metal halide bulb question

bullitr

Active Member
xm, hamilton? what do you guys perpare..i haven't have a chance to get a new bulb yet for my 400 watts .i am switching from 20 k to 15, 14 , or even 10 k . i was thinking of 14 k hamilton but i just became a fragging addict ... any suggestion?
 

maxalmon

Active Member
Ugh...Hamiltons, not the best choice, maybe for a basketball court or something..........Go with phoenix or radiums. xm's are good, I've tried them on my 125g softie but didn't care for the color
 

zanclus

Member
If you ant growth I would go with XM 10ks. I use them and growth is fantastic. I do supplement with 03 actinic so it helps add a little blue to the spectrum.
 

stanlalee

Active Member
use sanjays site to determine what 10-15k 400w bulbs have good par. You certainly shouldn't limit yourself to hamilton and XM. you will find alot of bulbs are good and alot you thought were good arent that good. But you shouldn't limit yourself because you will find bulbs with simular par but one will look alot better than the other. For example I have 175w bulbs and for whats available in these bulbs on magnetic ballast the 13-14k bulbs perform better than the 10k bulbs on a whole. the XM performs nearly identicle to the Iwasaki and AB on a magnetic ballast (the only 10k bulb that did in 175w form) but why would I chose the ugly yellow looking bulb when I can get a nice ice white with hint of blue bulb that performs just as well.
 

maxalmon

Active Member
Originally Posted by Dude23455
Hey maxalmon.
Maybe you should try to rectify your chaeto selling thread. Seems like you owe some people some money or some chaeto.
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/273873/chaeto-for-sale
Thats from so far back that I haven't checked it in a while, nobody has contacted me via PM or email, let me check into this as I had one problem and refunded the funds and shipped the product just to be fair. Why did you post this this way and not just email or PM me?
 

curlsoc

Member
I actually told people on that thread to PM you, as you are on plenty. Guess they didn't see it????
 

bullitr

Active Member
so made up my mind i am going with xm .. 14 k and 10 k hows the color will be with 260 watts actinic pc? thank you
 

stanlalee

Active Member
Originally Posted by bullitr
so made up my mind i am going with xm .. 14 k and 10 k hows the color will be with 260 watts actinic pc? thank you
XM's are 15k and anybody will tell you they have one of the poorest PAR performance of all name brand bulbs. You will be better off getting the XM 20k. they have more PAR and dont look much different from the 15K. the XM 10k bulbs have excellent PAR. Its is imperative that you either get and follow good advice or google sanjays performance data site (I'd link it but they'll remove it due to sponsor/associate affiliations) so you can find out what bulbs perform and dont yourself.
 

bullitr

Active Member
Originally Posted by Stanlalee
XM's are 15k and anybody will tell you they have one of the poorest PAR performance of all name brand bulbs. You will be better off getting the XM 20k. they have more PAR and dont look much different from the 15K. the XM 10k bulbs have excellent PAR. Its is imperative that you either get and follow good advice or google sanjays performance data site (I'd link it but they'll remove it due to sponsor/associate affiliations) so you can find out what bulbs perform and dont yourself.
will 10 k with 260 watts actinics will look good? i don't like too blue anyway so is bright white? not yellowish?
 

isistius

Active Member
i had the xm 15kl in my tank for 9 months. growth sucked. just recently changed to the ab (aqualine buske) 10k. growth has been outstanding. what i really like about the ab, is that altho, they are 10k, the color is closer to 12k. i have 260w of actinic as well. i like color combination, and the fluoresce doesn't get real washed out, when the halides are on.
jmo
 

bullitr

Active Member
Originally Posted by Isistius
i had the xm 15kl in my tank for 9 months. growth sucked. just recently changed to the ab (aqualine buske) 10k. growth has been outstanding. what i really like about the ab, is that altho, they are 10k, the color is closer to 12k. i have 260w of actinic as well. i like color combination, and the fluoresce doesn't get real washed out, when the halides are on.
jmo
not available with 400 watts
 

shrimpi

Active Member
Originally Posted by maxalmon
Ugh...Hamiltons, not the best choice, maybe for a basketball court or something..........Go with phoenix or radiums. xm's are good, I've tried them on my 125g softie but didn't care for the color

basketball court lol
 

bullitr

Active Member
Originally Posted by Shrimpi
basketball court lol

i know.. his opinion.. i have to respect that...
 

tx reef

Active Member
The XM 10ks are a bit yellow. I had 2 175 watt XM 10ks on my 55 reef and it took 2 110 watt vho actinics to take away the yellow look.
I am currently using a 250 watt Reeflux 10k bulb on my 54 corner and the color is ice white.......
 

bullitr

Active Member
you think it has a same spectrum as 400 watts.. if i go with 14 k i'll supplement it 130 watts actinic and 130 watts 50/50 pc .. will that work better.. but how about the growth?
 

hurt

Active Member
XM 10K's are one of the best bulbs you can get, and they aren't that expensive in comparison to most. I would never run them alone, but with actinic's they do not look yellow at all. The only bulb that I have seen throw out more par, is the Iwaski 6500K, and it only gives off more par with certain ballasts. XM 10K's grow corals like no other bulb.
 

stanlalee

Active Member
Originally Posted by Hurt
The only bulb that I have seen throw out more par, is the Iwaski 6500K.
that only applies to 250w bulbs (SE and DE) on HQI ballast. there are several 400w bulbs that outperform XM 10k 400w, some by alot.
 

hurt

Active Member

Originally Posted by Stanlalee
that only applies to 250w bulbs (SE and DE) on HQI ballast. there are several 400w bulbs that outperform XM 10k 400w, some by alot.
Picky, picky aren't we...lol. That's news to me. Apparently you have access to info I am not aware of. When I run tests on Sanjay's site on 400w bulbs, there is only one other bulb that puts out more par than a XM 10K, and that is the Happy Reefing 10K. 250 bulbs are just the same, only
an Iwaski puts out more than a XM 10K. Either way, my point is that an XM 10K, whatever wattage bulb is one of the best
as far as PAR is concerned--for a general statement. Agreed
 

stanlalee

Active Member

Originally Posted by Hurt
Picky, picky aren't we...lol. That's news to me. Apparently you have access to info I am not aware of. When I run tests on Sanjay's site on 400w bulbs, there is only one other bulb that puts out more par than a XM 10K, and that is the Happy Reefing 10K. 250 bulbs are just the same, only
an Iwaski puts out more than a XM 10K. Either way, my point is that an XM 10K, whatever wattage bulb is one of the best
as far as PAR is concerned--for a general statement. Agreed

Agreed its one of the best PAR bulbs regardless of wattage form. Agreed I was being picky. As far as the 400w bulb I use the same site you do I just plugged in the more common PFO HQI instead of the Taiwan HQI ballast. The only reason I was being picky is because you can usually always find a bulb or two that perform as well as the XM without the color penalty (granted almost always more expensive and harder to get).
 
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