Lights

[plugpitch]

Hey everyone,
I'm thinking of getting metal halides and wanted to know what kinds of ballast and bulbs that some of you are currently using and if you supplement the mh with anything else.

[JeromeBaker]

Chap........... you are an animal.

[Limbo]

Plug,

It depends on what bulbs you use and what kind of ballast you use as to whether or not you need actinic suppliment.

Typically, anything above 10K MH bulbs, you might not need actinics. I run the Hamilton 14K bulbs with Icecap electronic ballasts on both of my tanks (2X175watt in the 55, and 1X250watt in the 30), and I get a nice crisp blue light with no suppliments.

Check out this link to compare MH bulbs in action with and without suppliments:

http://www.cnidarianreef.com/lamps.cfm


Jim

P.S. Chap,...I have your Iwasakis I need to get them back to you. A million thanks again :)

[GEFRANKLE]

Chap:

I just got my South Bay 6-1 last week( Euroreef cs6-1 knockoff) and it is producing about 4-8 ounces of skimmate per day. Note that this one (made by Jeff's in LA) does not have the pinwheel impeller. Cost me $199. I am going to watch it for a few weeks and if necessary get the pinwheel impeller. I hear Jeff sells them for $40.

George

[plugpitch]

hey limbo, yeah i checked that website out and there arejust so many choices. I was looking around and saw this site, don't know how good it is,

http://aquarium.union.rpi.edu/articles/DIY_MH.html

was wondering if you guys can critique it. This guys uses a magnetic ballast and i was wondering if there is a big difference between magnetic and electronic, like energy costs or bulb life, etc. He also used a 6500K, but I was figuring to use a XM 10,000K bulb, from the website that limbo sent-- it looks pretty nice.

I know that this looks cheap but I kinda wanted my tank to be a project tank. I bought a used 125 gallon tank that was in terrible shape, but I refinished the stand and canopy (so proud!!) and I built a skimmer that was made out of pvc. So was wondering if I can pull it to a new level and have a diy metal halide system. I also got used vho ballasts that are rusted on the outside, dont know if they would work. I guess I'll take a pic of them a little later to show you how bad of a shape they're in. and the following project would be a calcium reactor!

[Mike N]

Plugpitch'

I'm tagging along to hear what the reccomended ballast is (are).
I know I want the run the Ushio 10K or XM with an electronic ballast, but don't know which brand to purchase?

What's the best ballast for the Ushiro and XM 10K's from a users prospective?

[Limbo]

As far as I know, here are the main differences between the mag and electronic ballasts

Magnetic:

Are usually more inexpensive then electronic (pro)
Drive bulbs a little brighter (pro, but con is slightly shorter bulb life )
Get VERY hot (Can be a con if you don't have a place to put them)
Use more energy (con because of $$)
A little more reliable then electronic (pro)

Electronic:

Pretty much the opposite of everything above :)

So it is a matter of what you are willing to live with I think. Depending on how long you have the ballasts, the energy cost savings may outweigh the cost of the ballast in the long run.

I have never used the mag ballasts, so you might want to get some input from a mag-user. I like the electronics because I like how they stay cool, and don't use as much energy to run them. Customaquatic.com has the Icecaps for $111.99


Jim

[SDMike]

I found this nifty website with some MH ballasts www.lightingcloseout.com. Last I looked they had some very inexpensive mag MH ballasts.

Then I found another site www.insidesun.com that had some cheap MH Lightbulbs.

I added up the stuff that I was gonna buy and discovered that the price was within $40-50 of what I got thru MParkis. For $40-50 I'd rather have the stuff look good too.

HTH,

M

[sdboogie]

I saw some MH ballasts at OG for around $100. Don't know the specs though.

[MrKrispy]

I don't think electronic ballasts flicker, but I could be wrong.

[Mike N]

Looks like the Icecap Electronics won't run XM bulbs.

I think Ron carries the PFO Magnetic ballast?

So any other reccomendations?