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SuperCool is one of a kind of Metal halide lamp made by Lamp Network Inc, in Japan. Most of you never heard of the name of this lamp because it is only sold in Japan. Many Japanese reefers use this lamp because of good results for SPS coloration. SuperCool is mogul base(E26) lamp and has a selection of 150W, but it has 5 different coloration of lamps such as Marine Blue, Aqua Blue, Deep Blue, Neon Color and Sun White. Lamp Network Inc., does not state any K rate in the spec, but you can get some idea from their website. There is a description on their website for the Marine Blue lamp which lists two Kelvoin rating spectrums that are 21000K and 6500K. 6500K light spectrum is emitted directly from the lamp, but 21000K light spectrum is from a reflection of dichroic mirror coated on the back side of the lamp (see Figure 1). Also, according to Lamp Network Inc., low Kelvin light and 80% of the heat is designed to escape from the back side (top) of the lamp, so the tank should not receive so much heat from the metal halide lamp. 
The price for a complete lighting fixture is 71,400yen ($730.00) including ballast, pendant fixture and one of lamps for MSRP, although you can usually buy a complete unit for around 40,000yen ($410.00) at Japanese LFS. The price of replacement lamp is around 17,000yen ($170.00). The lamp is only 150W and can only light up on small area, so one lamp may not be enough for corals especially for SPS on a tank larger than 36in wide tank. Many reefers in Japan use more than one SuperCool lamp with different colored lamps on their main display tank to increase the overall color rendition. I know it is very expensive compared with lamps reefers are normally using, but many of reefers using this lamp have good results on their SPS coloration. We would love to see some of the shops in the U.S. import this lamp. The picture of lamps and display tank are provided by YAMA, an advanced reefer living in Japan. I appreciate his permission to use his pictures which can be seen on his website.
We want to thank Japanese reefer Taka Yamata for his post on the SuperCool lamp from Japan. Taka is an advanced reef aquarist living in Boulder, CO and he’ll occasionally be dropping the good word on exciting products from Southeast Asia.
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This thing has 3 Comments
I always wondered how much these things cost, at 400, its not THAT bad. any idea where i can get them shipped out to California?
Looks like the Iwaski PAR36 lamps we saw several years back. IIRC the 20KK had issues with the dichroic mirror coating coming loose. Hope these have jumped that hurdle!
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/images/sept2004/review_photos/index.htm
Well I can tell you a bit about these lamps from actual experience.
I currently run a tank with 3 superkuru fixtures, I run two of the deep blue bulbs and one aqua blue at the moment. I also run 2 MT 150’s and four of the won brothers spots in 15 and 20K mixed.
En route from Japan as we speak I have an additional two superkaru fixtures, one more MT 150 and a pair of MX LED spotlights. Plus a whole bunch of replacement bulbs. I’m hoping to pull the won brothers spots mostly out of the mix once the new fixtures arrive.
It turns out they are trialing a new color bulb as well, they call this cobalt blue. I was able to track down one of those as well, so I’ll be swapping that out.
Couple of notes:
They are beautiful fixtures, but to be honest a tiny bit flimsy. The actual fixture quality is a tad suspect, especially for the high dollar. But… they are really good looking
The bulbs have a relatively short life. Roughly 6 months until you begin to see a massive color shift and have to replace. At just over 150 bulb plus shipping, this is not easy to stomach.
They are true spotlights. Which means you need many fixtures to cover a large area. There are different versions of the bulb, most folks use the narrow beam, which is a nice focused spot. This is what I use as well. I am told there is also a wider beam which may be more effective in covering more space with fewer fixtures. However the beauty of these spots I suspect would be affected by spreading a wider beam. In so much as the focus of the light, and the ability to highlight corals is a key consideration.
I have seen some excellent coloration of my corals with these bulbs and am really happy overall with them. I will fully admit that getting these fixtures is in and of itself a difficult task when you are in the US, but it’s not impossible. The cost also can be overwhelming, but if you are looking to do something spectacular with your tank, I can’t recommend them enough.
I’m happy to chat about this lighting with anyone interested, just let me know.
-dm
If there is anything you guys want to know about the practical use