New Hamilton Halide: Anyone using them yet?

[Halnerd]

Hey Reefers,

It's time to replace my halide again and I was interested in the newly redesigned Hamilton Halides. I am currently running a Geisemann Megachrome Crystal 17.5K bulb, with supplemental 36 watt Power Compacts: One Hamilton 460 blue and one Coralife Actinic. So far I really like the color and growth with the Crystal. However, my SPS are growing TOO FAST for my 30 cube. I am having a hard time keeping up with the growth rate in terms of chemical dosing and feeding. My parameters are shifting significantly throughout the day and causing some unwanted side effects; mainly poor coralline growth. I do not have space for a sump or a doser. I am currently dosing Seachem Reef Fusion 1 & 2 and supplementing with Seachem Reef Builder, and Red Sea Foundations A as needed. They work, but I have to be on the ball with dosing, and even a day without dosing can cause major swings in my chems.

I am hoping that switching to a higher Kelvin bulb will slow the growth rate and allow a more stable, manageable chemical regimen.
I have always been a stickler for full spectrum bulbs. I DO NOT like the Windex look of Phoenix bulbs and other monochromatic "blue" bulbs. I am hoping that Hamilton will provide a "full spectrum" bulb that is still slanted towards the 420/460 end of the spectrum. I am open to a rather "blue" bulb, if it is still relatively full spectrum. I can mix up the supplemental PC's to add any color I feel is "missing" from the Halide.

Are any of you using the NEW Hamilton halide bulbs? I would love to see some screen shots of the NEW 20K or 14K bulbs in action. Hamilton's website is devoid of any Spectral analysis or tank pics of their bulbs.

Can anyone suggest an alternative 14K/20K bulb that meets my criteria? I am willing to consider any options. Ushio 14K, XM 20K, Megachrome 21K Blue and a few others have already crossed my mind. Although, I would like to see the NEW Hamilton before I make a decision.

Thanks in advance,

Halnerd

 

[Halnerd]

Hey Guys,

Are there really no people using the NEW Hamilton Halides yet? I am really interested to see what they look like relative to their older bulbs. They claim to be "bluer" than their older bulbs. I can see that need for their 10K bulb, but not really for the other Kelvins.

If I decide to go with a Hamilton, I will try to post pics on the forum.

Halnerd

 

[AZRippster]

I'm running 2 Dual 48" 400W Cebu Sun fixtures with their 14K lamps. I have a new set of Radium on hand, but after seeing the 14K, I decided to stick with them. Very nice. Not as blue as the Radium, but a nice white/blue all the same and my corals have been growing fantastic.

 

[tinfoilhate]

I'm running 2 Dual 48" 400W Cebu Sun fixtures with their 14K lamps. I have a new set of Radium on hand, but after seeing the 14K, I decided to stick with them. Very nice. Not as blue as the Radium, but a nice white/blue all the same and my corals have been growing fantastic.

How high off the water line are you running your fixtures? How is the heat?

 

[AZRippster]

I'm running them around 7" off the water surface. I won't BS you, they put off a good amount of heat, but so far it hasn't been a problem. I have 2 fans that blow over the surface of the tank that come on at 80 degrees and off at 79.5. So far I haven't breached 80.4 degrees, but were not in summer yet.

 

[tinfoilhate]

I'm running them around 7" off the water surface. I won't BS you, they put off a good amount of heat, but so far it hasn't been a problem. I have 2 fans that blow over the surface of the tank that come on at 80 degrees and off at 79.5. So far I haven't breached 80.4 degrees, but were not in summer yet.

Nice. I'm running lumenbrite minis 12 inches from the water and doing good, but have considered going to this fixture for more spread from the addition of T5s, but I think it might be an issue in summer.

 

[jminick2]

ive run xm20 coralline grew like crazy, they will have more of purple look

 

[Hamilton Tech]

Hey Reefers,

It's time to replace my halide again and I was interested in the newly redesigned Hamilton Halides. I am currently running a Geisemann Megachrome Crystal 17.5K bulb, with supplemental 36 watt Power Compacts: One Hamilton 460 blue and one Coralife Actinic. So far I really like the color and growth with the Crystal. However, my SPS are growing TOO FAST for my 30 cube. I am having a hard time keeping up with the growth rate in terms of chemical dosing and feeding. My parameters are shifting significantly throughout the day and causing some unwanted side effects; mainly poor coralline growth. I do not have space for a sump or a doser. I am currently dosing Seachem Reef Fusion 1 & 2 and supplementing with Seachem Reef Builder, and Red Sea Foundations A as needed. They work, but I have to be on the ball with dosing, and even a day without dosing can cause major swings in my chems.

I am hoping that switching to a higher Kelvin bulb will slow the growth rate and allow a more stable, manageable chemical regimen.
I have always been a stickler for full spectrum bulbs. I DO NOT like the Windex look of Phoenix bulbs and other monochromatic "blue" bulbs. I am hoping that Hamilton will provide a "full spectrum" bulb that is still slanted towards the 420/460 end of the spectrum. I am open to a rather "blue" bulb, if it is still relatively full spectrum. I can mix up the supplemental PC's to add any color I feel is "missing" from the Halide.

Are any of you using the NEW Hamilton halide bulbs? I would love to see some screen shots of the NEW 20K or 14K bulbs in action. Hamilton's website is devoid of any Spectral analysis or tank pics of their bulbs.

Can anyone suggest an alternative 14K/20K bulb that meets my criteria? I am willing to consider any options. Ushio 14K, XM 20K, Megachrome 21K Blue and a few others have already crossed my mind. Although, I would like to see the NEW Hamilton before I make a decision.

