175w MH's losing favor w/ reef hobbyist's?

Kaos · 09/08/2007, 01:18 PM

It seems lately I have been seeing allot of 175w MH stuff for sale lately. That doesn't suprise me as much as the difficulty people seem to have selling the stuff. It stays listed for awhile and then the price goes way down before it sells (atleast IME anyways).

So what's going on? Is it the DE bulbs that are taking away from the 175w's? Or is it that people are opting for 250w's and 400w's instead? What do you guys/gals think?

stanlalee · 09/08/2007, 01:51 PM

If 175w have ever been in favor its been a long time. 250w SE set ups are only marginally more expensive and have a much greater selection of bulbs to chose from not to mention the option of using HQI ballast. Also most people with large tanks have tank heights over 20" which is more suitable for 250w bulbs. I use 175w bulbs because my tank is 19" tall and probably wont upgrade to 250w but if I wanted to all I'd have to do is spend less than $200 on a ballast and wait for the next bulb change time to get 250w bulbs instead of 175w so its also really easy to upgrade as well.

Paulairduck · 09/08/2007, 07:51 PM

The 250's you have a greater selection of bulbs and the wattage and par is greater. The cost to run 250's on an electronic ballast is very minimal!

raynist · 09/08/2007, 09:51 PM

I use 175w Iwasaki 15k bulbs on all of my tanks. I use 7 of these bulbs in total.

09/08/2007, 01:18 PM	#1
Kaos "Lurker" Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 2,131	175w MH's losing favor w/ reef hobbyist's? It seems lately I have been seeing allot of 175w MH stuff for sale lately. That doesn't suprise me as much as the difficulty people seem to have selling the stuff. It stays listed for awhile and then the price goes way down before it sells (atleast IME anyways). So what's going on? Is it the DE bulbs that are taking away from the 175w's? Or is it that people are opting for 250w's and 400w's instead? What do you guys/gals think? __________________ Ordinary people are the ones scared to be themselves.

09/08/2007, 01:51 PM	#2
stanlalee Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: hampton roads, va Posts: 1,799	If 175w have ever been in favor its been a long time. 250w SE set ups are only marginally more expensive and have a much greater selection of bulbs to chose from not to mention the option of using HQI ballast. Also most people with large tanks have tank heights over 20" which is more suitable for 250w bulbs. I use 175w bulbs because my tank is 19" tall and probably wont upgrade to 250w but if I wanted to all I'd have to do is spend less than $200 on a ballast and wait for the next bulb change time to get 250w bulbs instead of 175w so its also really easy to upgrade as well.

09/08/2007, 07:51 PM	#3
Paulairduck I LOVE FREE FRAGS!!! Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Chino Hills Posts: 2,909	The 250's you have a greater selection of bulbs and the wattage and par is greater. The cost to run 250's on an electronic ballast is very minimal!

09/08/2007, 09:51 PM	#4
raynist Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Posts: 4,921	I use 175w Iwasaki 15k bulbs on all of my tanks. I use 7 of these bulbs in total.