any used XM 10k single end 250 watt bulb?

[Iceman0124]

Anyone have one of the above? I'm planning on replacing my 15k with a 10k, but before I lay down my cash for one, I want to see if I'll be happy with it first, I hate yellow bulbs,and its hard to return a bulb once its been fired, my first bulb was a hamilton 10k, that was way too yellow after a few weeks. My xm is a nice blue, but I want to increase my PAR, so a nice crisp 10k seems like the way to go, thanks


M.

[Ironman]

I think you would be happy with a hamilton 14K. its just enough blue to not have to use suplaments. I have a spare set for my lights on my main tank, you can try but I would need it back, I keep it for emergencies and dont like being without it very long. you could even come by and see how they look on my tank

[Iceman0124]

Thanks B, a comparison site shows its pretty similar to what I have The xm 10k PAR value rated in the low 600's, and the comparison photos are a nice color, the 14k is in the upper 200's, like what I have, I'm running a 96 watt pc actinic, and 2 t-5 actinics, basically my goal is to noticably brighten up the tank, its a little too blue, and replacing my other lights would cost a bit more, and probably wouldnt do enough to satisfy my picky posterior, I have a 3 foot tank, and just one halide dead center, I'm pretty sure I want to go with a 10k, check this out, 250Watt Bulb Comparison

[Ironman]

very neat and informative, but Id have to see it for myself! I have a hard time believing that going from a 14k hamilton at 200+ par to a 10K xm at 600+ par is accurate. But im usually wrong so who knows? However the club just purchased a really nice PAR meter. So when you get a xm 10k let me know and we will test it against my 14k hamiltons. I do know that my hamiltons are reading 200 par just barely under the water surface.

[Iceman0124]

I dunno, the less blue, the higher the par, the best reef tanks I've seen are with 6500k halides and a butt load of german vho actinics, usually double the wattage of the halides, Ice Crap ballasts and iffy uri bulbs turned me off from vho long ago, way back from the cleveland facility, I got an actinic bulb that continuously arced, and sent my corals into a tizzy,I had mushrooms that spread 4-5" across, stand up into a long cylindrical shape, looked just like a smoke stack, then melt right before my eyes, that was the only time I ever saw Dana Riddle totally confused about anything having to do with lighting, I'm probably gonna order the XM in the morning, and we'll see how it stacks up.I really like the overall look of the xm10k in the photos, the colors pop nice, and its a real natural 20' deep reef look, whether or not thats what I get on my tank remains to be seen Thanks again B


M.

[bkv1997]

My pheonix 14k bulbs regestered over 500 Par at about a food deep in the tank.

It should also be noted that PAR sensors don't pick up all spectrums of light the same.... the bluer colors of light are usually under accounted for and the yellow spectrums are over accounted for.

http://www.apogee-inst.com/images/spec_response.jpg Here is a graph that shows the spectrum of lights and how they are compensated for with a PAR meter. PAR meters are great if used correctly, however they are commonly used incorrectly and people start comparing Apples to Oranges and the results are pretty much worthless.

Hope this helps somehow.
Brandon

[Iceman0124]

Its more about the overall look of the tank than chasing a number, to me it looks like a horribly calibrated high end tv set, way too much contrast, no natural white balance, subtle color transitions simply just are not visable, I'm after a more natural look for a shallow reef, like 10 to 15' deep as opposed to 30', heres some just taken not so good pictures, bear in mind that I've just recently begun restoring my tank after a mid summer week with no AC whilst out of town , wich is far from a recipie for success, its got a long ways to go, but its slowly getting there, anyone no a quick easy way to evict several hundred feather dusters?

[Ironman]

there you go making everything complicated again brandon! I see what your saying though. also theres no doubt that a lesser kelvin rating is gonna have more par but I just cant see going from 200 par to 600 par in 4k difference. let me know matt when you get that bulb and we can test. Im also running a ice crap 660 as you call them, with URI bulbs. I would be interested in the results you get from the xms cause im always open for changes. Check with premium aquatics they usually have the best prices ive found.

[Iceman0124]

Think I'm gonna order it tonight, Marine Depot has very competitive prices, and they've been doing me right for awhile now, so I'm going to stick with them for the time being, thanks for the suggestion though, I have several 660 ballasts that are burned up, you can send them back to Ice Cap and get them fixed for around $75 each I think, your welcome to them if you want them, overall I've been satisfied with my 15k xm bulb, the color just isnt working for me anymore, and its about 10 months old now so its time for a change one way or another, I should have the bulb around thursday, so I'll let you know how it works out, thanks for all the imput guys

[fishman]

I have the bulb.