What about this bulb?

[discuspro]

Got a question. This pertains to mogul type bulbs. Right now I've had a XM 250W 15000K on my system since about June of last year. The color still looks good but intensity seems low, although seeing the tank everyday makes it hard to compare the intensity now to when it was new. Anyway, I was using an Ushio 250W 10000K bulb before the XM and I don't remember now if I changed it out prematurely because I was excited about puting the new XM on or not. How would I possibly go about seeing if the Ushio still has life left? The XM actually has some black buildup on the glass pocket where the light comes from. The Ushio doesn't have the black buildup but does have a tiny bit of yellow dust and tiny mercury looking droplets close to one end of the terminals inside the small glass pocket.

[LoneStar]

light meter that reads the PAR perhaps

what type of ballast are you running?

[discuspro]

Old magnetic, that has been serving me well. Not sure what brand it is it came with the pendant. Would you recommend an affordable PAR meter that has good qualities? I thought of one but never knew if they were useful or purposeful to really have.

[LoneStar]

i cant remember but either richard or mark from cb pets has a meter. they could give you some more info about it....