prop-frags
SPS Slave
We are currently running an experiment with several ballast/bulb combos over our 300g sps reef tank. Here's what is running now:
Left side: 400w Radium on Coralvue electronic
Middle: 400w Ushio 14K on Coralvue electronic
Right side: 400w Radium on Lumatek selectable
All reflectors are Lumenmax Elites SE. We do not run any supplementation during MH "daylight hours".
Now for the highly subjective part that is typical of most every "bulb thread":
By observing our own setup and researching, we've drawn these conclusions:
400W Radiums on coralife e-ballasts seem to have short life, are too dim, too blue, and don't grow corals as we'd like.
400W Radiums on lumatek e-ballasts have better lifespan, are just about right in terms of brightness and color, and do an acceptable job of growing our corals.
400W Ushio 14K on coralife e-ballasts is very bright, no hint of blue, grows corals like gang-busters, but is a little too yellow for our tastes.
Ultimately we want a bulb that is "a tad bit less blue than Radiums that are brighter and grow corals better". But this desire is obviously more complicated than just the bulb selection. Initially, we were thinking that we don't really need to change bulbs, we just need to change our ballasts. Perhaps running Radiums on M135 ballasts will do the trick. Our assumption here is that if the Lumatek e-ballast is "driving the Radium harder", the color is less blue and the PAR is elevated, and so we get just what we want. Maybe the magnetic ANSI M135 ballast does that only better, and we just need to replace all these e-ballasts with M135s.
There is a very well-informed fellow who used to frequent RC who posted this a while back:
We found this (and other posts by Paul) to be very informative and interesting. It seems that Radiums really need the magnetic ANSI M135/M155 ballast to run optimally. Our experiment has shown us that the ballast makes a big difference on running Radiums, how they look, and perform over time. Paul's comment about "light output difference between the 250 and 400 watt Radium is minimal" is surprising! Should we fall back to 250W, run magnetic ballasts? That will save electricity and bulb costs!
So what to do? We spent several hours researching this, and there wasn't anything we found that answered our questions so thus this new thread for an old topic. We're looking for some experiences from everyone who feels like they have the same observations or tastes (granted this is a hugely subjective thing). Has anyone ever made the move from e-ballasts back to M135 for 400w Radiums and can provide some advice or observations? Is anyone running the lumatek selectable and found that the 400W vs. HQI setting provides more brightness with less blue tint on a Radium bulb? Is there another bulb that is "slightly less blue that Radium with more brightness and coral growth" on the same e-ballast?
Thanks for any input here.
Left side: 400w Radium on Coralvue electronic
Middle: 400w Ushio 14K on Coralvue electronic
Right side: 400w Radium on Lumatek selectable
All reflectors are Lumenmax Elites SE. We do not run any supplementation during MH "daylight hours".
Now for the highly subjective part that is typical of most every "bulb thread":
- The left side is dimmer, bluer, and coral growth is notably slower than the middle or right side.
- The middle is vastly brighter, not at all blue comparatively to the left or right, and coral growth is rapid and robust.
- The right side is brighter than left but dimmer than middle, less blue than left side, and coral growth is acceptable.
By observing our own setup and researching, we've drawn these conclusions:
400W Radiums on coralife e-ballasts seem to have short life, are too dim, too blue, and don't grow corals as we'd like.
400W Radiums on lumatek e-ballasts have better lifespan, are just about right in terms of brightness and color, and do an acceptable job of growing our corals.
400W Ushio 14K on coralife e-ballasts is very bright, no hint of blue, grows corals like gang-busters, but is a little too yellow for our tastes.
Ultimately we want a bulb that is "a tad bit less blue than Radiums that are brighter and grow corals better". But this desire is obviously more complicated than just the bulb selection. Initially, we were thinking that we don't really need to change bulbs, we just need to change our ballasts. Perhaps running Radiums on M135 ballasts will do the trick. Our assumption here is that if the Lumatek e-ballast is "driving the Radium harder", the color is less blue and the PAR is elevated, and so we get just what we want. Maybe the magnetic ANSI M135 ballast does that only better, and we just need to replace all these e-ballasts with M135s.
There is a very well-informed fellow who used to frequent RC who posted this a while back:
We found this (and other posts by Paul) to be very informative and interesting. It seems that Radiums really need the magnetic ANSI M135/M155 ballast to run optimally. Our experiment has shown us that the ballast makes a big difference on running Radiums, how they look, and perform over time. Paul's comment about "light output difference between the 250 and 400 watt Radium is minimal" is surprising! Should we fall back to 250W, run magnetic ballasts? That will save electricity and bulb costs!
So what to do? We spent several hours researching this, and there wasn't anything we found that answered our questions so thus this new thread for an old topic. We're looking for some experiences from everyone who feels like they have the same observations or tastes (granted this is a hugely subjective thing). Has anyone ever made the move from e-ballasts back to M135 for 400w Radiums and can provide some advice or observations? Is anyone running the lumatek selectable and found that the 400W vs. HQI setting provides more brightness with less blue tint on a Radium bulb? Is there another bulb that is "slightly less blue that Radium with more brightness and coral growth" on the same e-ballast?
Thanks for any input here.
