Not happy with my XM 250w MH

jdbassin

New member
my new tank has been up a few weeks now and I'm not happy with the light produced by my XM 250w 10k's i find the color to be a bit to yellow green color i'm wanting to go a bit more blue. was thinking about trying 14k's any recomendations out there with respect to brank and light quality, I want the light to be bluer but not totally blue.


jd
 
Granted I have the 175 XM 10K but mine don't have any yellow to them. How long have you had them? I would wait at least 2 weeks before judging the color.
But it should be noted that people have noticed a shift in the color depending how the "nipple" on the inside of the bulb is facing. If you look at the little "bulb" inside the bulb (sorry don't recall the correct term) you should notice a "nipple". From my understanding it should be at 12 o'clock, but anywhere between 3 and 9 should improve it.

HTH
 
the 55 w pc are getting blown away by the XM. if you switch over to VHO you will be much more satisfied. AS far as switching Mh then there are a ton out there in the 12-20 K's that you may like that will provide that blue look. how blue do you want? actinic blue=20K
crisp white with blue = 12K
or just switching to VHO actinics.
 
perhaps i'll try the VHO, I already have a ballast i was going to use it for a new freshwater planted tank but two new vhos bulbs are much cheaper than 1 new MH, lol, The pc's will will be just fine over the planted tank. Thanks for the input, oh and to answer the last question I'm using an aro electronic ballast.


jd
 
Have you tried rotating the bulb to different orientations? Surprisingly it will change the color output when the nipple is in different positions. I have found with mine when the nipple is between 1 and 2 o'clock color is the best. And definitely go with URI VHO Super Actinics for the best actinic supplementation.
 
If you want your XM 10k's to look like they're supposed to, you need to get a dual 250watt DE ballast to power them. I ran mine with the PFO standard SE ballast and they made the water look like pee. Now I overdrive them with the PFO 250watt DE ballast and they're a beautiful BRIGHT white. Very intense, clean, and awesome (even after 6 months). I'll always overdrive my SE 250watt metal halides from now on. :rollface: Even Iwasakis look pretty white with the DE ballast.
 
BTW, I don't even supplement my 75 gallon reef with VHO actinics anymore. Thats how good the XM's look. (even Iwasaki's don't need actinic supplements when powered with the DE ballast)
 
Just picked up three new 400w XM 10K's.

One was yellow. I adjusted the socket so the nipple would face up so I would not have to "unscrew" the bulb at all.

It worked.

All bulbs are now a nice crisp white color !!!!!!

Toddrtrex - excellent piece of information.
 
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