Show me your 20k Radium tanks?

[Gondore]

Thanks for the reply Todd! I have decided to go with the Radiums when my Reeflux 10ks need replaced.

 

[cubsare1]

After reading ALL this and getting a headache I'm going to get a m80 ballast and radium bulb. Now the pfo hqi is about $180ish but the aquamedic cube is $166 with a built in fan. So is the aqua a good ballast? Its cheaper and has a fan to keep everything cool and looks better and if i understand (very little) the m80 ballast is the same no matter what housing its in, correct?
Thanks

 

[yongwooi]

i just place an order on it. Hopefully it will work great with my M80 ballast.

 

[nu2reefva]

hey todd i got the new ice cap 250 E-Ballast how will this drive the radium wattage wise i know its going to be on the white side which i like but i assume its overdriving it correct???

 

[fasteddie7]

so what is the best ballast for the 400 watt radiums? icecap, galaxy,hamilton, blue wave, coral vue?

 

[reefkoi]

Galaxy

 

[fasteddie7]

thanks reefkoi!

 

[Todd March]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14009781#post14009781 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by cubsare1
After reading ALL this and getting a headache I'm going to get a m80 ballast and radium bulb. Now the pfo hqi is about $180ish but the aquamedic cube is $166 with a built in fan. So is the aqua a good ballast? Its cheaper and has a fan to keep everything cool and looks better and if i understand (very little) the m80 ballast is the same no matter what housing its in, correct?
Thanks

Correct, they all use the same internal ballasts, just different housings. If I were going to buy an M80, now that PFO is out of the halide business, I would go with the Aqua Medic. Great housing and the fan is nice....

 

[Todd March]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14010566#post14010566 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by nu2reefva
hey todd i got the new ice cap 250 E-Ballast how will this drive the radium wattage wise i know its going to be on the white side which i like but i assume its overdriving it correct???

Good question... I don't know much about the new generation of Ice Cap halide ballasts at all, other than hearing it's pretty close to the Galaxy in terms of operating watts and lamp/spectrum coloring... From what I have seen they must be operating around 275 watts or so, but this is just a guesstimate based on my eye and comparing to M80 (which is over 300 watts)...

 

[fasteddie7]

thanks todd. just picked up the galaxy's for $139 online.. not bad! hopefully santa is good and i can order the radiums soon!

 

[nu2reefva]

thanks for the info i really like these new ballasts and the customer service you get with ice cap is second to none. cant wait to set my tank up only thing im worried about is the ice cap 660 i just got used looks kinda messed up but it works. anywho thanks.

 

[jwalters103]

does anyone have pics of a tank running the new icecap ballast/250w radium combo? and to anyone running this combo, how long are the radiums lasting you and what are you supplementing with?

 

[nu2reefva]

go to the first page and look at gadgets tank he uses VHO actinics and 250 watt ice caps the over driven radiums last about 6 months before you start to get a major color shift.

 

[curthendrix]

You cannot overdrive a 250 watt Radium bulb with a 250 watt ballast.

 

[Todd March]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14012785#post14012785 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jwalters103
does anyone have pics of a tank running the new icecap ballast/250w radium combo? and to anyone running this combo, how long are the radiums lasting you and what are you supplementing with?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14012940#post14012940 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by nu2reefva
go to the first page and look at gadgets tank he uses VHO actinics and 250 watt ice caps the over driven radiums last about 6 months before you start to get a major color shift.

This has been posted before, but lets go over it again...

The 250W SE Radium bulb is a true HQI bulb, and cannot be overdriven. It is made to run at over 300 watts on HQI ballasts. When running at over 300 watts it lasts for over a year, and when running on older eballasts, at around 250 watts, or on the Galaxy ballasts some where between HQI and older eballasts, you might get more than a year, but at least a full year is no problem...

NOTE! The 400W Radium is another story. It is NOT an HQI bulb, and has no proper rated ballast available in the United States, and never has. It is spec'd to run at 360W watts, but even old fashioned eballasts operate it at 400W's, so still slightly overdriven. HQI ballasts operate it at 470W's, over 100 watts overdriven, making the spectrum shift considerably in less than 6 months. Unfortunately, all of this NO proper ballast-overdriven hassle with the 400W Radium has carried over to the 250W Radium, and a huge number of American aquarists believe (and unfortunately ignorantly post around here) that the 250W Radium shifts spectrum as fast as the 400W does, and this is just not true. One cannot, and should not, make a statement such as, "Radiums shift spectrum fast", without noting if you are indeed talking specifically about the 400W...

Golden Rule: You cannot overdrive the 250W Radium, and it will always last at least a year, even on HQI ballasts...

 

[Todd March]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14014075#post14014075 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by curthendrix
You cannot overdrive a 250 watt Radium bulb with a 250 watt ballast.

Thanks for helping to spread the truth....!

 

[jwalters103]

so if you could dumb this down, a 250 w radium on a new 250 w icecap ballast should last a year and wont give the monochrome blue look of an underdriven bulb?

 

[Todd March]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14014928#post14014928 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jwalters103
so if you could dumb this down, a 250 w radium on a new 250 w icecap ballast should last a year and wont give the monochrome blue look of an underdriven bulb?

Yeah, that's about it... If the new Ice Cap runs the Radium like the Galaxy (which I've heard it does), not very blue at all....

 

[einsteins]

I run my 400watt 20k Radiums with the Bluewave 1 ballast and it seems to run and look perfect. Someone else told me that the BW 1 ballast was the perfect ballast for 400 watt radiums.

eins

 

[Todd March]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14016672#post14016672 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by einsteins
I run my 400watt 20k Radiums with the Bluewave 1 ballast and it seems to run and look perfect. Someone else told me that the BW 1 ballast was the perfect ballast for 400 watt radiums.

eins

It's the closest to the original Euro specsâ€"probe start, mag ballast... Never seems to have been popular however... What's the color of the Radium like on this ballast, eins...?