choosing halide bulbs

**pham411** · 05-02-2006, 12:35 AM

hey guys, im thinking of purchasing 150w de 20xm bulbs to replace my 10k ushios. i also have 2 110w vho actinics. is this going to be super blue?? i want the blue look but not overkill. Also wondering how the growth is with the 20k if you used them. reviews on this bulb by ne1 who has used them is appreciated.

one more question, highter PAR is better or not?? and can someone find me the link to sanjays bulb reviews, i cant seem to find it.
thanks

***Rob*** · 05-02-2006, 12:40 AM

well i have the 10,000K XM bulbs...
you are going to be VERY blue with the 20,000K. i would go 10,000K
for PAR, higher is better. and the 20,000K have the lowest PAR of all the XM bulbs.

i will dig for the link, i know i have it here somewhere

**pham411** · 05-02-2006, 12:52 AM

mahaloz rob,

mahaloz = thankyou in hawaiian.........incase some of yall didnt know =)

**gwen_o_lyn** · 05-08-2006, 02:35 AM

Originally Posted by Rob

well i have the 10,000K XM bulbs...
you are going to be VERY blue with the 20,000K. i would go 10,000K
for PAR, higher is better. and the 20,000K have the lowest PAR of all the XM bulbs.

i will dig for the link, i know i have it here somewhere

Is this one of those cases where 20K is lower par than 14K? I think I will go 20K in the nano eventually, but there is lots more time to think about that. I love the blue- have the 14K now, and I wouldn't mind even more blue personally. Although a few people have said it would be too much. If you want par- go with 10K as a general rule.

V · 05-08-2006, 06:07 AM

this is not the thread i should be posting this, but its related.
we have talked about our normal lighting means and then after lights out, moon light simulations. i have heard yamaha (moto yamaha) have designed a new paint that absorbs light and then at night reflects a glowing effect. i have yet to seen a real life effect to gauge how bright it is, but its designed so bikes are easier to see at night. when i heard it i thought it could be a possibility of moon lighting. u would paint it where u need it.
just thinking out loud here!

***Rob*** · 05-08-2006, 08:45 PM

Originally Posted by gwen_o_lyn

Is this one of those cases where 20K is lower par than 14K? I think I will go 20K in the nano eventually, but there is lots more time to think about that. I love the blue- have the 14K now, and I wouldn't mind even more blue personally. Although a few people have said it would be too much. If you want par- go with 10K as a general rule.

gwen, sorry, the XM 14,000K bulbs are the lowest of the three..
thanks for the correction

**pham411** · 05-09-2006, 03:52 AM

i think im going to go with 14k pheonix. they seem to have good reviews on rc. ne1 here used pheonix's?

latez

**fat walrus** · 05-09-2006, 07:22 PM

used it and went back to XM20k. XM20K is really not that blue. it seems whiter and brighter than all the 14Ks i've used before. never never buy hamilton...they are horrible and the bulbs never match each other.

**dwillingm** · 05-11-2006, 03:29 PM

The XM bulb in between 10k and 20k is rated at 15k. I tried this bulb, and thought it was terrible. It was very dim, IMO.

I agree that the XM 20k are not that blue, when compared to other 20k bulbs. They take about 100 hours or so to burn in, and during this time the bulb gets whiter and slightly brighter.

I am using 20k XM bulbs right now, and am happy with the color... Not so happy with the growth rates I am getting with my acropora. I am thinking of trying the 10k next time.

**fat walrus** · 05-11-2006, 03:44 PM

dwillingm, i hear if you really want acros to grow, iwasaki 6500k is great. i tried it, but couldn't stand the color.

**dwillingm** · 05-11-2006, 03:55 PM

Yeah, I am not willing to look at a yellow tank just to get my acros growing faster. I think the 10K XM with some actinics might be a happy medium though.

***Rob*** · 05-11-2006, 03:56 PM

Originally Posted by dwillingm

Yeah, I am not willing to look at a yellow tank just to get my acros growing faster. I think the 10K XM with some actinics might be a happy medium though.

this is exactly what i have, and have been very happy so far

**fat walrus** · 05-11-2006, 04:02 PM

i have also tried XM10k, they do look ok, but i have just picked up a couple of coralife 10k 3 weeks ago and they actually look brighter then the XM10K. i was actually surprised, because even though i like coralife products, most hobbyists seems to snub their bulbs without even trying it.

**Reefbaby** · 05-14-2006, 04:20 PM

how bout some T5s here! :-)

**ghostbear29** · 05-23-2006, 09:22 AM

well, since you guys helped me on the "other" thread, how do the aqua medic bulbs do? also, do xm and phoenix work with the aqua medic well, or are there starting problems I need to watch out for. I know this guy in our reef club that spent close to 150 bucks just to have them not start or to flicker! yikes. whats the deal with that.

