How do the XM 15K's look?

[Scribe]

I've gone back and forth with wether I should order the 15k's or not. There almost $10 cheaper then the 20K's I currently use. Is there a good reason for this? I really like the blue look of the 20k's, but am curious about the 15's. If you've used them, please tell me what you think.

 

[Entropy]

I don't see a reason to switch if you are happy with the 20k bulbs. From what I read they have less par than the 20k bulb and are not as blue. I haven't actually seen the 15k's will my own eyeballs though.

 

[ODOG]

Hey Scribe, long time no talk. I just bought the 15K XM last weekend. I had been using an EVC 14K on my 30 Hex. So far the XM is just OK. It's no where close to having any blue in it though. It's very white. I thought it was actually a little yellow looking at first but my wife says it's just because I'm use to it being so blue. After a few days it does seem very white and bright to me. After buying the bulb I did some research and found it compared PAR wise to what I had. It looks very bright, but my zoas just don't seem to have as much flouresence. I have some before and after pics I'll upload later today.

 

[moonpod]

See now this is the problem....you find the XM 15k to be white? Not even close when I ran the XM 15k 250w DE. It was this purple/pink color. I hated it.

 

[jasonstr8up]

I used the 15k 250 watt se bulb. I thought they looked good but not too bright. They have bad par rating, so I switched them out for the 14k Hamiltons.... oh much better.

 

[Scribe]

Thanks for your input guys....

Odog, it has been a while. Hope all is well with you. I'll check back later and check out the pictures. I think I'll probably go with the old 20's though. Are you running SE or DE?

 

[ODOG]

I'm running DE...
EVC 14K

XM 15K

 

[Scribe]

Nice pic's ODOG, the tank looks nice. It's amazing how white the 15 k's are. I'm going to go with the 20's I think.

 

[ODOG]

I think you will be happier. I like the way my water looks with the new light...crystal clear, but my zoas just seem kind of bland in color now.

 

[TheCoralNabber]

the 15Ks are not very bright at all, got rid of mine after 3 months, cause I had to. Waste of money, love my 10Ks and my 20Ks though

 

[lwalcott]

I just got rid of my 15K's after about a month. Mine were blue but not very bright. I'm going to try the Reeflux 12k's.