Hamilton metal halide bulbs junk

[greekspec2]

 

[Chibils]

What kelvin do you want and DE or SE?

All Giesemann,AB,Ushio,Aquaconnect are BLV mfg bulbs they all use BLV 's arc tubes and outer jacket. Giesemann tends to rate the kelvin higher than it really is, for instance a Giesemann Crystal 17,5k is really a BLV 16k if you look close at the arc tube it's stamped 16k.
All of the above brands 20k bulbs the arc tubes are stamped BL for blue and so on so when one guy say's my bulb is this or that it is laughable because there misinformed.

Thanks for the info. I prefer SE, since I have a pair of Lumenbright Minis gathering dust, but I also have an even older pair of Hamilton Cayman Suns (I think) that are DE. The dream is to run a Giesemann Infiniti. So I'm more concerned with getting bulbs I'm happy with than the socket type. I've been tankless for a long time, but I'm planning out a build and I'm set on halides. I really like the 10-12k look. I used to run Aqualine Buschke 13k and was pretty happy with them. I think the Ushio 14k is also beautiful. I want a clean white look that I can dial in the blue level of with T5s. Anything past a 14k looks like Windex to me. The goal is a neutral white with full color representation reminiscent of about 3-5m depth. I want to see every single color fully, not a blue backdrop with fluorescent stuff shining out. Ya dig? :D

P.S. @Mike&Terry old Ushio 14k photos are the look I hope to emulate. Picture taken from that user's thread:

 

[greekspec2]

the Ushio 14k is the same as the Giesemann Coral and BLV 14k....if you get an Infiniti let me know and you can have my Giesemann Crystal its new just pay shipping.

 

[Chibils]

the Ushio 14k is the same as the Giesemann Coral and BLV 14k....if you get an Infiniti let me know and you can have my Giesemann Crystal its new just pay shipping.

Thanks for the help! So this is the same bulb as an Ushio 14k? I have a good choice on DE bulbs it seems, between the Ushio and Giesemann 14k and the AB 10k.

That is a very generous offer btw. I'm not sure I can take you up on that, since I'm not sure when I'll be able to start my build. It's entirely dependent on whether or not this home renovation drains my wallet. :p

 

[A. grandis]

I tried the bulb because I wanted to see if it had more blue then a BLV,Ushio,Aqua Medic,Giesemann which are all the same bulb....Hamilton mentioned to me on a conversation awhile ago that there bulbs use to come from a company from Holland, so I figured they were produced by Phillips,Osram or Narva.

I have a Giesemann ballast now which is the same as Aqua Medic 'Vossloh Schwabe components' no need to worry about ANSI codes because these are the correct ballast for EU bulbs.

Just waiting on Philips Coral Care to release another fine EU product....

This thread actually can become a nice one, with great info nevertheless.
Where did you get your Giesemann ballast from?
Thanks.

 

[Chibils]

It really did. I'm learning a lot here.

 

[greekspec2]

This thread actually can become a nice one, with great info nevertheless.
Where did you get your Giesemann ballast from?
Thanks.

you can order them direct from Giesemann or Aqua Medic but they are 230v 50hz so you need a step down converter to run ballast from Europe.

No ansi code because there are only one type of magnetic ballast in Europe which are nice and compact with small encapsulated transformers and a igniter thats it.

 

[greekspec2]

another one so you can see there really is only four different kelvins available from BLV arc tubes 10k 14k 16k BL-20k regardless of what the private label companies Giesemann,AB,Ushio,Aquaconnect ect....put on the box, BLV invented the first 10k bulb btw.

 

[Chibils]

This has turned out to be a very informative thread. Thanks for all this info @greekspec2 ! How does one go about ordering from Giesemann directly, e.g. say I decided to run my SE pendants and need a ballast? I figure I could email them, but you seem very knowledgeable.

 

[greekspec2]

parts you order from Giesemann direct or theres a few aquatic shops that ship to the states as for bulbs you can get anywhere

 

[A. grandis]

you can order them direct from Giesemann or Aqua Medic but they are 230v 50hz so you need a step down converter to run ballast from Europe.

No ansi code because there are only one type of magnetic ballast in Europe which are nice and compact with small encapsulated transformers and a igniter thats it.

What converter are you using/recommend?
Thanks!

 

[A. grandis]

View attachment 1675283

I tried many times to see this attachment without any success.

