Dangers of unshielded MH lights

dingo the bulb is a plusrite metal halide lamp 20k model name mh175/hor/mog m57 not sure of what ballast it is, picked it up on craigslist.

 

i have a review session to go to so i will get back to you in one hour with the data

 

ok well i just ran the bulb with an icecap electronic ballast and the 10K version of the bulb (couldnt find the 20K)

Results are this:
PPFD= 50 (this is PAR at 18inches)
CCT= 6867 (this is the true color temperature aka K)
efficiency of the bulb= .2832

If your ballast is older (magnetic) your values will be slightly lower or if your ballast is a pfo HQI, they will be slightly higher

I couldnt find the 20K version so im guessing this will make your actual values look closer to this:
PPFD= around 30
CCT= around 16500
efficiency= around .22

with the 10K you are getting three specific spectral peaks:
437nm (spectral irradiance of .27), 545nm (.39), and 580nm (.30)... with the 20K bulb you can expect the 437nm to be lower and the 580nm to be higher

your average spectral irradiance for the 10K is .03 and for the 20K im guessing it will be around .02

Now this is what you can take away from this data- the bulb is not the best out there... it will support life, however will not produce fast growth at all and some of the more delicate SPS corals will not be happy under it

 

its growing things pretty well,
175W 175 watt 20000K Metal Halide Aquarium Bulb 20K



Wattage: 175W

Color Spectrum: 20,000k (Kelvin)

Base Type: Mogul Screw In E39/E40

Bulb Shape: T15

Avg Life: 10,000hrs

Product Code: MH175WSE20K

Use For: Aquarium and Reef tanks

Other Info: Superior PAR Value and Pure Blue Spectrum.

Extra Info: Superior Quality compared to Major Brands such as:

IceCap, Ushio, Aqualine, Iwasaki, Hamilton, Blue Life SPS

AquaMaxx, XM Megachrome, Phoenix, Elos



IMPORTANT!

These lamps are used by one of the Largest Growing Coral Farms in USA

"Tropicorium" - Tropicoriuminc.com
175W 175 watt 20000K Metal Halide Aquarium Bulb 20K

Dunno much about the company but from that tropiorium they grow nice corals