Ushio vs Hamilton 250

[nakama]

A fellow reefer told me tha the ushio will be yellower than the Hamilton 250 MH. I'm about to replace my red sea bulbs.which I use with 2 96w pc's actinic. Which of the two bulbs mentioned would be the most natural? Will the Ushio be too yellow compared to the Hamiltons? Thanx Nakama

[montepora]

Tag alone as I just ordered my Ushio 250 10K bulbs. I am going to run them with my PFO 250W HQI ballast. I heard it is bluier than the AB 10K and that is why I order it. Damn, if its yellow, than I might as well go with the Iwasaki and save a few bucks. Damn.

[Ninong]

Hi nakama, welcome to Reefland!

I have a question for you: What is the difference between 250w MH bulbs branded Red Sea, Hamilton or Ushio? Where are these three different brands of bulbs manufactured? You may be surprised.

[montepora]

BLV?????

[Ninong]

BLV, which is located just outside Munich, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ushio of Japan. All of the metal halide bulbs they we purchase in the aquarium hobby that are branded "Ushio" are manufactured in Ushio's BLV manufacturing plant in Germany. There is absolutely no difference between a 250w MH lamp branded BLV or branded Ushio. In fact, if you go to Ushio's Japanese webpage you will find the Ushio product codes and the BLV product codes on the same line for the same item. Ushio's BLV plant in Germany also manufactures metal halide lamps for several other companies. The last time I heard, they were making metal halide bulbs that were sold under at least five different brands.

[Ninong]

Here is the link to the Ushio catalogue: http://www.ushio.com/files/gi_catalog.pdf

You will notice on page 20 that they give the Ushio lamp code and the BLV code for the 250w 10,000K HQI DE bulbs. On page 22 they give the Ushio lamp code for the 250w 10,000K mogul base bulb. This may mean that they are branding all of their 250w mogul base bulbs as Ushio, but they brand their 250w DE bulbs as both Ushio and BLV.

[Ninong]

Originally posted by nakama
A fellow reefer told me tha the ushio will be yellower than the Hamilton 250 MH. I'm about to replace my red sea bulbs.which I use with 2 96w pc's actinic. Which of the two bulbs mentioned would be the most natural? Will the Ushio be too yellow compared to the Hamiltons? Thanx Nakama

The AB-10000 bulb is just slightly bluer than the Ushio/BLV 10,000K bulb. According to AB-Aqualine -- www.AB-Aqualine.de -- the AB-10000 bulb has an actual Kelvin rating of 13,000K.

From the AB website:



aqualine 10000 – the 10000 Kelvin light experience

Second generation – now with improved technique

Soon after its introduction in 1994, the 10000 Kelvin bulb became the best selling specialty bulb for seawater aquarias. We have set a standard with this bulb by which other bulbs have to meet their standard.. After a development of more than a year, we present now the aqualine 10000 second generation. This light bulb was reworked and substantial improvements have been made :

To improve the stability of the color a second ion getter has been introduced in the 150 and 250-watt light bulbs. This results in the fact that ions of the quartz glas, which gradually go into the bulb and lead to a yellowish color, will be absorbed. Thecold white light color now remains over the entire operating life.
The bulb is now elliptically preformed. Through this, production tolerances can be reduced and the resultant color differences of the single bulb are reduced to a minimum.
The color temerature of the bulbs has been increased by 3,000 Kelvin to an effective 13,000 Kelvin increasing the cold white component.
The 400-watt light bulb has been completely reworked to remove the time to time problems such as damage due to transport, and the thermal effect.
Improved the socket holder with nickel plating vibrations during the operation are avoided and the bulbs are substantially quiter now.

We are pleased to announce that despite the extensive improvements, the prices of the bulbs have not been changed.

Question an comments please to webmaster@ab-aqualine.de.
Copyright © 1999 AB-Aqualine

AB claims that all of their AB-10000 bulbs, both DE and mogul base and in all wattage sizes, are actually 13,000K. They say that "AB-10000" is simply the brand name. That is what they claim anyway and that is what they told me in an email last year.

I don't believe you will be able to notice any difference between 250w 10,000K mogul base lamps that are branded Ushio, Red Sea or Hamilton. I am not absolutely certain about this but I have been told that they are all manufactured in the same BLV plant.

[montepora]

Damn, if the Ushio is yellower than AB, than what am I going to do??? No............. I hate the yellow looking tank..............

Thanx for all the info though.

[Ninong]

montepora,

What ballast are you using?

[montepora]

Dude, I am using the PFO 250 watter HQI ballast. Would this help???

[Ninong]

Yes!

[montepora]

Ninong:

I was actually talking with Perry about this and he told me the extra built in ignitor for Ushio would prolong the life of the bulb when using the HQI ballast. Unlike other Eurpoean bulbs. Others have told me from their experience that Ushio is a better bulb than AB. I am currently using the AB 10K and truthfully, I am not to fond of it. Can you share more with me on this?? TIA.

[Ninong]

I believe that the German 250w 10,000K HQI mogul base lamps run better on a so-called HQI ballast. In fact, the AB bulbs sometimes have problems on other ballasts. BTW, both Ushio and AB are made in Germany. I cannot tell the difference between the Ushio/BLV and the AB 250w 10,000K HQI DE bulbs but Perry tells me that the AB bulbs appear just a little bit bluer to him. Back when Perry was working part-time at an LFS in Hayward they ran both Ushio/BLV and AB DE bulbs on their tanks.