Thanks in advance,

Halnerd

Halnerd,

Check with Mark (mwb32). He uses our Hamilton 250W 20K DE HQI Lamps.

mwb32 - 7/24/15 - "Went with one new style Hamilton 20k bulb and put it side by side with my Phoenix 250 watt both driven by an M80 ballast and one cant tell the difference unless I tell you which side is which. Now I have all Hamilton 20k bulbs and they are in my opinion a great replacement for the Phoenix. Really excellent job by Hamilton matching the spectrum of the Phoenix. Now have 2 each 250 watt and one 150 watt that is in the middle which runs on an electronic ballast and couldn't be happier. With Phoenix coming and going will stick with the Hamilton since I feel they are here to stay."



Or, from Twitter on 2/24/16 (@renewablecoral) - https://twitter.com/renewablecoral/status/702544726629720064

"The #acropora colors under the new redesigned @Hamilton_Tech 20K 250W HQI metal halide bulbs is impressive; they've changed to the better!"



From another Forum on 2/21/16:

"I bought two @Hamilton Technology 250W double ended bulbs a couple months ago now. These are the new redesigned bulbs that are supposed to be on PAR with Phoenix and bluer than the older design.

I have a PAR meter so I did some of my own tests. I compared 2 of my 5 month old Hamiltons to 2 of my 4 month old Phoenix to 2 of the new Hamiltons. I also tested just above the waters surface and about 3 inches below.

Here are the results:

@ Surface:
Old Hamilton: 240/240
Phoenix: 330/335
New Hamilton: 330/325

3 Inches Below:
Old Hamilton: 130/140
Phoenix: 170/180
New Hamilton:180/180

The new bulbs do have the same PAR readings as my used Phoenix. I didn't have new Phoenix to compare with and I'm not sure how much they lost.

As far as the color goes, that's obviously subjective. A friend of mine and I feel that the older design was a bit bluer but this new color is still pretty good. The old ones may have been bluer because I only gave the new bulbs a couple days to burn in.

As far as my acros go, they changed color to the better. As you know with this crazy hobby, I can't say for sure if it was the light or because I purposely started to change my water less frequently. Either way, things look great under these new bulbs. "





Hope that helps!

 

[AZRippster]

Halnerd,

Check with Mark (mwb32). He uses our Hamilton 250W 20K DE HQI Lamps.

mwb32 - 7/24/15 - "Went with one new style Hamilton 20k bulb and put it side by side with my Phoenix 250 watt both driven by an M80 ballast and one cant tell the difference unless I tell you which side is which. Now I have all Hamilton 20k bulbs and they are in my opinion a great replacement for the Phoenix. Really excellent job by Hamilton matching the spectrum of the Phoenix. Now have 2 each 250 watt and one 150 watt that is in the middle which runs on an electronic ballast and couldn't be happier. With Phoenix coming and going will stick with the Hamilton since I feel they are here to stay."



Or, from Twitter on 2/24/16 (@renewablecoral) - https://twitter.com/renewablecoral/status/702544726629720064

"The #acropora colors under the new redesigned @Hamilton_Tech 20K 250W HQI metal halide bulbs is impressive; they've changed to the better!"



From another Forum on 2/21/16:

"I bought two @Hamilton Technology 250W double ended bulbs a couple months ago now. These are the new redesigned bulbs that are supposed to be on PAR with Phoenix and bluer than the older design.

I have a PAR meter so I did some of my own tests. I compared 2 of my 5 month old Hamiltons to 2 of my 4 month old Phoenix to 2 of the new Hamiltons. I also tested just above the waters surface and about 3 inches below.

Here are the results:

@ Surface:
Old Hamilton: 240/240
Phoenix: 330/335
New Hamilton: 330/325

3 Inches Below:
Old Hamilton: 130/140
Phoenix: 170/180
New Hamilton:180/180

The new bulbs do have the same PAR readings as my used Phoenix. I didn't have new Phoenix to compare with and I'm not sure how much they lost.

As far as the color goes, that's obviously subjective. A friend of mine and I feel that the older design was a bit bluer but this new color is still pretty good. The old ones may have been bluer because I only gave the new bulbs a couple days to burn in.

As far as my acros go, they changed color to the better. As you know with this crazy hobby, I can't say for sure if it was the light or because I purposely started to change my water less frequently. Either way, things look great under these new bulbs. "





Hope that helps!

OK, if this is Dave, and I'm not calling you on the carpet on this , you are addressing your DE lamps. I'm running your SE 14K 400W but thinking I have MORE than enough PAR right now. With that, I have electronic ballasts so I can drop to 250W, which would be nice for $$ sake. I see on your website that Hamilton states regarding the 250W 14K lamps, "OUR BEST! Bright ice white blue appearance". So, if I were to drop from your 14K 400W to the 14K 250W, what would be the ramifications. I do have a 36" deep tank.

p.s. You've been great to me so far, so for anyone reading this, Dave is a great guy. Not trying to sell him out or otherwise.

 

[Hamilton Tech]

I'm running your SE 14K 400W but thinking I have MORE than enough PAR right now. With that, I have electronic ballasts so I can drop to 250W, which would be nice for $$ sake. I see on your website that Hamilton states regarding the 250W 14K lamps, "OUR BEST! Bright ice white blue appearance". So, if I were to drop from your 14K 400W to the 14K 250W, what would be the ramifications. I do have a 36" deep tank.

Hi Russ,

Same color just lower PAR. A lot will depend on the ballast you are using but you would have a fairly substantial drop. At 36" tall, I would suggest 400 watt being optimal. For faster replies, contact me at dave@hamiltontechnology.com

Thanks for your support!!!