Ballast for Ushio 250w SE MH Bulbs?

[Electrobes]

I have an Aqua Medic 250W Reef Cube Ballast (HQI). I am currently in the middle of a new tank build, and won my choice of an Ushio Metal Halide bulb via my club's raffle. Can I use my Reef Cube ballast with their SE 250W bulbs?

The internet searching has profoundly confused the heck out of me. I am pretty sure I can use my ballast for it, but am not 100%. I'd rather not destroy the new bulb!

Thanks!

 

[Tank2379]

I believe they have to be Electronic Ballast for them to fire up properly.I heard Magnetic Ballast don't work well.

 

[rsaha]

250W HQI is M80 if that helps. The only single ended HQI rated bulb I am aware of is the Radium 250 (HQI doesn't mean double ended although all double ended bulbs require an HQI ballast). Your ballast will overdrive the bulb. You will get insane intensity but at the cost of reduced bulb life.

Check out Sanjay's lighting guide http://www.manhattanreefs.com/lighting

Looks like you will get almost 160 PFID from the HQI ballast and 118 from an M58 ballast. It also looks like your bulb will run more yellow on the HQI as well. I ran XM10K on an HQI ballast for a while. Wicked growth but it looked like somebody peed in my tank. Very yellow.

 

[Electrobes]

250W HQI is M80 if that helps. The only single ended HQI rated bulb I am aware of is the Radium 250 (HQI doesn't mean double ended although all double ended bulbs require an HQI ballast). Your ballast will overdrive the bulb. You will get insane intensity but at the cost of reduced bulb life.

Check out Sanjay's lighting guide http://www.manhattanreefs.com/lighting

Looks like you will get almost 160 PFID from the HQI ballast and 118 from an M58 ballast. It also looks like your bulb will run more yellow on the HQI as well. I ran XM10K on an HQI ballast for a while. Wicked growth but it looked like somebody peed in my tank. Very yellow.

lol at the "Peed in my tank"!

I was worried about that. I was hoping those bulbs would work on my ballast just to play around with, but I guess I'll have to sell them and just get back up Radiums.

Thanks guys, I appreciate the info!

 

[sirreal63]

I have an Aqua Medic 250W Reef Cube Ballast (HQI). I am currently in the middle of a new tank build, and won my choice of an Ushio Metal Halide bulb via my club's raffle. Can I use my Reef Cube ballast with their SE 250W bulbs?

The internet searching has profoundly confused the heck out of me. I am pretty sure I can use my ballast for it, but am not 100%. I'd rather not destroy the new bulb!

Thanks!

It will depend on which bulb it is, the Aqualight is intended for M58 probe start and the Colorlight Blue is intended for Pulse start. Take a pic of the label bar code, it may shed some light, so to speak. It appears that all of the newer Ushio 250 watt SE bulbs are Probe start and would need the M58 to be run correctly, not the M80. Being that it was a raffle bulb, we don't know which without the label. IIRC if the label shows CWA it is intended for M58 or you can use electronic.

I believe they have to be Electronic Ballast for them to fire up properly.I heard Magnetic Ballast don't work well.

Where did you hear that? There are no MH bulbs that I am aware of that were designed for electronic ballasts, bulb/ballast combinations follow ANSI standards, however electronic ballasts will fire and run MH bulbs just fine, but not necessarily correctly. Magnetic ballasts when matched to the proper bulb work exactly as they were engineered to.

250W HQI is M80 if that helps. The only single ended HQI rated bulb I am aware of is the Radium 250 (HQI doesn't mean double ended although all double ended bulbs require an HQI ballast). Your ballast will overdrive the bulb. You will get insane intensity but at the cost of reduced bulb life.

Check out Sanjay's lighting guide http://www.manhattanreefs.com/lighting

Looks like you will get almost 160 PFID from the HQI ballast and 118 from an M58 ballast. It also looks like your bulb will run more yellow on the HQI as well. I ran XM10K on an HQI ballast for a while. Wicked growth but it looked like somebody peed in my tank. Very yellow.

There are many SE bulbs that are intended for M80 ballasts, most are European bulbs. See link below for an idea of what bulbs to use with each ballast type.

This may help answer some questions and help end guesswork.
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-03/sj/index.php

 

[Electrobes]

Jack, I have the option of any Ushio bulb.. I just have to select it and they will send me one. From what I see, I don;t think any of their SE bulbs are M80.

 

[sirreal63]

It appears none of their current U.S. bulbs are, but I would take a minute and send Ushio an email and see what options you have. You could also see if any local members are using probe start 250 watt bulbs and either work a trade for a Radium or Phoenix or sell the bulb if you cannot get a pulse start bulb. for your M80. If you have the Colorlight 20K option, it would be ok but I would start with Ushio.