sps lighting help
- Thread starter ZildjianDevil
- Start date
ZildjianDevil
Member
currently running 20K XM 250w SE Bulbs. but now that im doing an sps only tank, i wanted to see what you guys thought i should use for best growth and color with my ballast. i heard 20k is slow growing for corals.
Alex T.
Active member
The Radium 250 watt bulb on an electronic Icecap ballast will underdrive the bulb making it more blue. Underdriving any bulb will shorten its' lifespan while still getting poor performance for watts used. The Radium 250 watt single ended bulb is not a 250 watt bulb, but rather a 330 watt HQI that needs to be driven on an HQI ballast like the old PFO or Sunlight Supply's BlueWave HQI ballasts. If you're going to stick with the Icecap ballasts (and there's no reason why you shouldn't) and want color and good par I'd go with a nice 14k bulb like the Ushio 14k. Much better par and every bit the "Radium" look at least to my eyes.
In fact, Sanjay Joshi (the lighting guru himself) uses this bulb without actinic supplement but in the 400 watt version to light his 30" deep 500 gallon tank. Great par and color rendition for the ballasts you have IMHO.
In fact, Sanjay Joshi (the lighting guru himself) uses this bulb without actinic supplement but in the 400 watt version to light his 30" deep 500 gallon tank. Great par and color rendition for the ballasts you have IMHO.
karsseboom
New member
All radiums are 20k and I would pick them over any 250 Watt bulbs you could name for Growth or color which ever you choose. It is not like other 20k bulbs, radium put out some strong par when ran with hqi ballast. I had all three xm bulbs 10k 14k and 20k and radiums are just the perfect t bulb that why all the nice tanks run them.
ZildjianDevil
Member
That sucks, I can't run the radium bulb on my ballast... Well I'm not going to change out all my icecap ballast to run one type of bulb. I'll deff be giving the Ushio 14K bulbs a try now.
Thank you for helping me out!
-Nick
Essencereef
In Memoriam
DUDE,
You will be absolutely fine running a radium bulb on any electronic ballast. You will just not drive it as high. I had my radium 18 inches of the water on my 180G and had plenty of par to keep clams on the bottom!
Just go for it
You will be absolutely fine running a radium bulb on any electronic ballast. You will just not drive it as high. I had my radium 18 inches of the water on my 180G and had plenty of par to keep clams on the bottom!
Just go for it
karsseboom
New member
Lumen bright mini are one of the highest par reflectors if not the highest.
Where he had his mounted are perfect I have mine mounted that high and Im getting 500 par on my sand bed with radiums.
Alex T.
Active member
Essencereef, yes he will be "fine" as you say running the Radium on an electronic ballast, but underdriving the bulb is the same as overdriving it.
The Radium will lose intensity and color spectrum on an electronic ballast around the 6 month mark. Corals will respond to this and even some nuisance algae could develop as the color spectrum shifts to red. That's right. It doesn't get more blue, but more whitish yellow in the red spectrum. When they go bad you'll swear you see red tint. You can definitely run them, but $240 every six months plus shipping doesn't sound too economical to me just to run the Radium. Keep that up and you could have paid for M80 ballasts in one year. I know there's plenty of people out there that run Radiums on electronic ballasts that will chime in and say that they only change their Radiums once a year. No need to chime in. You're still burning them out at 6 months' time. This is just the way it is and it's been written about countless times on these forums and proven true by a par meter and Sanjay's testing results. There's a lot of people whose cars run fine without oil changes for 10,000 miles, but it's not exactly the long term best thing to do for your car.
I hope this helps you make your decision. Regardless of what others say, there are plenty of bulbs that, when seen, look much like the Radium. This bulb has a deserved cult following, and unless you are looking at a Radium tank right next to yours, it would be next to impossible to tell the difference. Many people who have the M80 ballasts running Radiums (myself included) will be SOL if Radium stopped producing these bulbs because there aren't a heck of a whole lot of bulbs at our disposal (save the Phoenix 14k) on our ballasts to get close to that look without overdriving them and replacing them every six months. On an M80 ballast they need to be replaced at 10 months to a year, but really no more.
Just my .02
The Radium will lose intensity and color spectrum on an electronic ballast around the 6 month mark. Corals will respond to this and even some nuisance algae could develop as the color spectrum shifts to red. That's right. It doesn't get more blue, but more whitish yellow in the red spectrum. When they go bad you'll swear you see red tint. You can definitely run them, but $240 every six months plus shipping doesn't sound too economical to me just to run the Radium. Keep that up and you could have paid for M80 ballasts in one year. I know there's plenty of people out there that run Radiums on electronic ballasts that will chime in and say that they only change their Radiums once a year. No need to chime in. You're still burning them out at 6 months' time. This is just the way it is and it's been written about countless times on these forums and proven true by a par meter and Sanjay's testing results. There's a lot of people whose cars run fine without oil changes for 10,000 miles, but it's not exactly the long term best thing to do for your car.
