MH bulbs

danny zubot · #1 07-20-2006, 05:36 PM

Sorry to Hi-jack.

I need to replcae my MH bulb soon too. I have a plain old magnetic 400 watt balast, and I want the bluest bulb I can get for it. Any suggestions?

Delphinus · #2 07-20-2006, 09:21 PM

Hey Danny, just thought I'd throw in some more two bits.. "magnetic" actually doesn't tell you whether it's pulse-start or probe-start, as both are still the "transformer and capacitor" style (or "magnetic" if you prefer). Basically the way to tell them apart is what their ANSI code is (e.g., M59 or M135 or whatever) but failing that the other way to tell them apart is count the components: probe-starts are just the transformer and capacitor; pulse-starts are transformer, capacitor, and ignitor.

As for your question though, have you looked into a Radium?

TheReefGeek · #3 07-20-2006, 09:27 PM

If you have pulse starts, the Radiums would be nice

If you have probe start, XM 20Ks are nice, especially for their price.

reeferaddict · #4 07-20-2006, 09:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheReefGeek

If you have pulse starts, the Radiums would be nice

If you have probe start, XM 20Ks are nice, especially for their price.

I'm running the XM 15K's and they're quite nice too... again for the price... I've also liked the Ushio 20K's and they fire on a non pulse ballast, but are more expensive... I've seen a lot of people having success with the Radiums though, and heard that they hold their PAR/spectrum far longer...

reeferaddict · #5 07-20-2006, 09:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by danny zubot

Sorry to Hi-jack.

I need to replcae my MH bulb soon too. I have a plain old magnetic 400 watt balast, and I want the bluest bulb I can get for it. Any suggestions?

Ushio 20K I believe....

fortheloveofcrabs · #6 07-20-2006, 10:30 PM

An XM 20k should also be fine.

danny zubot · #7 07-20-2006, 10:56 PM

I don't really feel like taking the balast apart to see if it is pulse or probe. I also don't feel like paying for Radiums, though they are the best 20K I think.

If XM 20K's are good bulbs I think I'll try one, after all they are very reasonably priced, as said before.

Delphinus · #8 07-20-2006, 11:09 PM

There's no markings on the outside to indicate what ANSI rating the ballast is?

My guess is, you'd probably know if it was a pulse-start, they tend to be a tiny bit more cost-wise, so if it wasn't advertised as such when you bought it, it's probably a probe start.

Seems to me that every so often there's a sale on Radiums, that's basically the time to pick them up. I haven't really followed the prices of 400W lamps in the last few years since I haven't been using them. In the meantime try the XM's maybe. I *was* just about to suggest looking into the Venture bulbs, but never mind - I see they're about the same price as the Radiums nowadays (what the heck is up with that? There was a time they were *way* less expensive than the other lamps! I tried some Venture 250's last year coming off my Iwasaki's but coming off the Iwasaki's they were *way* too blue .. it like a discotheque in the basement kind of blue so to avoid culture shock I asked to exchange them for some XM's 10's instead).

OCDP · #9 07-21-2006, 12:38 AM

Ushio 20k's are super blue.. a good blue though. Brings out tons of colour in your corals.

Mind you, I only used the 150w HQI bulb...

Aquattro · #10 07-21-2006, 02:38 AM

I just replaced my 400w radiums with XM 10k, so far the look is nice. We'll see how they burn in and affect the corals, I'll post a bit down the road with an update.
The 9 month old radiums are going to the curb, but if anyone local wants them for testing and demonstration purposes, let me know...