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#26
07/14/2005, 12:02 AM
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My XMs I got about 7 months ago or so.. I think It was Nov-Dec of last year... Just an Oddball Algae issue that 2 completely different tanks were having running bulbs probably from the same batch... Mine were 400s his were 250s... since going to the ushios everything went back to normal... Its sad as I was a very happy XM user and supporter... Ohwell Life goes on.. I will pay the Extra 20-30.00 per bulb to have the "ushio" name behind it that if anything goes wrong they will take care of me...
James |
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#27
07/14/2005, 09:57 AM
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I've used both. Currently XM 10kk and 20kk mix.
My pinks, reds, and yellows looked much better under Ushios. I think Radium 20kk's produce better sps color than the XM20kks, but also less par on a standard mag ballast. I like the XM's for price, par, and the higher kelvin they put out for a "10kk" bulb. I've had one fairly new 175w 20kk XM crack/pop early. My largest issue with XM is on their 10kk 400w bulbs I have seen HUGE differences in color output from bulb to bulb. Some are quite white, where some are more white blue.....and nothing to do with bulb age or burn in affecting this. Truth be told I wish the EVC 10kk 400w bulbs were just a little higher kelvin. Good price, good bulb, good supplier, good par. I still think on 400w mogul the best color I've seen on sps is from the 20kk Radium run on the HQI ballast. But then it's $80 every 6 months for each light replacement and the growth isn't as good as the Ushio or XM10kk's. I guess I didn't really answer did I?  Ditto on Vince at www.oceanencounter.com as the best place for selection and PRICE I've found on the web. Plus he's the owner of the EVC line. Todd |
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#28
07/14/2005, 10:04 AM
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IME: Ushio's are the better choice, I have a XM 15k and think it suck's IMO. It is WAY to blue and I think it has almost no PAR. I will buy Ushio's from now on.
__________________
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder... |
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#29
07/14/2005, 10:20 AM
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I had an Ushio 400W 10K go bad on me after 2 months. Ran them on PFO standard M59 ballasts. Got a replacement from my LFS and then sold them 4 months later to get 400W 20K XM's. I will replace these 400W XM 20K's with the same bulb when it's time to change them. I highly recommend this bulb.
Pros for Ushio 400W 10K -------------------------------- Quality bulb (although I got a bad one) High PAR Excellent coral growth Cons for Ushio 400W 10K --------------------------------- Expensive Can give a yellow cast to the aquarium (depends on water quality) May need actinic suplementation Pros for XM 400W 20K ---------------------------- Quality bulb (quality of bulbs has improved) Even higher PAR than Ushio 10K Excellent coral growth Intense blue/white light enhances coral coloration Similar to Radium in color with more PAR Cheaper than Ushio 10K No actinics required Cons for XM 400W 20K ----------------------------- Bulb runs hotter than Ushio 10K Too blue for some people's taste |
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#31
07/14/2005, 10:47 AM
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For those with 20K XM problems and issues with the company - when you buy your bulbs through a place like Premium Aquatics and the bulb goes bad - do you still have to go back to the company for resolution or would PA handle/replace your bulb and then they will go back to the company?
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#33
07/14/2005, 11:14 AM
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Warranty thru the vendor is 30 days... After that Its all up to XM to back up their product...
Hellolights is owned by XM (according to the Orange county, Ca business license board)... So from what I have seen and it all makes sense is hellolights does all the replacements (if they do any) at Xms say so.. James |
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#34
07/14/2005, 11:19 AM
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#35
07/14/2005, 11:31 AM
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Great info all, keep it rolling. You all bring up great points and I think that I am back in the middle when it comes to making a decision. I really want to bring out my blues and purples so it seems that XM's are better for that am I right.
Just out of curiousity when a bulb goes bad what happens? Does it just blow out or does it go yellow. Haven't had this happen yet, hopefully I won't ever. I am almost tempted to just buy an Ushio and Xm and compare. On the XM's what should I go for with my currrent setup (400 watt MH w 2-28 watt actinic PC's) a 10k, 15k or the 20k. I don't like it to blue so I figure the 20k might be out. Thanks |
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#36
07/14/2005, 11:39 AM
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Mine Didnt really go bad in a normal sense.. Still looked great.. I just had a wicked algae issue appear out of the blue... I didnt think it was the bulbs but no matter what I did it wouldnt go away... Xm replaced my friends bulbs for the Exact same reason and his algae was gone like 2 days after sending his bulbs back and replacing them with Ushios... (he sold the replacements).. I sat back and fought with Xm to get mine replaced for a while... It wasnt very fun to say the least...
But over the whole Ordeal there is atleast 2 less people in my state not going to use XM again... AS for coloration I notice the Ushios bring out the color better.. HTH< James |
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#38
07/14/2005, 12:14 PM
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i bought mine "new" on line from someone but after about 2- 3 months of use one day it just didn't come on :-( I had used 400W 20K XM's for a few years before that with no problems. I think that was at the height of all the XM problems and some stores said they were going to stop carrying them so I just switched to 20K radiums.
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#40
07/14/2005, 03:02 PM
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Quote:
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#41
07/15/2005, 06:39 PM
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I thought I liked XM till I switched back to my old 1.5 year old Ushio and everything colored up. Solid brown digitata is now solid purple.
__________________
30 gallon cube,with 18 gallon sump, 10 gallon refugium,Euro Reef ES5-2 skimmer,MAG 5 return with SCWD,5 ViaAqua 200 GPH powerheads,150 HQI with 20K Ushio bulb,several SPS and clam. |
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#42
07/16/2005, 06:37 PM
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Ushio is a quality bulb and been around for longer than most now. I've had good success with them in the past. However, the XM's have a lower cost, much more PAR, and a better spectrum (slightly more blue). It's a no brainer.
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#43
07/16/2005, 07:39 PM
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ushio from 20k to 10k no problems
__________________
Kids are traineable. Friends...well you can only beat them so much. |
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#47
07/18/2005, 01:36 PM
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Check this out
http://www.cnidarianreef.com Click on 250 MH testing It has all the par#'s with different ballasts. FWIW JBNY runs XM's.
__________________
"Try to learn something about everything and everything about something" -- Thomas H. Huxley |
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#48
07/18/2005, 01:44 PM
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Here is a Graph Curtosy of Sanjay and his website..
[IMG]  http://www.reeflightinginfo.arvixe.com/index.htm HTH< James |
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#50
07/22/2005, 09:07 PM
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I find the difference between ushio and xm 10k's to be little visually with xms slightly brighter and a tiny bit less yellow. Now xm's cost less and have a higher par so as you can see I'll always be an xm10k with actinic support fan until something better comes along. All this is just my opinion and preference and also what I observed on my ballast which was a hamilton magnetic so take it for what its worth.
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