 

[A. grandis]

For the sake of the searching engine... more about the subject here:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/metal-halides-are-the-bomb.690290/post-7894806

 

[Calypso Reef]

Hello all, thought I would jump in this one and share my experience. I have been using Hamilton SE bulbs, ballast and fixtures on my reef tanks the past 30 years. I currently run a Hamilton set-up on my 85 gallon mix reef (2x175wSE bulbs and 2 36” T-12’s). Yep old school for sure. Why you ask…? Because I have always been able to grow corals with tank looking great and stuck with what’s been working for me. Never any issues with them other then twice in all my time I ordered bulb not able to fire up and Hamilton immediately sent me replacements. Yeah, I order directly from them due to great service. I will continue to use them as long as they make them which they are now discontinuing products. I will probably switch to Kessil or GHL when that time comes.

 

[oreo54]

Hello all, thought I would jump in this one and share my experience. I have been using Hamilton SE bulbs, ballast and fixtures on my reef tanks the past 30 years. I currently run a Hamilton set-up on my 85 gallon mix reef (2x175wSE bulbs and 2 36” T-12’s). Yep old school for sure. Why you ask…? Because I have always been able to grow corals with tank looking great and stuck with what’s been working for me. Never any issues with them other then twice in all my time I ordered bulb not able to fire up and Hamilton immediately sent me replacements. Yeah, I order directly from them due to great service. I will continue to use them as long as they make them which they are now discontinuing products. I will probably switch to Kessil or GHL when that time comes.

Hamiltons gone.. or shall we say is reinvented.
Unless they re-opened?

Bulbs are sourced from China

Anyways..the successor company:
https://aquabrightsolutions.com/

As many of you know, Hamilton is currently closed (unknown if it will open in the future). Dave and I (Alejandra) have been in this hobby for over 24 years and know the importance of Metal Halide bulbs to the proper growth of corals......
We received our first batch of bulbs under our new brand and there are more coming soon!
It takes a lot of effort to start from scratch, but we believe in what we do and hope to continue to receive your support!

 

[A. grandis]

Hamiltons gone.. or shall we say is reinvented.
Unless they re-opened?

Bulbs are sourced from China

Anyways..the successor company:
https://aquabrightsolutions.com/

No one asked where they are sourced from, Oreo.
By the way... the great majority of all LEDs sold for the aquarium industry are sourced from China as well, right? If not all. So, not much difference there...
It was nice of you to let people know about Aqua Bright Solutions taking over the market after Hamilton went out of business. Yes, the customer service is the same from Hamilton, and the quality of the lamps are great, for what people say, so... that is what matters the most.
Remember... Most Aquarium LEDs are made in China.

 

[oreo54]

I will continue to use them as long as they make them

Don't think Hamilton ever "made them" nor do they now.
Of course looking back I may have read more into it then was probably there.

Hey there is good Chinese and bad chinese. Same for EVERY country.

I've "corrected" people who thought Quanta LEDs were made in America.. they are not.

I'm, like you sort of an equal opportunity annoyer.. :)

FUNNY thing.. The very first line of this thread..

I'm not or never been a fan of Hamilton products (Chinese made) so it was time to replace my bulb 250w DE in my Giesemann Infiniti, I always ran Giesemann,BLV or Ushio bulbs and figure to try a Hamilton 20k to see if it was a different spctrum of blue vs my Giesemann 20k not because of a $20 price savings.

I'm actually nicer than the above.. LOL.

 

[A. grandis]

Don't think Hamilton ever "made them" nor do they now.
Of course looking back I may have read more into it then was probably there.

Hey there is good Chinese and bad chinese. Same for EVERY country.

I've "corrected" people who thought Quanta LEDs were made in America.. they are not.

I'm, like you sort of an equal opportunity annoyer.. :)

FUNNY thing.. The very first line of this thread..


I'm actually nicer than the above.. LOL.

Some Hamilton lamps were made in Germany for a while... Those were actually printed with that. The history of the company is long, and the quality of their lamps and the customer service was always great. Aqua Bright Solutions is following the quality and customer service as far as I know.
The simple fact that they decided to follow the steps and continuing selling metal halide lamps is something I appreciate. We need fixtures and ballasts, though. Otherwise halides will slowly fade away... if we had new fixtures and ballasts we would have a very strong probability for metal halides to take over the market again!