400W XM 20K Shots FTS please.

[SunnyX]

My new 400W XM 20K's on M59 Ballats should be here tomorrow.
I decided that my tank need more blue and florescence.

I wanted to keep the same amount of PAR but go bluer so I had to go up from 250W to 400W in order to maintain the same intensity.

I know 400W is excessive but if it makes my corals "pop" even more I will be happy.

So if anyone is currently running them please post some full tank shots.

Please include:

Ballast:
Reflector:
Supplemental Lighting:

Thanks :thumbsup:

 

[SunnyX]

Anyone?

 

[ejocam]

tagging along for the ride

 

[Froggy]

I hope this is allowed as it is a pic from another site but it is a tank lit by 2 X 400 watt 20 K XM's. NOT MY TANK

Sunny, It is the TOTM for September 2005. scroll down to see pics and info on it. It is fired by dual PFO 400 watt ( M59) ballasts.

Sunny, if this link is not allowed and you do not view it, let me know and I will PM it to you.

Here is the link. http://www.totm.aquariumpros.ca/TOTM/archives/index.shtml

 

[SunnyX]

Froggy, thanks for the link. Exactly the color I am looking to reproduce.

 

[Covey]

I just got my 400W XM 20K 3 days ago now. I am not going to post pics as my tank is still very much a work in progress but I am very happy with the lights. I order from Hellolights.
http://www.hellolights.com/arocu25rekit.html

$140 plus $25 for your choice of XM bulb. Its a good deal.

Its already doing good things to the coloration of the coral and the are not even acclamated yet.

They don't need antinics.

 

[SunnyX]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7522800#post7522800 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Covey
I just got my 400W XM 20K 3 days ago now. I am not going to post pics as my tank is still very much a work in progress but I am very happy with the lights. I order from Hellolights.
http://www.hellolights.com/arocu25rekit.html

$140 plus $25 for your choice of XM bulb. Its a good deal.

Its already doing good things to the coloration of the coral and the are not even acclamated yet.

They don't need antinics.

Thanks.

I got mine from hellolights.com also.

I may just make all of my VHO's into Actinic White. Ill wait and see how it looks at first.

 

[Jeremy Blaze]

Heres my old 125. Lit with 2 xm 20K bulbs. 400 watt. Blueline electronic ballasts. Cheap retro reflectors.

No other lights.

 

[SunnyX]

Jeremy Blaze, thank you for the pics.

I love the florescence.

 

[Jeremy Blaze]

I was very happy with the 'look' of the bulbs. I ran them for about 3 years. However, growth wasn't as fast as I would like, so I have changed over to xm 10 ks.

 

[SunnyX]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7523495#post7523495 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Jeremy Blaze
I was very happy with the 'look' of the bulbs. I ran them for about 3 years. However, growth wasn't as fast as I would like, so I have changed over to xm 10 ks.

Sanjay site has the blueline E ballast with XM20K @ 91 PAR

With my new M59's I should be getting 128 PAR, very close to the 137 PAR my 250W 10k XM's have. So I dont think growth will be affected very much in my tank. Combined with great water clarity and Lumenarc III reflectors this should be a great lighting combo.

 

[Jeremy Blaze]

Cool, Yeah, those bluelines don't seem to burn them as well, but the have a nice color on them. FWIW, I friend runs the 20's on ice cap ballasts, and they are so blue he has to run vho daylight bulbs to even it out.

But, your set up sounds like it will work great for you!

 

[Stoney Mahony]

I have 2 x 400w XM's on my 55. Ill post pics when I get home.

 

[SunnyX]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7523665#post7523665 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Stoney Mahony
I have 2 x 400w XM's on my 55. Ill post pics when I get home.

Thanks.

 

[kirstenk]

Sunny.......here is a pic of my tank. I have 2 400W XM 20K's with a 175W XM 20 over the center brace. I use M59 Ballasts. I have 370W of VHO Super Actinic. The VHO actually brighten and add more florescence to the tank. White Balance Adjusted but the pic is a very good representation of my tank and color. I think you will happy with this bulb. As far as growth, the one large pinkish coral and the stag were grown from frags. Tank is 2 yrs..

 

[Creetin]

I switched over from 20k xm's to 10k(400's), and added actinic.
I switched for growth mainly and will switch back soon.
luminarcs m59 ballast, and 20k xms are the cats azz.
I run luminarcs as well. When i added the luminarcs to the 20'ks it brightened the tank up quite a bit more than the old spiders.
Youre gonna like it.

 

[ReefWorld03]

SunnyX,

stuckey_t is running that combination and according to a quote here.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=860649&perpage=25&pagenumber=1

He is running 400 watt XM 20,000K's on M59 magnetics.

He also has posted some pics of his tank so here is that link as well. Very sweet pics. Look at the later pics of his tank and the colors are just awesome.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=861280

I was going to run 400W Radiums on a HQI ballast but after seeing some of his pics I am now leaning toward 400 watt XM 20,000K's on M59 magnetics.

Hope this helps.

 

[SunnyX]

KIRSTEN:

That is exactly the color I am hopeing to get.

Creetin:
10K 400W XM?? That ALOT of PAR ther buddy. What do you corals use, SPF 9000 sun block. :lol:


Reefworld03:

Thanks for the links.

 

[Big E]

luminarcs m59 ballast, and 20k xms are the cats azz.

It's a nice combo, but for me I like the Bluelines with the 20kXm's better. I've been running a blueline on one side & an m59 on the other for 4+ months in Lumenarcs.

For the past two years I've used just the Bluelines in Lumenarcs. Par is overrated. Growth is about the same on both sides & the pieces on the blueline side color up nicer & I'm not talking about visually. The corals are actually more colorful..........meaning the cast of the the light from the two ballasts look the same, but the visual colors are more intense on the Blueline side.

Now if you want blues to pop like never before the Coralvue 10k reeflux on bluelines are unbelieveable. (115 par). Of course you'll need some supplementation with these or the the greens aren't as intense & overall hue is more yellow.

The EVC 14k are close to the XM20k on bluelines also with 102par. My friend uses these.

Keep in mind those M59's use 422w vs the Bluelines at 385w.
Imo that 37watts can be used better elsewhere. Like maybe some t-5 supplementation or electrical savings & more importantly a lot LESS heat.

One last thing, one of my bluelines crapped out after 3 years & they aren't cheap. The m59's can be repaired cheaply. Ice cap ballasts are another option as they have a better warranty & look in line spectrum wise. I don't have any experience with them though.

Before you ask for comparison pics, I don't have any & just temporarily moved all my corals to a 180g recently. The corals are now starting to recover colors, but I can tell you the blueline side has come back quicker.

I have some crappy top down pics of pieces with Blueline + lumenarc + xm20k is you want to see those.

 

[Stoney Mahony]

Heres a pic of my 55g w/ 2X 400w xm 20k
White balance not set-

White balance set-