I love my radiums but I know I'm not getting the most out of them due to not running HQI ballasts. Since I'm not driving them to their max do you think that I can get a longer life span from them since their driven with electronic ballasts? And are there any other bulbs that are close to these bulbs? I've been reading everything from RC and it seems as nothing is getting close to the crisp white/blue that the bulbs provide.
Is there any bulb that can substitute for a radium bulbs?
- Thread starter jdolores
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jtarmitage
Active member
I'd still stick with the Radiums. the visual difference of them on HQI vs. elec. is negligible. You can certainly get better performance from them on an HQI, but even on an electronic ballast, they're comparable or better than most others, especially in the 20k category.
jtarmitage
Active member
That's what they say about the 400 watters, but it seems that the 250's last a bit longer. I'm of the opinion that I'll change bulbs every 12 months, staggering them of course, as I've got 3. With an electronic ballast, you can likely run them longer. If you look at their output curve, they shift quickly at first, but there is little difference in output from 9-18 months. It's just that they do drop below 70% typically between 9-12 months. At 18 months you're looking at roughly 65%. The problem really comes when you change to new bulbs. Going from 60% to 100% output is quite a shock. As long as you acclimate the corals to the shifting light, no problem.
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