For ninong U.H.B(Unidentefied Halide Bulb)

[jayreefer]

Hey nin you seem to be a lighting guru..!!!

The Halide Fixture on my tank was a used fixture said to be purchased from a bit electric supply house.I was told it was 70 or 75 watts is there a code on the bulb or on the fixture that could help me determin the exact wattage of the ballast/bulb and the K rating? Thanks for any help Jayreefer

[jayreefer]

attatched is a piture of my halide fixture

[Ninong]

Why don't you just post everything you know about it and we'll see if we can figure it out. You can start by telling us whether the lamp is single ended or double ended and, if it's still legible, everything that is printed on it.

[jayreefer]

Hey Nin!!!
thanks for the fast response
ok here's what the bulb says on it

Venture
1-800-437-0111
Uni-Form
MH 70w/U/PS
R Kr85 M98

[Ninong]

Hey Nin!!!
thanks for the fast response
ok here's what the bulb says on it

Venture
1-800-437-0111
Uni-Form
MH 70w/U/PS
R Kr85 M98

That tells you that it is a Venture Uni-Form lamp. MH=metal halide, 70 watts, burn position = U (universal), PS = pulse start.

That is a medium base 4000 Kelvin lamp.

IMO, it is not an appropriate choice for a reef tank.

[jayreefer]

ok now my next question would be can i replace the bulb with a better k say 5 to 6500k? do you know of any manufacturers? or should i just consider losing the whole unit? why do you think not a good unit for the reef? color temp?
thanks again from the noob jay reefer
you have all been so helpful and im looking foward to having a real show piece tank one day!!! i thank you ninong and all else who have responded to my posts glad to be a part of the"family" THANK YOU!!!

[Ninong]

I don't think a 70w lamp of any Kelvin rating would be of much use for a 37-gal reeftank. If your fixture accepts a 150w medium base lamp, then all you need is a suitable 150w ballast. Iwasaki makes two very nice 150w medium base lamps, one is rated 6500K and the other is rated 50,000K (that's not a typo). I think the 50,000K designation was the idea of some marketing dude. You can read about them here: http://www.coralreefecosystems.com/l...nical_data.htm