Happy Holidays BAR! XM20k,Hamilton10K 14K Bulbs HELP please

[maynor]

Hello every one!
I hope all of you are doing well.

I have 3 bulbs in mind and wanted to please have your input about it if you have used them or guide me to places/individuals who have first hand experience with them.

Can you please tell me:
How Long This Bulbs Have Lasted You And On What Ballasts You Have Ran Them.

175 watt single ended 10k Hamilton, single ended 14k Hamilton and single ended 20k XM bulbs.

250 watt single ended 10K Hamilton, single ended 14K Hamilton and single ended 20K XM
bulbs.


Just to clarify, I only use single ended bulbs, so this is about single ended bulbs only. In terms of ballasts, I only run electronic ballasts, but I would like to know your experience with the particular bulbs including your ballasts.

Thank you very much in advance for your time and sharing of experience. I wish you very Happy Holidays!

 

[pbetito]

I have had the Hamilton 10k lights and was LESS than impressed. I did run them with magnetic ballasts but they lose color quick. I hope that helps FWIW.

Paul

 

[sfsuphysics]

Hello Maynor, I have personally run 10k XM & 14k Hams on a 175w ballast and 12k Reeflux 250w bulbs, all single ended.

The 175w were on an older magnetic ballast (ie they weren't on the over charged ballast for HQI type bulbs), the 10K were ok, a bit yellow, lots of light though, with some actinics they looked fine though, The 14k were a nice crisp blue without need for actinics, although I did use some 6500k t8 tubes to whiten everything out, a little too blue. A downside is the hams don't have squat for energy coming out of them for corals (atleast the 14000k).

In the 250 realm I am in love with the reeflux bulbs, and doubt I'll change, they are the perfect bulb for me. I run them on electronic ballasts though.

 

[Mr. Ugly]

Maynor,

I've run 250w 14k Hamiltons and currently 20k XM, both on Blueline e-ballasts.

I ran the 14k for about 8 months before switching to try the 20k.

It's been my impression that the 14k gave better brighter colors for zoas. When I put those zoas into tanks with 20k, they looked brighter than the ones that were grown under 20k originally. But that could have been a matter of that person's system too.

I'm going to run my old 14k's on a prop tank as a kind of experiment.

 

[maynor]

Paul,
Thank you very much for sharing your experience with me, I apreciate it. Do you hapen to remember how many months you ran them and for how many hours per day? I had them long time ago and loved their color, but I traded the set up and didn't run them from brand new to replacement time.
I wish you the best and Happy holidays to you and your family!


Mike,
Thanks a lot for your input. A lot of people seam to like the 250 watt 12k Reeflux bulbs and I have heard they give corals a very nice color.
In terms of your Hamilton 10K and 14K usage, do you remember for how many months you ran them and for how many hours per day before having to replace them.
Thank you Mike and Happy Holidays to you and yours!

Norman,
Thank you very much for the information.
You are the zoa guru, so thank you for your input here.
What you wrote is some thing I had heard from semeone some time ago. Zoas seam to take on crispier corlors under Hamilton 14k than under XM20k, but the XM 20K bulbs give some zoas and other softies a deeper shade of color. I hope the last sentence made sence. Did you replace the 250 watt 14k bulb because it was time to replace it after 8 months of just because you wanted to try something else?
Thank you again Norman and Happy Holidays to you and yours!


I have seen what these bulbs look like to the eye and what they do to corals, but since I have never owned them from brand new to replacement time, I don't know how long they will last. Help with that please!

What I am trying to find out is how long each of these 3 bulbs will last from the time I buy them brand new to the time I need to replace them. In my case, I plan to run them 6-7 hours per day on electronic ballasts.

Thank you all very much and I am sorry for maybe not wording my question in a more clear way!

 

[sfsuphysics]

In terms of your Hamilton 10K and 14K usage, do you remember for how many months you ran them and for how many hours per day before having to replace them.

WAYYYYYYY too long When I did get around to replacing them (about a year later) I could not grasp how much brighter the light was, guess it's just a matter of slowly getting used to a particular brightness, for all intents I might as well been running nothing but actinic bulbs

 

[maynor]

LOL you are soo funny MIke.

So I can buy a light bulb and use it until I hit my retirement age about 30 years from now? LOL
I like that idea.

Thanks for getting back to me Mike!

 

[Mr. Ugly]

Maynor,

I'm running my bulbs about 6-7 hours a day. I switched to the 20k because I wanted to try something different.

NAA happened to have a sale and they had XM in stock... So I figured that 8 months was a decent amount of time on the old bulbs. I didn't try to measure par or anything like that.

On the prop tank, I'm guessing I can drop the old 14k bulbs down low if need be. Also, the water will be pretty shallow.

 

[seminolecpa]

Maynor,

I also run 2 250W 14K hamiltons on my 58. I tried XM 20K's and wound up switching back to the Hamiltons because I liked the color better.

I run then for 8 hrs a day 6 with both bulbs on with an hour before and after with only 1 bulb.

I pretty much replace my bulbs after about 7 months just out of habit and keep them around for emergencies.

 

[maynor]

Norman,
Thank you again!

Bryan,
Thanks very much for your input and Happy Holidays to you and your family!


Well, it seams like getting 7-8 months of solid life out of the 250 watt Hamilton 14K is a reasonable expectation then.

I still need more info on the other bulbs before taking the plunge on just one type when time comes to replace all bulbs.

Thank you all very much for your time!

Any one else, please do pop in!

 

[Apon]

Hey Maynor, The lights you saw on my tank on the sides were 175 Ushios 10k. I like them.....

 

[maynor]

Your lights looked really nice, so thank you for letting me know what they are Arnold!

Happy Holidays to you and your family!