14K AC versus 10K Ushio - Pictures

[Glindac]

i have tried many bulbs over the years, non compare to the AC14K. Finally a bulb that 10K users will love. I also have my 4 VHO actinics running (that I used with the 10K), still not to blue and they have not even burned in yet. The bulb gives everything a nice pop and not fake looking colors, the yellows and reds retained their nice color too, which most blue bulbs wash out. Now, not only did it give the corals pop, but the fish looked 10X better under these bulbs too. The difference is amazing and is not an overwhelming blue compared to 10K. I am a die hard 10K user with actinic supplement, I have tried the Hamilton 14K (to blue), the 20K XM (way to blue), these AC 14K are awesome in every aspect, it is a tad blue but very comparable to the 10K, just with that extra pop to the colors that the camera can not get that good. I have looked hard for these bulbs, Edward has them in at www.aquaristics.com, very nice guy to deal with. I know others are hunting these down so i thought that would help.
Here is the tank with Ushio10K:

Here is the tank with AC14K:

Zoos under 14K:

Section 10K:

Section 14K:

 

[s13silvia]

sweet tank! and nice tort!

 

[burton14e7]

Do you know how much Par the 14k puts out?

 

[donfishy76]

How big is this tanf these light are over?

 

[adw]

The yellow seems really washed out. Is that just the photo or is that how it looks to the eye as well?

 

[Purple Haze]

that's one packed tank. Very nice

 

[Glindac]

Not sure of the par, i saw that on another thread and I think it was pretty high for a blue bulb.
The yellow is, of course, washed out compared to 10K, but not as washed out as other blue bulbs, and these are not burned in and running with actinic too.
This tank is a 180. Thought you would like to see a good depiction of these bulbs I have heard so much about, pictures are hard to get the real look but this is close. I am going to try and take more closeup pictures if you guys would like.

 

[adw]

Oh and the tank looks great.:rollface:

 

[hottuna]

are these arcadia bulbs ????

 

[Glindac]

Thanks for the compliments.
These are the aqua connect bulbs.

 

[gqjeff]

SE or DE what watt? what ballasts and reflector? HQI mag or eballast or reg mag?

 

[onefin]

Your tank looks amazing, love the color.

 

[Glindac]

They are 250 watt SE running on icecap ballast.

 

[Scuba Dog]

The AC 14 250 DE puts out 86 par off of a PFO HQI Ballast, a Ushio 10 on the same Ballast is 88 par, I might be off a unit or so but this is pretty close....the AC puts out the most par for the blue bulbs, they are pricy and hard to find though....I purchased one to run stand alone over my clam tank that will be set up fairly soon....I did place the new bulb over my reef just out of couriosity and I was real happy with the results....this august when my 10k Ushios are spent, Ill swap over completly with the AC 14ks....cool blue coloration, great florsence, and nearly the same par as the ushio 10s I curently use....but then agen the acs are 115 bucks a pop for the DEs....Ill still use my VHOS and will experiment with two actinis or one actinic and one white....

 

[ejocam]

Glindac, you have to try them to believe it. Even though the picttures look nice , I bet it looks even better in person. I am also an AC user(2 months) and could not be any happier. Sad to say I have been replacing my 400w Radiums with 250DE AC's.

BTW, Old Yeller Tang(Roland) was here today and mentioned something I am very interested in. Will send you a PM.

 

[adw]

Has anyone tried using daylight vho bulbs for supplementation?

 

[corndogg]

what do you think about the intensity. I just started running xm 10k's and was shocked at how bright they were compared to hamilton 10k's. But I would like just a little more blue than you get with 10k plus actinic.

 

[Scuba Dog]

So far Im just going to run the AC over the clam tank as is...next august when its time to change buls ill go with the ac14k ...Ill start it out with 2 super actinics, and if its too blue then Ill have one super actinic and one 10 or 12 k vho....just for the dusk dawn effect and to brighten up the tank....

 

[aurora]

It's hard to really compare based on your pic since the first one is smaller and a bit out of focus. Nice tank though. It looks pretty similar to the Coralvue 14K bulb.

what do you think about the intensity. I just started running xm 10k's and was shocked at how bright they were compared to hamilton 10k's. But I would like just a little more blue than you get with 10k plus actinic

If you want a bit bluer 10K...try the Coralvue 10K. I used to run Radiums 20K for years until a month ago and switch over to 10K Coralvue. I'm very happy with the switch over. The new bulbs have no hint of yellow at all. Actually, the CoralVue 10K bulb visually looks pretty similar to a burned in Radium. I got away from Radium because I was tired of changing bulbs every 6 months. I had an AB 10K DE 250W set up a couple of years ago and got rid of that since I felt the bulb burned in a bit yellow.

 

[Glindac]

ejocam,
Yeah as the days tick by I am loving the bulbs, I do want to try them with 50/50 VHO versus the current actinic. Roalnd is AWESOME, a wonderful guy to deal with....

corndogg,
The intensity is not 10K but not far off, I am waiting to see how they are once burned in for a few weeks, right now they are running with actinic and its pretty intense.

aurora,
I placed a larger clearer pic of the tank on 10K.

I would love to see pics of others with these bulbs and maybe with suppliment lighting with them. I like the dawn to dusk simulation so I plan on keeping the VHO's. It may be my imagination but these bulbs don't seem to burn as hot as the 10K's.