**dwillingm** · 05-23-2006, 09:06 PM

I just switched out my XM 20k for an XM 10k. My initial impression is i dont like the look of the 10k. It is brighter, but it makes my zoanthids, and pretty much all of my corals less colorful and more brown. It also gives the tank a yellowish look (even with 100watts of actininc). I am going to stick with it for a few months and see if the increased PAR brings out some of the blues and purples in my acropora. If it does then I may stick with it, if not I am definetly going back to the 20k XM.

**fat walrus** · 05-23-2006, 09:41 PM

Originally Posted by dwillingm

I just switched out my XM 20k for an XM 10k. My initial impression is i dont like the look of the 10k. It is brighter, but it makes my zoanthids, and pretty much all of my corals less colorful and more brown. It also gives the tank a yellowish look (even with 100watts of actininc). I am going to stick with it for a few months and see if the increased PAR brings out some of the blues and purples in my acropora. If it does then I may stick with it, if not I am definetly going back to the 20k XM.

i know sps farmers that uses 10k to grow and then color them up in 20k to take the pictures and for sale. unless you are trying to farm for financial gain, why put up with a color you do not enjoy? to hell what anyone else think, do what makes you feel good...as long as the specimens are not harmed.

**fat walrus** · 05-23-2006, 09:45 PM

Originally Posted by dwillingm

I just switched out my XM 20k for an XM 10k. My initial impression is i dont like the look of the 10k. It is brighter, but it makes my zoanthids, and pretty much all of my corals less colorful and more brown. It also gives the tank a yellowish look (even with 100watts of actininc). I am going to stick with it for a few months and see if the increased PAR brings out some of the blues and purples in my acropora. If it does then I may stick with it, if not I am definetly going back to the 20k XM.

if you are talking HQI, i've had both in aquamedic...and no problems. but since then i''ve gone away from aquamedic and phoenix.

**dwillingm** · 05-23-2006, 09:46 PM

I am losing blue and purple colors in my acropora, and I got some advice from several people, including Eric B, that the reason may be from lack of light, since the 20k bulb is so low in PAR, and the blue and purple colors seem to be brought out under intense lighting. I wanted to give this higher PAR bulb a chance and see what happens... My gut feeling is that it isnt going to do anything.

**fat walrus** · 05-23-2006, 10:04 PM

Originally Posted by dwillingm

I am losing blue and purple colors in my acropora, and I got some advice from several people, including Eric B, that the reason may be from lack of light, since the 20k bulb is so low in PAR, and the blue and purple colors seem to be brought out under intense lighting. I wanted to give this higher PAR bulb a chance and see what happens... My gut feeling is that it isnt going to do anything.

with all due respect to Eric B, a lot of the sps farmers that come out with those crazy colors are from my neck of the woods. they don't talk about how to bring out the colors in certain specimens because they want to make money. but from the ones that i've seen, none of the frags for sale is under 10k.

**dwillingm** · 05-23-2006, 10:42 PM

Maybe the issue is with my tank. It is a 100 gallon corner tank and I only have room for a 400 watt metal halide right now. If I tried to cram another in there, I would run into serious temperature issues. Maybe the single XM 20K isnt enough light over the entire tank to develop the coloration I am looking for. I would at least expect that the frags right under the bulb would develop the color though. I have ruled out excess nutrients as the cause for the loss of color, I have 35x turnover per hour, and feed the tank every night with Erics coral food recipe. Switching to the brighter light was pretty much the last thing I could think of.

I am pretty skeptical about the 10k bringing out the color, but since I already bought the bulb, I might as well wait and see what it does. Worst case scenario would be I get a little extra growth over the next two months, and then switch back to my 20k. At that point I will may start looking towards Zeovit for my answer.

Here are two threads I started on RC and MarineDepot forums about my issue. I am interested in anyones feedback regarding what was posted there. The threads started out with me looking into photoperiod, and Erics suggestions about increasing PAR came up in the MarineDepot thread.

http://forum.marinedepot.com/Topic34113-9-1.aspx

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...hreadid=844026

V · 05-24-2006, 05:34 AM

Originally Posted by Reefbaby

how bout some T5s here! :-)

we might need to start a dedicated thread RB for the likes of T5 HO/VHO Power compacts

**fat walrus** · 05-24-2006, 10:49 PM

Originally Posted by veriann

we might need to start a dedicated thread RB for the likes of T5 HO/VHO Power compacts

as the shoemaker named after the goddess of victory said, JUST DO IT. i elect veriann to start this thread.

**pham411** · 05-25-2006, 08:11 PM

wow xmz seem to be really popular also my 10k ushios give supurb growth but my coloring could be better. i just ordered a bunch of prodibio suplements and hopefully colors with start poping. if not im going to try 10k xm or 14k pheonix. ive heard that the 14k xms really suck. any1 tried it.