Ballasts

[seminolecpa]

Sorry didn't want to post it twice. Comments/Recommendations would be appreciated.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=12430997#post12430997

 

[Elite]

if you are planning to run radium, PFO HQI ballast works great. You would have to change the bulb pretty often though.

 

[sfsuphysics]

Never liked the idea of a PFO ballast, sure it's nice to throw more power at your bulbs and guess what they turn brighter, but then your bulbs don't last as long and you use more electricity.

Anyways, this is the one I bought, it's a replacement ballast for oceanlight pendants, but that doesn't seem to matter, simply hook up a cord from your socket to a standard 3 prong plug and you're set. Best thing I like is that it's a dual ballast, at the price of most single ballasts. Only downside I've found is I can't independently turn on each bulb since there's only one power cord, but you probably could hook up some system to do it since the plugs from the sockets are standard power plugs
http://www.customaquatic.com/customaquatic/itemdetail.asp?subcatindexid=lt-rbal-m2&itemid=LT-AB72300

 

[tuberider]

Depends on the bulb AFA HQI, a Radium for example, will last longer on an HQI ballast than on a pulse start, because it is designed to be over driven.

For ballasts Icecap all the way.

 

[Elite]

I should say I like Icecap because they look cool and cool to touch. I recommend PFO HQI ballast because Bryan wants to use Radium bulb. Radium bulb + PFO HQI ballast is a great combination.

 

[seminolecpa]

I am a little hesitant with PFO ballasts for many of the reasons Mike said. I was getting pretty good light out of my 6 year old POS magnetic ballast and I thought electronics like Ice Caps were more efficient and gave more par.

I have an ice cap and a Radium on my frag tank and it seems fine. Just don't want to miss the boat. Price is always a concern but I by no means want to skimp of something as important as lighting.

My magnetic ballast has a case with seperate power switches and plugs for both ballasts. Do I need to use a heat sink or could I just mount then to the stand. Think I remembers seing people doing that.

Sorry for being so nieve. Just under the gun for time as one of the ballasts I have is not really firing properly so if I am going to order one I want to get on it soon.

 

[Raddogz]

The newer IceCap electronic ballast come with those fancy fins/ridges as a way to dissipate heat, no enclosure needed.

 

[tuberider]

XM 20ks on Icecap look very muck like Radiums on HQI IME

 

[seminolecpa]

Dunno I compared the two on the frag tank and the XM's seemed significantly bluer. The Radiums seemed blue but much more crisp. Granted My XM bulb was 6 moths old and the Radium was brand new.

 

[seminolecpa]

Ok so I went ahead and went with the new Icecaps. Apparantely the new ones are much better for running radiums and much better as Eileen stated. Thanks for the input everyone.

 

[seminolecpa]

Well my new ballasts (Icecaps) and new mogul sockets are installed and operational, complete with brand new 250W Radiums. Looks really nice.

On a side note I discovered it wasn't my old ballast that was the problem but was one of the mogal sockets. So now I am sitting on a dual 250W Magnetic ballst that I will be putting up for sale.

Still very glad I made the change and rewired the whole thing.

 

[tuberider]

Look at it this way Bryan, you're now even more in line with the mission statement

 

[seminolecpa]

What is that... to spend as much of my waning disposable income on my tank?

It is about to get ugly. I have lines out of my house and into the garage (Thanks Mikey). Now all I need it to get my hands on 3 55 gallon or so tanks so I can set up a rack in the garage.

 

[tuberider]

[quote author=seminolecpa link=topic=3638.msg42306#msg42306 date=1209744356]
What is that... to spend as much of my waning disposable income on my tank?


[/quote]

No silly, energy conservation ;D

 

[sfsuphysics]

I dunno, after my expeirment with my 175w magnetic ballasts and my reeflux bulbs, I probably and using less juice than electronic ones at this point!