Lighting question - Ushio or XM?

[Origami]

I have one of those all-in-one lighting setups comprised of 2x 150W 10,000K HQI MH plus 2x 96W PC Actinic 03 plus 4x moonlight LED's. Hellolights has announce a 10% off sale for today and tomorrow and I'm probably going to take advantage of it. At nearly $60 each, I'd rather not "experiment" too much with this light or that light before finding something I like (though that may be inevitable).

 

I've heard that Ushio 10K bulbs have good PAR but are a little yellower than XM bulbs, which I've heard described as being a "crisp white." I kind of think that my current Coralife 10K MH bulbs are rather crisp but I have nothing really to compare them to. What kind of look can I expect between the Ushio and the XM when coupled with the nearly 200W of Actinic 03? I welcome your opinions. Thanks!

[dbartco]

I had xm 10k and went to ushio 14k with no loss of par (well, <5%). Have actinic vho, and not too "blue". This is a 400W SE config though. Very happy with lighting setup

[Leishman]

I had xm 10k and went to ushio 14k with no loss of par (well, <5%). Have actinic vho, and not too "blue". This is a 400W SE config though. Very happy with lighting setup

 

me too

 

[dandy7200]

I had xm 10k and went to ushio 14k with no loss of par (well, <5%). Have actinic vho, and not too "blue". This is a 400W SE config though. Very happy with lighting setup

 

What ballast you on Doug?

[dbartco]

pfo magnetic. Yes it wasn't truley scientific as the xm bulb was probably 6 months old. when I had the par meter I tested xm, hamilton 14k (new) and ushio (new). Most measurements takin at water surface. XM was about 840, ushio around the 800's and the Hamilton was like 600. I didn't liket the color of the Hamilton either, too blue.

[Highland Reefer]

Where would you buy 400w 14000k ushio mogul bulbs at a good price?

[Origami]

That reminds me. I should probably try to get my hands on the club PAR meter and collect a few baseline measurements. I'm going to give the Ushio 14K / Actinic 03 combination a try sometime in the near future to see how it goes.

[dbartco]

Where would you buy 400w 14000k ushio mogul bulbs at a good price?

 

 

I got mine from hellolights when they had a 15% off sale. They offered free shipping on MH bulbs as well. The bulbs ain't cheap, so saving pennies weher I could helped.

[Highland Reefer]

 

 

I got mine from hellolights when they had a 15% off sale. They offered free shipping on MH bulbs as well. The bulbs ain't cheap, so saving pennies weher I could helped.

 

 

$68.00/bulb including shipping with 15% discount. Good Price.

 

Thats going in my favorites & I'll watch for the sale.

Thanks.

Edited April 27, 2008 by Highland Reefer

[gastone]

Tom,

 

I used to use 150w XM10k on an M81 ballast. Nice crisp white. I really liked the bulb. I've also used 250w XM 10k on an M58 ballast. Not a good stand alone lamp IMO. It is quite yellow.

 

For the XM 10k bulbs on a magnetic ballast I like T5 Blue+ supplementation.

 

Garrett.

[Origami]

Thanks, Gastone. I've got an electronic HQI ballast from Coralife. It's part of an all-in-one that I got when I started in the hobby. I've really never read much about it, I guess, but it is what I have and, for now, it seems to have done alright by me with the original 10K bulbs that came with it.

[dschflier]

Hey Tom,

 

Well you have seen my main setup. My lights are 3x 250 watt 10k XM bulbs. I feel the lights give a pretty nice white light although I am about to buy some new bulbs and am considering a bit more blue like 12k. My acitinic is VHOs.

 

David

[Origami]

Thanks, David. I'm expecting some Ushio's in the next few days. If I can get a PAR meter, I'm going to take a baseline measurement with my old bulbs and maybe swap them out early (holding onto them as backups) since they've only been in service since September '08. That would, hopefully avoid too much of a shift in the light output and let me see if I like the look.