What is the best SE ballast????

[bobafet1]

Ok, Im not lazy, just at work and not able to invest so much time reading posts till my eyes get bloodshot. I want to know who has the best ballast. My tank is 30" deep and 96" long and would like to be able to keep anything (sps, clams) I have a dual cool touch lighting 250w ballast with luminarc 3 reflectors. Im hoping I can just get away with all 250's to cut cost on electricity but if I have to I will run 400's..Anyways, what is the best ballast to use....in other words..best PAR/doesnt suck up the power...hope ya'll can help...thanks

 

[bobafet1]

is everyone tongue tied??? surely someone can offer some advice..

 

[Nathan]

The answer to your question is dependant on many factors. The two biggest factors are: what bulb are you going to use, and what is your colour preference (for example if it is "white", then is it "yellow-white", "white-white", or "blue-white-white" (10K bulbs cover all those colours depending on the bulb/ballast combo)).

Also are you going to be changing to other bulbs (some ballasts work great for one type of bulb but not for others).

Also the same bulb (for example XM 10K) will have a different colour depending on the wattage. I believe that for the same type of ballast the 250W is a tad more blue than the 400W. Same goes for the Iwasaki.

So you see... there is no one "best" ballast.

You will find that ballasts which significantly boost the par of a bulb also boost the power consumption by just as much and I would imagine shorten the bulb's life.

-Nathan

 

[bobafet1]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7430225#post7430225 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Nathan
The answer to your question is dependant on many factors. The two biggest factors are: what bulb are you going to use, and what is your colour preference (for example if it is "white", then is it "yellow-white", "white-white", or "blue-white-white" (10K bulbs cover all those colours depending on the bulb/ballast combo)).

Also are you going to be changing to other bulbs (some ballasts work great for one type of bulb but not for others).

Also the same bulb (for example XM 10K) will have a different colour depending on the wattage. I believe that for the same type of ballast the 250W is a tad more blue than the 400W. Same goes for the Iwasaki.

So you see... there is no one "best" ballast.

You will find that ballasts which significantly boost the par of a bulb also boost the power consumption by just as much and I would imagine shorten the bulb's life.

-Nathan

You make sense...

I had spoken to ERic at fragfarmer.com and we concluded that the best option for me will be the dual 250 PFO HQI Ballast with Luminarc Reflectors. This set up will most likely work best for what I want. So your right, it does depend on what you want to do. Thanks for the response Nathan. I thought I was gonna be left hanging on this one

 

[Nathan]

Good luck with your ballasts! I'm sure you will be happy.

-Nathan