I hope this helps you make your decision. Regardless of what others say, there are plenty of bulbs that, when seen, look much like the Radium. This bulb has a deserved cult following, and unless you are looking at a Radium tank right next to yours, it would be next to impossible to tell the difference. Many people who have the M80 ballasts running Radiums (myself included) will be SOL if Radium stopped producing these bulbs because there aren't a heck of a whole lot of bulbs at our disposal (save the Phoenix 14k) on our ballasts to get close to that look without overdriving them and replacing them every six months. On an M80 ballast they need to be replaced at 10 months to a year, but really no more.
Just my .02
ZildjianDevil
Member
I see what you are saying about under driving the bulbs now.. So radiums are out of the question for my ballast setup. I got it now. So what will work best with my icecap electronic ballasts? I strictly want great growth and color because I'm just running sps in this tank and I don't want to get stuck buying bulbs twice.
I need 250w SE MH Bulb. What's your guys take on Ushio 14K vs Reeflux 12K with my ballast? I will be running my T5s 80w ATI Blue Actinic bulbs with them as well.
I need 250w SE MH Bulb. What's your guys take on Ushio 14K vs Reeflux 12K with my ballast? I will be running my T5s 80w ATI Blue Actinic bulbs with them as well.
ZildjianDevil
Member
I bought those Lumen Bright Mini pendants for that reason. Because you can keep them up that high, compared to the others were you have to keep them so close to the water. Those pendants are designed for that reason. Otherwise I wouldn't of bought them.
Nothing wrong with the LBM's and as long as they are working for you I wouldn't change them. As far as the bulbs go, you may have to try a few different ones to get the color you want, and be sure to place higher light Acro's directly under the bulb and lower light ones in between the reflectors. Even that high, the spread isn't even with the LBM's and there will still be hotspots. Time will help you find the best placement and the best bulb for what you want. Balancing color and PAR isn't as easy as it should be but you will find what you like. I have used many different wattage, bulb and ballast combinations over the years and still an not completely satisfied. Use the T5's to your advantage, they will help with fine tuning the color.
ZildjianDevil
Member
Thank you!
I also just noticed my 1st light light keeps flickering and turning on and off, then it turns off for good. But then i pit a new bulb in, it stays lit for about three days, then starts flickering and the whole thing starts all over again. Is it the ballast? While the 2nd and thrid lights are perfectly fine never had problems with them.
I also just noticed my 1st light light keeps flickering and turning on and off, then it turns off for good. But then i pit a new bulb in, it stays lit for about three days, then starts flickering and the whole thing starts all over again. Is it the ballast? While the 2nd and thrid lights are perfectly fine never had problems with them.
ZildjianDevil
Member
Well thus is the thrid time it has happened. With only that halide pennant.
The ushio, radium, and phineox are all hqi spec bulbs. I run radiums with lumen bright mini's and m80 ballasts. I have them 21" above water to bottom of reflecter and get at least 300 par on the sand bed. I have a pic of tank with par numbers in the sps forum. Most of the 15k bulbs when sanjay tested have the least amount of par, you would be better with a 20k or 10k. The radium will run on your ballast just cost you more in bulbs.
ZildjianDevil
Member
Dam.. So now Ushio is out of the question too.... Seems like I can't run any mh bulbs with my 250w IceCap Electronic Ballast. Sucks... So what about reeflux 12k?
ZildjianDevil
Member
Also, out of all three of my metal halides. My third Penndant always has a whiter tint compared to the 1st and 2nd pendants when I'm using all three of the same bulbs. The first two are blue, and the thrid is whitish. And I changed them out three times and still the same problem. I thought it would just be a burn in thing for the bulb to just give it time, but I had the bulbs running for months and still the same thing.
I don't get how If it was a burn in time for the bulb to color back up, why is it always only my thrid Penndant?
Anyone who can help explain would be great.
Thank guys
I don't get how If it was a burn in time for the bulb to color back up, why is it always only my thrid Penndant?
Anyone who can help explain would be great.
Thank guys
I started with dual ballasts and the ballast that I ran 2 bulbs on was always bluer than the single. Now with the 3 hqi ballasts they all look the same but not getting the same par from them. 2 are on one circiut and the other is on a different circiut. I am guessing that one is getting more juice than the other 2 and giving different colors. The lfs owner I talked to said he is seeing the same as not getting the same par from 3 ballasts. This is my best guess.
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