Choosing my lighting retro kit(PFO,HelloLights,Advance, etc)

[King Jason]

madrefkepr - Thanks for that very informative link.

King Jason - I am also looking for a new lighting solution and have 2-250 MHs in mind. I've pretty much decided to go with a PFO ballast and Reef Fanatic.com seems to have the best price on that along with the spider reflector that you (and I) want. Check em out at http://www.reeffanatic.com/cgi-bin/mas/ ... type=store

Thanks ThrillYa, that is a good deal. I think they even beat MarineDepot.

 

[madrefkepr]

madrefkepr - Thanks for that very informative link

You are very welcome.

 

[Anonymous]

Jason,
Marine Depot sells the PFO HQI ballasts that run mogul sockets. The sockets factory fit the PFO parallels. Other than Blueline, PFO and IceCap are the only others that fire the Radiums.

HQI simply refers to how the ballast fires the bulb. For the money, IMO the Radium format is the best option out there. It brings out the vibrant colors like no other bulb, and is a crisp, bright, slightly blue white.

There are no formats that can match PAR to color producing light. Ask Dr. MAC in an email. He uses Radiums exclusively, I see him at our quarterly meeting at the Washington Area Marine Aquarist Society (WAMAS) meetings. His stuff always looks awesome.

Please do a little more research before you buy. Think Radiums man, RADIUMS!!!!!!!!!!

Snapper

 

[King Jason]

20k just seems like it would be too blue for me. I also have 2 72" VHO's I was going to use as actinic. Any thoughts?

 

[mountainbiker619]

Jason,


you going to go with a electronic MH ballast?

 

[King Jason]

Jason,


you going to go with a electronic MH ballast?

I'm not sure yet. I'm leaning more towards Icecap's electronic ballast because it can fire just about every bulb on the market (including 20k Radiums I believe).

This ballast: http://www.marinedepot.com/a_lt_mh_ic25 ... sp?CartId=

 

[mountainbiker619]

Jason,

Send a email to IceCap and verify that thier ballast can fire any and all bulbs out there. Thats one reason why I went with IceCap..seeing that I do not know yet what K bulbs I want to use, I care not to be limited to my selection due to the ballast. I have 12k and 14k bulbs enroute also.

 

[King Jason]

Iwasaki 250W 6500K Setup
German 250W 10,000K Setup
ALS 250W 12,000K Setup
German 250W 20,000K HQI Setup
Iwasaki 400W 6500K Setup
German 400W 10,000K Setup
ALS 400W 12,000K Setup
German 400W 20,000K Setup

These are the choices Marine Depot has. So that gives me (us) a variety of choices in bulbs/color/PAR.

After reading and looking at some pictures the 20k Radiums look very attractive. I think Tongs (one of my LFS) is running 2 400w radiums on their Rose Anemone tank and it looks gorgeous.

If I choose 2x 250 Icecap HQI ballasts w/ 20k radiums, and 1x 400w Icecap HQI ballast w/ 20k radiums all with Spider reflectors my total will be $ 827.97. (Marine Depot).

I haven't been able to find an online store that has packages with Icecap ballasts/bulb/and reflectors that can beat that price. Anyone know of a store I have overlooked?

 

[mountainbiker619]

i saw a set of 20k's up and running yesterday at a LFS, they were to blue for my liking.

 

[King Jason]

i saw a set of 20k's up and running yesterday at a LFS, they were to blue for my liking.

If I choose to go with 20k's I will be able to dim/raise my 50/50 VHO's to try and get the desired color temperature (I hope)!

I was pretty happy with my old 10k's, but many of the corals didn't have the florescent colors I really enjoy. Hopefully if I go with 20k’s I won’t be going from one extreme to the other!

I’ve also read that if you’re firing the 20k’s with an HQI ballast it creates a whiter spectrum.

 

[mountainbiker619]

the ones I saw where HQI with PFO ballast, I think.

 

[mountainbiker619]

not sure if you saw this page on marinedepots web site
http://www.marinedepot.com/a_lt_mh_bulb ... sp?CartId=

 

[reefsnreptiles1]

also read that if you’re firing the 20k’s with an HQI ballast it creates a whiter spectrum.

Hey Jason. I would try and verify that first with the IceCap HQI's. I know this is true with the PFO HQI ballasts and that is what I ended up going with. There are few others running Radiums on the PFO HQI ballasts and this is why I chose that ballast. It overdrives the bulbs burning them brighter and whiter (but also shortening the bulb life).

I am not sure that the IceCap HQI will do this.

Hope that helps!

Brian

 

[King Jason]

There are just way too many options...who ever said competition and variety is a good thing!

 

[mountainbiker619]

Jason,

From Ice-Caps web page

Model 250-MH-HQI for any double ended metal halide 250-watt bulb and any other bulb we've had the opportunity to test it on. Does not over-drive the bulb so output will be at the bulb manufacturer's specifications. By using a constantly changing, very high frequency, the ballast will light any bulb and never flicker. Longer bulb life and other features (See Specification & Features) makes this and Model 400-MH a home run for all metal halide applications

 

[King Jason]

If I go with PFO HQI ballasts instead of Icecap my total is $ 832.60 at Marine Depot and $752.80 at Reef Fanatic.

 

[reefsnreptiles1]

Thanks for that post mountainbiker619. That is what I thought. IceCaps don't overdrive the bulbs. Which is obviously a good thing for the life of the bulb However, the reason the bulbs are whiter on the PFO HQI ballast is due to them being overdriven so if this is what you want to achieve (whiter) then your best bet is to go with that ballast.

Otherwise, if you just simply want radiums and want to burn them on the ballast they were intended to be burned on then you should use a pulse start ballast (an option that can be added to PFO's standard ballast).

Best of luck!

Brian

 

[mountainbiker619]

check out http://www.il-solutions.com/

 

[mountainbiker619]

not sure of this is a factor to you..

IceCap is so certain of the durability of all its products that they even provide an inclusive 3-year parts and labor warranty

PFO Lighting Inc,Ballasts 2 Years

 

[King Jason]

not sure of this is a factor to you..

IceCap is so certain of the durability of all its products that they even provide an inclusive 3-year parts and labor warranty

PFO Lighting Inc,Ballasts 2 Years

That's important also. Icecap seems to be the smarter (long term) buy IMO. More efficient, more bulb options, longer warranty.