Whats a good bulb to buy from J&L?

burtonboy · #1 09-29-2010, 03:22 AM

Looking at buying a 250 watt single ended for an electronic ballast.
What would you recommend?

Thanks!

Daniel

http://www.jlaquatics.com/info/196/2...ogul+Base.html

Delphinus · #2 09-29-2010, 03:37 AM

I ran both XM's 10k's and 15k's over my old 75g and liked them both. The 15k's were, as I recall though, a bit more blue than I was expecting especially since at the time I was coming off Iwasaki's which are 6500k, which I thought were white, but were positively yellow in comparison. The 10k's were a really crisp white though with a bit of punch on the intensity. So those two get my vote for sure. I'm sure the others are fine too, sort of depends on what kind of look you want.

Borderjumper · #3 09-29-2010, 03:38 AM

I've never seen the Radium 250w bulbs, but I use the 400w 20k bulbs and just love them!

Delphinus · #4 09-29-2010, 03:39 AM

I do agree with the Radiums too but I've heard that people find the 250's are a bit dim unless you run them on HQI ballasts. (FWIW). Might be worth a look though, definitely the 400w Radiums are awesome.

burtonboy · #5 09-29-2010, 04:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Delphinus

I do agree with the Radiums too but I've heard that people find the 250's are a bit dim unless you run them on HQI ballasts. (FWIW). Might be worth a look though, definitely the 400w Radiums are awesome.

Wish i had a 400 watt HQI ballast

I would like try but don't want to be disappointed if it is dim i have a Hamilton fixture with a 20,000k bulb and dont like it at all looks washed out Maybe ill try the XM 15000k or 20,000 not what would look better

George · #6 09-29-2010, 06:38 PM

For technical data on many of MH bulbs, you can find them at Sanjay's database:
http://www.manhattanreefs.com/lighting
For more technical data and some color comparisons, you can check out this site:
http://cnidarianreef.com/G180/lamps.php

BTW, with a little bit of color spectrum knowledge, you can pretty much figure out what a bulb will look like with your ballast using Sanjay's site (by reading spectrum plot).
I am using a pair of XM 10KK and found them a little bit yellow so I supplement them with some blue T5 bulbs.