watts up with Hamilton MH 10000K

[Newflee]

Hey people,
I'm new to this site but think that this site has great discussion in the lighting forum. (haven't had time to check anything else out yet)
Just curious if anyone uses the hamilton 10k (400w) lamp.
I just got one to replace my 10k Coralife 400 and this thing is really yellow. I have heard that the Coralife are actually 12K but I didn't expect this change. My clams and LPS are having a party but my eyes aren't - haven't seen any positive change in SPS, besides less flourescing. I'm sure I'll get used to it - especially if the animals do well but I wonder if the bulb is mislabelled or not functioning propely.
Has anyone used this bulb? It looks like a regular mogul slim 400 except it has a bulge around the actual fillament. I think this is Hamilton's German 10K, am I correct?
Please let me know your experiences with this and the Coralife 10K bulbs.
Just in case anyone is wondering I'm using a standard 400w magnetic ballast.

Lee

[Reefland]

Welcome to Reefland!

I am just wondering (no first hand experience with the bulbs) but how long have you had the bulb burning? It could very well just need to be "burned" in to get the real effect. As you probably know as the bulbs get used for a few weeks, they tend to loose that initial yellow coloration that they start with a burn more towards the white/blue.

Regards,
Scott Z.

[Newflee]

The bulbs have only been running for a couple days, and you may have a point. I considered the burn in, but from what limited info I have read on this, other people using another brand have noticed a shift towards the yellow. Perhaps that was brand specific - they were using Radiums.

[kevinpo]

Hello,
Hamilton is a California company and does not make bulbs. They are made by Ushio corp. of Japan which has manufacturing locations around the globe. Most of the Ushio bulbs for the US are produced in Germany. Ushio labels them Hamilton when producing them for Hamilton.
IMO they run a little Yellow/Green when run on a regular magnetic ballast and need a couple of hundred watts of actinic to blue them up. When driven by a HQI ballast they are about 20% brighter and noticeably more blue.

HTH,
Kevin
I run them side by side with 20,000K Radiums and like that look.