Time to buy New MH bulbs.....

[Rpierce]

I was wondering if anyone was thinking of switching away from their XM 10ks. I have seen alot of good things about the Reeflux 10ks.

I may not buy anything different but wanted to know what everyone else was looking at.

Any other bulbs??

Rick

 

[dvmsn]

The Reeflux has a much lower par rating on non hqi ballasts than the xms but also seems to be much bluer (which is probably a plus). I say go for it. I would love to find a bluer bulb via somebody else’s tank first

 

[tomterreefic]

I have been running 2 x 250W 10K ReefOptics bulbs for about 6 months now. I found them on eBay. I was hesitant to buy bulbs off of eBay, but decided to take the chance given the price. I've gotten good growth and color out of this bulb. I plan to buy my next set from there as well.ReefOptics bulbs

 

[BubbaPhish]

Rick,
I was running XM 10k's and had one burn out last weekend. Bulbs were only 6 months old, I did notice before it went out that it was burning yellow instead of it's usual white.
I have heard good things about the Reeflux and also the new Coral Vue 14k's. I saw several pairs of the Coral Vue 14k burning this week at a friends shop. The color was very white and crispy.
I had already placed an order for new bulbs when I saw these in action. I replaced my XM's with Ushio 10K's, and so far I like the color, and after 2 days I noticed my corals were showing better coloration. I think in my tank the XM's were giving my corals a sun tan.
Weird thing about the Ushio's I saw was they are shorter than most SE bulbs. I also had to re-orient my sockets to get the nipple on the bulb in a 12 o'clock position.
I havn't checked Sanjay's lighting website in a while but it is definately worth looking at if you are considering a bulb swap.
I talked with Jay at Premium Aquatics at length about bulbs and the goals of my tank before I ordered the Ushios .

Kevin

 

[chad508]

i was just looking today and i need to get new bulbs also. i too was thinking about the reeflux 10k. im just woundering if the xm14k would have just as much par as the reeflux 10k. i want alot more blue but do not want to go 20k. i may just add two more atinics for a total of 4 and stick with 10k.

 

[dvmsn]

Do you mean the 15K? If so those are some of the worst bulbs available for par.

 

[chad508]

yes i meant 15k. are ther worse than xm20k? i might just try the reeflux 12k and see how i like them. any other suggestions as to a good alternative to xm10k

 

[dvmsn]

xm 15 on 400 (m59) par 104
xm 20 on 400 (m59) par 128
xm 10 on 400 (m59) par 172

The 20k has the highest par of all 20k bulbs on non hqi ballasts. That is not saying alot. My growth was non-existant on 20k xms. Most of the rating on bulbs is BS. Most are just as blue as those listed as 20k bulbs. The 15k is no exception.

 

[chad508]

you know dave i just got to looking at you new pic. are you rubbing in the fact that you have that blue milli. never new your were this mean.

back to the bulbs. i may just try out the reeflux 10k are 12k and see how they are. i found were i bought my last bulbs and i got them last march so i have a little while till i need some, so i may just do some more looking to find a better bulb.

 

[dvmsn]

I was hoping you would get the joke

 

[phishguyatstore]

man, dave that is kinda mean. about the pic. as far as the light bulb thing, i like the stores evc 14k as far as growth i can say they do ok, as far as color i like that much blue. now theirnot400w like the rest of you have. but 250w and175waevery nice