XM 10k/Phosban Reactor

[akacable]

I just ordered the XM 10ks in the 250 watt flavor along with a Phosban reactor Got free shipping on the deal! I will post my experience with the new bulbs and the service from MD. Josh was needing some coffee as I spoke with him on the phone this morning. Something about picking up his girlfriend at the airport last night. Also I tried to place an internet order last night through the MD website and the site kept informing me that I had nothing in my cart. I attempted to place my order several times but got the empty cart each time. I know my internet was working because I was surfing other sites at the same time. Wierd. Maybe their database is screwy. Oh well. Lets see these new bulbs. Look at my gallery for pics of my existing lights. I will post the new XM 10 250 watt pics as soon asI get them. BTW the pics in the gallery show ONLY the 10 XMs in 175 watts with the other bulbs. Hope this helps people looking in this direction.

 

[akacable]

XM 10k /Phosban reactor

XM 10k /Phosban reactor

XM 10k 250 watts>> I inspected the bulb and I notice a little silver ball inside the inner bulb that has the nipple. This "ball" rolls around when I rotate the bulb. Hmm. I have seen two other posts describing this "ball." I wonder if this affects performance of the bulb? Is this a flaw in manufacturing?
The bulb was screwed into the left side of the tank. Looks like a 10K. No yellow greenish tint. Nice with my VHOs. All actinics. JBNY runs this same setup. The saki on the right side in comparision was much yellow. Lets see how this looks after burn in. I have not changed my photo period as I feel the XM and Saki are very close in PAR. I am still awaiting my backordered bulb. Should be here in 2 weeks?


Phosban reactor>> Easy to setup. I placed ~ 120 mg of Rhowphos inside. I am having issues. There seems to be a buildup of air in the main clear rigid tube entering the reactor. I use a Maxi-jet 400. When air enters it seems to halt the bubbling\flow of the reactor. I have had to fiddle with it twice after I got home from work. I'm watching for RTN that has been discussed about in many threads regarding Rhowphos use. I have used Rhow and Phosban in bags in the sump previous with no ill effects. Time will tell.

Charging up the dig camera for some pics.

 

[MarineDepot]

Hi,

Thanks for the feedback. There may often be loose pieces of glass and even metal in the bulbs. This happens during the manufacturing process and will not affect the performance of the bulbs. As for the RTN using Phosban, most cases I've've read on are due to a sudden drop in alkalinity. This may also happen when using RowaPhos, but it is a rarity. You should not have any problems at all if your tank keeps stable. Pictures of the tank would be great. We always like seeing the hard work that our customers put into their tanks.

Please let us know if there's anything we can help you with.

Ben R.
www.marinedepot.com

 

[akacable]

Got a new pic of the XM 10K with 50hrs on it. It's on the right side of the tank. I still have the Saki 6.5K on the right. There are VHO actinics run by an Icecap 660 running parallel with the tank.
The XM is browning the tops of my corals near the surface. My halides sit 4" off the waterline. I was thinking that because I had the sakis over the tank the xms (lower PAR) wouldn't need acclimation. Hmm? My photoperiod is ~8hrs with the halides. I expect the browning to reverse as soon as my corals acclimate.

 

[akacable]

The new XM 10K went yellow-green on me. The glass near the base went from silver/black to white. The XM site states that a FEW of there 10K have manufacturing defects. I have one of them.
Spoke with Ben at Marine Depot. Ben states I am the second person to have this problem that he knows of. He also stated that the defective XM bulb burning yellow-green puts out MORE PAR than a SAKI. He is going to send me a new bulb with free shipping. It should arrive here Tuesday. Good customer service. Poor bulb quality?

 

[akacable]

XM 10K

XM 10K

Got the replacement for the "burnt out" 10K XM. I have both bulbs in the 9 o'clock position. Everything is looking good so far. I really like the looks of the XM 10k with all actinic VHOs. Nice crisp white with a hint of blue. Reminds me of shallow water snorkeling in the Caribbean or the Philippines. I also am acclimating my corals to the new bulbs. I have the timer to run the halides 4 hrs on then off 1 hr and then back on another 4 hrs. If these XMs don't hold up for whatever reason I will revert back to Sakis. The Sakis give great growth and I really didn't think the difference was that major with the bulbs side by side. I just want 1 year with these XMs. I hope to see improved coloration with XMs vs my old Sakis. I tell ya looking at my tank as I type this...the colors in the tank sure POP out at me Kudos Ben for the very timely shipment of the replacement. I hope when you get the bulb I returned there won't be any problems with crediting my card.

 

[akacable]

20 days XM burnin

20 days XM burnin

So far so good with the replacement bulb. The lights burn bright white. I'm over the 100 hr burn in period. My purple digitata are now back to being purple. A few colonies started to brown out under the defective bulb that I sent back to MD. Hope they credited my card? Looks like the corals are acclimating well to the 4 on 1 off 4 on mh schedule I am running. I have begun to increase the photoperiod and expect to be back to 8hrs straight in 3-4 weeks. My colors POP and good polyp extension is noted on my SPS

 

[MarineDepot]

Hi John,

Thanks for the update. I do show that we've refunded the funds back to your credit card, you should be able to see it on your statement by now. I'm glad to see everything worked out with your tank and that the corals are back on track.

Let us know if there's anything else we can help you with.

Ben R.
www.marinedepot.com
714.385.0080