Ballast advice

[Jen-gineer]

I have 3 250 SE halides over my 180g. I'm installing actinic vho supplements via a retrofit hopefully this weekend. I'm also going to install lumenbrights on my canopy and finish building the canopy. The only question I have left is what type of ballast I should use for my halides. Right now the three bulbs are each running on their own magnetic ballast and I want to switch to electronic. I was thinking about getting three icecaps.

 

My question is whether I need three ballasts for the three bulbs or whether there's a ballast that can handle running 750W of lights?

 

Thanks for any help!

[Coral Hind]

I would use three seperate ballasts so if you have a problem it will only affect one and not all of the lights.

 

What is wrong with your core/coil ballast? I think it is a very large expense that might not be needed. However, if you have a stimulas check to spend then go for it.

[Jen-gineer]

What is wrong with your core/coil ballast? I think it is a very large expense that might not be needed. However, if you have a stimulas check to spend then go for it.

 

There's nothing wrong with my ballast now, just that everyone keeps telling me to get an electronic ballast rather than a magnetic. Everything I read online says that the electronic ballasts are better and have a serious affect on the bulb output.

 

If the magnetic ballast I have now is fine, I'm definitely in favor of keeping that rather than buying three new ones.

[Coral Hind]

Sometimes something new isn't always better. Electronics may use a little less power then magnetics but as far as which is better it depends on the bulbs you want to use. In fact some bulbs were specifically designed for magnetic ballasts. As an example, go to Sanjay's website below and compare two differnt ballasts. Pick the 250W, XM, single ended, 10KK, non shielded, but set one ballast type for M-58 and the other for electronic. Then try the Aqualine 10KK or the Ushio 10KK and you will see that for those two bulbs your magnetic ballasts do not need to be replaced. The electronics do seem to be better for some of the higher kelvin bulbs. Play around with the chart and make your choice.

 

http://www.reeflightinginfo.arvixe.com/select2lamp.php

Edited June 10, 2008 by Coral Hind

[dandy7200]

Pick your bulb and then your ballast to match it. What bulbs do you use now? Do you like them? Have you visited local reefers and stores and seen something you like better? A VERY large part of lighting spectrum is what YOU find pleasing, the corals will be happy with 5500k-20000k as long as they get the intensity (PAR) they need. I would start with the actinics addition and see how you like the new look before spending the dough on e-ballast. FWIW, I use M-59 on XM 400w bulbs with actinics for quite some time and wouldn't ever consider an e-ballast as an option to run the bulbs I like.

[Gadgets]

Pick your bulb and then your ballast to match it. What bulbs do you use now? Do you like them? Have you visited local reefers and stores and seen something you like better? A VERY large part of lighting spectrum is what YOU find pleasing, the corals will be happy with 5500k-20000k as long as they get the intensity (PAR) they need. I would start with the actinics addition and see how you like the new look before spending the dough on e-ballast. FWIW, I use M-59 on XM 400w bulbs with actinics for quite some time and wouldn't ever consider an e-ballast as an option to run the bulbs I like.

 

Agreed.

[Jen-gineer]

I'm running 3 250W XM 15K bulbs. I like the way they look & have already bought a vho retrofit for actinic supplement, just waiting for it to get here. I just wasn't sure if it's necessary to be using an e-ballast or not.

[Coral Hind]

I'm running 3 250W XM 15K bulbs. I like the way they look & have already bought a vho retrofit for actinic supplement, just waiting for it to get here. I just wasn't sure if it's necessary to be using an e-ballast or not.

 

By adding the VHO actinics you may be able to drop to 10K bulbs which would give you even more growing power. Compare the 10K with the 15K at Sanjay's site I listed above.