400W Bulb Testing
- Thread starter Jeremy B.
- Start date
MrSandman, running 400W-10KCV's for 5wks. now without any visual changes. Personally, I really like the color [bright white] over the yellow-white color of the Ushio's. I run these on the HQI ballast. I really have not seen enough of the XM's--but other threads here caution about early burn-out,Bob
MrSandman
Team RC
Thx. Are you supplementing with anything? If so, what/how many actinics are you using? I'm also looking to run them on the PFO HQI ballast. Man, there are so many threads on here about these lamps that i gotta literally spend hours looking for what i need. Which thread did you read about the early burn-out?
saltyseaman
Premium Member
JEBUS!!!! That's a whole lot of light!!! Do you have a link to a place that I can take a look at this tank?
Bob
saltyseaman
Premium Member
I hope Santa is reading this 
!!
!!
Leopardshark
New member
Jeremy,
which bulb is better, the 400w 10k coralvue or the XM? which one gives out more PAR? and which ballast do you recommend to run them, the regular PFO or the PFO HQI taking into account useful life of the bulb, PAR, etc.?
Also which one has a bluer look?
Sorry to bother you with so many questions but IÃ"šÃ‚´m about to buy from you this set up but IÃ"šÃ‚´m really undecided in which way to go.
TIA
Marco
which bulb is better, the 400w 10k coralvue or the XM? which one gives out more PAR? and which ballast do you recommend to run them, the regular PFO or the PFO HQI taking into account useful life of the bulb, PAR, etc.?
Also which one has a bluer look?
Sorry to bother you with so many questions but IÃ"šÃ‚´m about to buy from you this set up but IÃ"šÃ‚´m really undecided in which way to go.
TIA
Marco
Hi Marco,
I don't really think there is one definite bulb that stands out as being the "BEST". I am not a big fax of the coloration on the XM 10k. I do however like the high PAR value of it (there is more to coral growth/coloration than PAR), but the color IMO is somewhat lacking. The Coralvue 10k lamps are the best colored 10k I have seen to date. They give off an extremely crisp ice white, with NO yellow at all. You can run either lamp on a standard or HQI ballast. I would personally run them both on standard, as I don't see much benefit in the added electrical cost it takes to run the HQI in this situation.
I don't really think there is one definite bulb that stands out as being the "BEST". I am not a big fax of the coloration on the XM 10k. I do however like the high PAR value of it (there is more to coral growth/coloration than PAR), but the color IMO is somewhat lacking. The Coralvue 10k lamps are the best colored 10k I have seen to date. They give off an extremely crisp ice white, with NO yellow at all. You can run either lamp on a standard or HQI ballast. I would personally run them both on standard, as I don't see much benefit in the added electrical cost it takes to run the HQI in this situation.
Leopardshark
New member
Thanks Jeremy for the advice, pretty much what I wanted to hear.
BTW Jeremy, can I run Ushios on the regular PFO?
Marco
BTW Jeremy, can I run Ushios on the regular PFO?
Marco
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Leopardshark
New member
BTW, checking the PAR on the study by Joe Burger the difference is too big I think.
XM 250w 10k = 698
CV 250w 10k = 324
on regular PFO ballast.
IÃ"šÃ‚´m no expert at all, but this seems a very big difference between these two to me.
Even if the coralvue has a nicer color do you think it is worth buying it over the XM??
TIA
Marco
XM 250w 10k = 698
CV 250w 10k = 324
on regular PFO ballast.
IÃ"šÃ‚´m no expert at all, but this seems a very big difference between these two to me.
Even if the coralvue has a nicer color do you think it is worth buying it over the XM??
TIA
Marco
I still am having a very hard time believing the XM tested that well. I am going to bit on the numbers once a few more people test them. I can tell you that I have switched from Ushio/AB to CV, and have seen a big difference in coral coloration. IMO there is a lot more to it than PAR.
Leopardshark
New member
Ok, that sounds very reasonable.
So if I buy the CV and XM will you do me a special discount?
Ask Jason, IÃ"šÃ‚´ve bought tons of equipment from you
Marco
So if I buy the CV and XM will you do me a special discount?
Ask Jason, IÃ"šÃ‚´ve bought tons of equipment from you
Marco
We might be able to work something out for you! Please email me at jeremyb@premiumaquatics.com what all you are needing on the order.
Leopardshark
New member
thanks Jeremy
IÃ"šÃ‚´ll contact you then.
Marco
IÃ"šÃ‚´ll contact you then.
Marco
JB NY
Active member
Jeremy B. said:
Hey Jeremy,
I tested the lamps a few times to make sure I was reading the same. The XM for me tested much higher than the CV lamp. My first XM10K stopped working after a few weeks. The new one I received after I burned it in about 120 hrs, didn't perform as strong as the previous one I had, but still put out a lot more PAR than the CV10K. Even running it side by side with a Ushio I found, visually, it looked brighter, but the Ushio looks slightly more blue. I think it's a good replacement for people currently using Iwasaki though.
And I agree PAR isn't the only thing to look at, otherwise we would all be running Iwasakis.
Leopardshark
New member
Joe,
so the coralvue has a lot better coloration than the XM??
so the coralvue has a lot better coloration than the XM??
JB NY
Active member
I didn't try it with the Iwasaki, but I can. Maybe I should say the XM10K looks a little more yellow. It was hard to say what the color difference was. I felt it definitely looked brighter to me, so maybe the XM looked slightly yellow next to the ushio.
I think side by side comparisons are hard to do. As the color differences tend to get out of whack or one blends into the other causing it to look altogether different. When I did a side by side I would try and leave the middle lamp off on my 180G and just use the two end lamps so the light wouldn't cross over to the other one.
I'm also one of those people who do not feel the Ushio is slightly yellow. I wish it were more blue, and I feel it looks better with actinics. But I don't think of it as a yellow lamp. It is one of the lamps that I feel looks more yellow on a standard mag ballast and more white on an HQI but more blue on the electronics. Weird, because I don't see the color difference as much with other lamps as I do with the Ushio.
Do you have an XM10K to try?
I think side by side comparisons are hard to do. As the color differences tend to get out of whack or one blends into the other causing it to look altogether different. When I did a side by side I would try and leave the middle lamp off on my 180G and just use the two end lamps so the light wouldn't cross over to the other one.
I'm also one of those people who do not feel the Ushio is slightly yellow. I wish it were more blue, and I feel it looks better with actinics. But I don't think of it as a yellow lamp. It is one of the lamps that I feel looks more yellow on a standard mag ballast and more white on an HQI but more blue on the electronics. Weird, because I don't see the color difference as much with other lamps as I do with the Ushio.
Do you have an XM10K to try?
When we compare lamps we use a 6' tank that has three halides on it, then use the two end sockets to compare coloration. I know what you mean about blending, it is hard to tell at times. I think I might be calling the Ushio a bit yellow now just because I switched back to Ushio/AB's on my office tank, after running the CV 10k's. Although they have only been burning for almost a week now. Have you had anyone ask you about Coralvue (mainly the 10k) causing any bleaching in sps?
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