Radium 400W
- Thread starter Moser
- Start date
dzhuo
Active member
250w Radium is designed to be run with a M80 HQI (pulse start) ballast. Bluewave, PFO, and Hamilton, for example, are all M80 which will drive the 250w Radium to spec (delivering roughly ~270w of power). The 400w Radium is designed to be run with a M135/M155 (also pulse start) ballast delivering 360w of power. As long as your Giesemann magnetic (I am not familiar with this ballast in particular) ballast drives the Radium to spec delivering the correct nominal wattage, it will not shorten the bulb's life. The term overdrive or underdrive is thus somewhat misleading.
that is great info... i have been learning more about halides as i wana make a frag tank in the future using a 400 watt halide with one of my PFO ballast... thank you for sharing...
Moser
Active member
Thanks for that. What is the normal life for a 400w Radium?. Ie the usual change out time?
Thanks
Mo
dzhuo
Active member
Assuming the Radium bulb is driven to spec, you should expect anywhere from 10 to 12 months. With an incorrect ballast, most users report 6 months before significant PAR lost and color shift.
jarrett shark
Active member
8 months
mos90
New member
i know this is an old thread but to update. i have 3-radium 400w bulbs on galaxy switchable ballasts set on standard 400. i run my bulbs 5 hours per day. they are 6 months old and i am definitely loosing par. using a par meter the loss at 10" is well over 100 on average. i have not seen a color shift that is visible to the eye yet. some corals are not a vibrant as before
6 months is the limit in my opinion. im replacing now.
6 months is the limit in my opinion. im replacing now.
tkeracer619
New member
400w Radiums must be changed out at 6 months if they are run on an HQI ballast.
250w Radiums can go as long as 16 months on an HQI ballast.
A 250w Radium on a M80 ballast will produce almost as much light as a 400w Radium on an electronic ballast. A 400w Radium on an HQI blows the rest out of the water for color and par but you pay dearly for it.
250w Radiums can go as long as 16 months on an HQI ballast.
A 250w Radium on a M80 ballast will produce almost as much light as a 400w Radium on an electronic ballast. A 400w Radium on an HQI blows the rest out of the water for color and par but you pay dearly for it.
tkeracer619
New member
http://www.aqua-medic.com/product/ballast-1x250w/
It says zero available. Marine Depot doesn't have them on their website anymore and per this post... they have been discontinued. A real shame.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=22535081
To my knowledge that was the last m80 ballast available in the US. Unless there is another m80 the next best thing AFAIK is a Lumatec 250w in super lumens mode. I have Galaxy Selectawatt and in HQI mode they do not drive the Radium the same as a M80. It is close but I bet you can guess which set of ballasts I have running the show and which ones are collecting dust.
I was actually planning on buying a new set of ballasts because they do wear out over time and all of mine are getting old...
It says zero available. Marine Depot doesn't have them on their website anymore and per this post... they have been discontinued. A real shame.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=22535081
To my knowledge that was the last m80 ballast available in the US. Unless there is another m80 the next best thing AFAIK is a Lumatec 250w in super lumens mode. I have Galaxy Selectawatt and in HQI mode they do not drive the Radium the same as a M80. It is close but I bet you can guess which set of ballasts I have running the show and which ones are collecting dust.
I was actually planning on buying a new set of ballasts because they do wear out over time and all of mine are getting old...
mos90
New member
tkeracer619
New member
For some reason I thought that one was long gone... if not great!
Hamilton don't go and discontinue this ballast before I can place my order :lol:
They are almost double the price of the Reeflex Cubes... but IIRC they weren't just assembled in the USA they were made in the USA. I'll pay for that but that is why I thought they were DQ'd because the USA manufacturer DQ'd them.
I had just assumed the world was down to Huaquan in china as the sole manufacturer of m80 ballasts. On the scope of lighting these days I cannot imagine radium 250w 20k bulbs and m80 ballasts ship a whole lot of units. Radiums were designed to accent the sides of buildings.
This is with keeping beautiful SPS.
tkeracer619
New member
A few people have tried to get me to switch away from Radiums, pushed even. Eventually some forward thinking person will convince me ...
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