changing bulb advice

[cardsfan12]

Ok, so this may be a dumb question. It's time to replace my bulbs in my light fixture. It has 150 W MH 10000k bulbs in it now( this is what it came with). My question is if it would be beneficial to put a higher watage bulb in or not. first would this be a potential fire hazard or cause damage to the light fixture. I'm obviously not an electrician and could use some advice.

[+mcallahan]

you can up the wattage on the bulb, but you need to up the ballast as well. I.e. you can't have a 250W bulb on a 150W ballast. The ballast will make the bulb turn on, but that's about it.

[muddybluewater]

You need to match the bulb wattage to the ballast

[+dapettit]

Are you talking about the wattage or the color temp? Instead of using a 10K you can use 6.5k, 12K, 14K and 20K. The bulbs get a bluer tint (and other scientific stuff) as the numbers increase. The 150W indicates the amount of power the ballast produces. @50w bulb may power on but the ballast may fry.

Dave-

[offroadodge]

all u can do is change the color(K) of the bulb unless u change the ballast also. Big pain in the but. If you wanted to go to a 12K,14K,20K etc that would be fine.

[+mcallahan]

My question is if it would be beneficial to put a higher watage bulb in or not. .

Depends on why you are wanting to up the wattage.

[offroadodge]

u can change anything u want in the fixture w/o harming it. You just have to buy the correct ballast for the higher wattage bulb if you want more wattage. What size is the tank? Why are u wanting more wattage? Growth? WE can get more in depth into this if we knew what you are wanting to do.

[cardsfan12]

Thanks for the quick replys everyone. My tank is 140 gallons and is 5 ft long. I believe it is 2 1/2 ft tall. My lighting has 2 MH bulbs and 2 PC bulbs that run the length of the fixture. My reasons for a possible upgrade were for both coral growth and coloration. I'll probably just stick with the 150 W because I don't want to tear apart my fixture. If I were to change the color temp, what are the benefits to them? Is it a personal preference thing or should I change it? I guess now I'm asking for suggestions for the color spectrum. On the power compact should I just stick with the antinic or would you guys suggest changing this as well?

[Mike M.]

u can change anything u want in the fixture w/o harming it. You just have to buy the correct ballast for the higher wattage bulb if you want more wattage. What size is the tank? Why are u wanting more wattage? Growth? WE can get more in depth into this if we knew what you are wanting to do.

This may not be entirely sound advice. If your fixture is say, a Lumen Brite reflector or the like, yes, you can put a higher wattage ballast and bulb combo in without harm; however, if you have a fixture that is designed for a 150W lamp and you retrofit with a 250, it may be adversely affected by heat. Watch this!

[Mike M.]

This is all clear as mud....What fixture do you have? With that info, we can help guide you in your quest for more horsepower.

[+mcallahan]

u can change anything u want in the fixture w/o harming it. You just have to buy the correct ballast for the higher wattage bulb if you want more wattage. What size is the tank? Why are u wanting more wattage? Growth? WE can get more in depth into this if we knew what you are wanting to do.

This may not be entirely sound advice. If your fixture is say, a Lumen Brite reflector or the like, yes, you can put a higher wattage ballast and bulb combo in without harm; however, if you have a fixture that is designed for a 150W lamp and you retrofit with a 250, it may be adversely affected by heat. Watch this!

Mike is right...it will depend on the fixture. I upgraded my 2x175W MH Coralife fixture to a 2x250W MH with no issues, but it is an old school fixture that is all open in the center so the increased bulb length and heat was no issue. The newer fixtures are more compact to even if the wiring can take it, the bulb might not fit!

[offroadodge]

well thats just a given, i just meant YES u can modify or go bigger if there is ample room and all. Sorry didnt mean to get confused.

[caferacermike]

Well as the local naysayer, you can't always just change out the ballast. If the fixture uses DE, dual end, bulbs you will have to change out the sockets as well. They are all different sizes.

150w per seems a little undersized for a 140g tank. I run 2x 250w mh plus 2x 96w PC actinics over my 75g. For a 140g of your size, I'd want 3x 250w in Lumen Brite type reflectors. Plus about 4 bulbs of T5 for color, or 2 VHO URI actinics. I might even go 4x 250w in smaller reflectors or 3x 400w in Lumen Brite style reflectors if I was going super SPS dominated tank.

I've converted several of the cheap no name, Jebo, Oddysea, and other fixtures to better 25ow set ups with Ice Cap ballasts over the years. It can certainly be done.

[cardsfan12]

60 inch Outer Orbit Fixture, 2x150W Metal Halide HQIs & 2xpower compact by Current. I don't think I'll do any modifications to it so other than the change in the color temp I think I'll leave it alone