Ushoi vs aqualine 10K

[neoplasm]

I am noting an increase in algea since the addtion of 2-250 wt iwasakis to my 2-400 watt 20K. Thinking of going with 10K again. I have tried Hamiltons 10K but am thinking of either Ushio or the aqualine in the 10K. What does everyone suggest?


NEO

[DT's_Reef]

I have not had any undesirable algae growth with my 2x250w 10K Aqualine bulbs.

Darin

[hcs3]

i love my AB's...both 175w and 250w.

HTH

henry

[Zander]

Do you guys supplement your AB's with any actinics? I've heard they are slightly more blue than the Ushios 10k's.

[hcs3]

i do, but only because i like my tank with a touch of blue and i really enjoy the dusk/dawn feature i can have with the actinics.

FWIW, i do not think my AB's have any blue to them at all without the actinics. i think they are very white. blueline ballasts FWIW...

HTH

henry

[DT's_Reef]

I run my 250W AB bulbs on an Aquaspacelight, with HQI ballasts and they are a very pure white color -- not blue, not yellow, but white. I would imagine the whiteness is due to a good deal of blue balanced by other wavelengths.

It also has two 24 Watt blue OSRAM bulbs in the center of the fixture.

I must say that these lights really show all coral colors very well, unlike the radiums. I like the radiums, but it seems as if a lot of colors get lost in all the blue. If you have any bad algae issues, the tank will look a lot better under the radiums than under a more natural balanced light. So, if your tank looks awesome under 10K lights, then you're doing a good job!

Still, I'd like to add a tube of VHO actinic if possible to my Aquaspacelight. I have no idea how this could be done as it is a suspended fixture so my tank is "topless". If anyone has a truly workable solution that is safe and still looks good, then I'd love to hear it.

Darin

[ReefDream]

I am running AB10K bulbs with a pulse start ballast. The advantage of the pulse start ballast (ANSI M137) is that the bulbs last a lot longer since they were designed for German ballasts which are close to the American pulse start ballast. I would estimate the bulbs last 1.5-2 years without much loss in spectrum. To my knowledge, I am the only person using a pulse start ballast out there.

Anyway, I love the color of the AB10K with VHO actinic. I run 2 175W bulbs with 110W of URI VHO actinic (IceCap ballast). I think the combination looks awesome, which is why I will probably never change to anything else unless some major improvements are made.

I have compared the AB10K with the Ushio. The Ushio seemed slightly more yellow which made it seem a little brighter to my eyes. I also compared it to the 250 watt Iwasaki. Of course, the Iwasaki is brighter, but unlike popular myth, the 250W Iwasaki is not super yellow, only a tiny bit unless you are carrying a large organic load in your water. I would recommend about 2x the actinics for the Iwasakis to get them to look perfect. That means about one watt actinic for every two watts Iwasaki. I currently use a 250W alone in my propagation tank, and it isn't terrible even without any actinics.

[Frick-n-Frags]

At a quick glance my AB 250w 10k mogul actually looks similar to the Iwasaki. It is icy white, not bluish at all(also not yellowish like the Iwasaki which you notice after looking for a bit, and the Ushio HQI I have actually has a sort of pinkish cast compared to the other bulbs). I have VHO actinics with mine too and that tank looks really nice.