs out there that will give me a similar blue look and the higher par?

Any help is appreciated!

 

[USMC4Life]

Are you measuring par or lux? I can see lux to be in the 10,000 but not par

 

[zoanutty]

I'm measuring par. Par with the 150w was 50. Par with the 250w was 1053.

 

[USMC4Life]

What are you using to measure par?

 

[zoanutty]

Apogee MQ-510

 

[DeniseAndy]

Personally hate Ushio. They tended to make more noise and were a less sharp look. I like XM, Radium and currently I have Refflux that are okay. I have used Hamiltons and they are okay too. I only use 20K.

 

[buzzword]

In my opinion there is nothing better or equal to a Radium bulb.

 

[USMC4Life]

I'm measuring par. Par with the 150w was 50. Par with the 250w was 1053.

In that case all I can say is holly poo

 

[zoanutty]

Lol yea I just bit the bullet and ordered the 3 radiums.

 

[mcarroll]

Those fixtures are designed to be about 6" from the water at most. They came with little legs to sit on the rim of the tank and the legs were only about 3 inches tall.

Let that fixture down to the right height and you'll be OK.

 

[mtraylor]

what area are you in. I have an old pfo single mogal 6ft fixture your welcome to have if you hate the one you have. YOu can put 250 or 400 watt bulbs in it. I ran both. I'm in DFW.

 

[zoanutty]

Thank you mtraylor but unfortunately I am in Miami FL.

 

[mtraylor]

Oh ok. Np. I hope you get everything sorted out. The radium bulbs are the bomb BTW. You will not be disappointed.

 

[zoanutty]

I know, I have a 250w and I love it. I thought I had ordered 3 today in 150w but the company wrote me back saying they only had one in stock. [emoji20]