Ushio metal halide users chime in

[abhishek@1985]

Hi ,

I know most of us are fond of either Phoenix 14k in DE or radium 20k in SE .
I currently run radium 250 watts and absolutely love it . But past week I had the opportunity to see a tank with ushio 400 14k SE bulb and was blown away by the rendition of chromatic colors like purple , reds and pinks and blues .

So have a couple of questions for old time Ishio fans -

1. Can't seem to find ushio 14k in SE anywhere . Have they stopped making them ?
2. Can the 14k 400 watt ushio run on electronic ballast like luxcore ? If so , is it better to run in normal 400 mode or superhuman mode ?

I would live to get atleast a 250 watt ushio 14k SE to compare to my radium as I think I might like it better .
Ohh yea , I run radiums on m80.

Regards,
Abhishek

 

[GQuinn]

This place shows the 250 watt Ushio mogul bulbs in stock

http://www.marineandreef.com/Ushio_Aqualite_HQI_Mogul_Metal_Halide_Lamps_s/590.htm

 

[alton]

I see on the marine and reef website they show the 250w 14K SE lamps for sale, but on the Ushio website they only list the 250w 14K in DE? https://www.ushio.com/files/specifications/aqualite-metal-halide-for-aquariums.pdf
Also the SE 250w 10 and 20K SE are listed for M58 ballast, the DE are listed for M80 Ballast. Good luck with your comparison.

 

[jda]

They are a nice bulb. They are not as widely used as Radium, but they are impressive. They should be used on M58 ballast but can do well on Electronic too.

M80 will drive these harder and the color will shift... whiter if I had to guess, but don't take that for gospel since I have never done it.