WTB EVC 250W ballast...
- Thread starter calvin415
- Start date
reefkoi
Premium Member
I think Scott @ Exotic Tropicals can buy direct from EVC now.
Did you decide to stick with EVC or go PFO? The thing that gets me is PFO sells a dual 250 hqi for like $100 more than their dual 400 watt HQI. I cant understand it. Why do they charge so much for a 250 hqi? Because they know its the most used and so they are just making a ton more money?
FWIW when I looked up ballasts, I seemed to find m59 ballasts are all the same, it doesn't seem to matter who's you buy and that's why I stuck with the aqua medic. It cost me $30 to get a replacement capacitor and it ships from loveland so I had it the next day for only like $4 shipping.
Anyway just some thoughts.
Did you decide to stick with EVC or go PFO? The thing that gets me is PFO sells a dual 250 hqi for like $100 more than their dual 400 watt HQI. I cant understand it. Why do they charge so much for a 250 hqi? Because they know its the most used and so they are just making a ton more money?
FWIW when I looked up ballasts, I seemed to find m59 ballasts are all the same, it doesn't seem to matter who's you buy and that's why I stuck with the aqua medic. It cost me $30 to get a replacement capacitor and it ships from loveland so I had it the next day for only like $4 shipping.
Anyway just some thoughts.
calvin415
New member
I don't think they are as close as you think, I read a story (don't recall where) about a guy that had 2 ballast (same brand) but got them from 2 different locations and the color was different with the same bulbs... If the same brand can be different if they weren't purchased together, I'm not risking it and going with the Dual PFO HQI.
reefkoi
Premium Member
yeah my dual seems like it weighs about 30 lbs atleast. no bigie for those barn door rails they should be able to take a couple hundred pounds easily.
I thought Russ said all mag m59 ballasts are the same and even Sanjay tests bulbs with different ballasts and the test with the magnetic ballast just says m59 so I could be wrong but I didn't see the need for the PFO in the end.
Not that they are bad or anything, maybe they are built well but dang they are high dollar! like $150 more than an aqua medic from what i found but I know you probably scored them cheap from the internet somewhere!
I thought Russ said all mag m59 ballasts are the same and even Sanjay tests bulbs with different ballasts and the test with the magnetic ballast just says m59 so I could be wrong but I didn't see the need for the PFO in the end.
Not that they are bad or anything, maybe they are built well but dang they are high dollar! like $150 more than an aqua medic from what i found but I know you probably scored them cheap from the internet somewhere!
Deuce67
New member
Wow! HQI ballast on single ended setup. Yup, you will be close to 400W per light. The XM 10Ks you have will prolly be on the yellow side now. But par is a monster! You will have to raise those lights a bit or you may bleach out some corals. Any reason you went with HQI M80s instead of M59s? Well at least you can run Radiums if you desire. Chris, those mag ballast are pretty much all the same. When i had my old PFO HQI magnetics, I looked inside and they were made by Advance. Like a dumb arse, I traded them in for electronics. Good thing Dan traded me with his HQI magnetics. The ones I got from him are made by Hamilton. When i opened the casing up, guess whos ballast is inside? Yup, its an Advanced ballast.
calvin415
New member
Ended up going HQI to get the extra PAR out of the them, I figure we'll try out these 10k's and we can get something a little more blue down the road if these are yellow. I still need to wire the T-5's up so we'll see if that helps the color at all.
Rachel just called me and my Interceptor is here!!! Guess it's going to be good bye inverts tonight! LOL!!! Figure I'll do one tablet per can, do I need to crush these up first or just drop it in and let it disolve?
Rachel just called me and my Interceptor is here!!! Guess it's going to be good bye inverts tonight! LOL!!! Figure I'll do one tablet per can, do I need to crush these up first or just drop it in and let it disolve?
reefkoi
Premium Member
My Interceptor showed up today also, that's a coincidence. Although you ordered your a week or two before I ordered mine.
This stuff is like gold, hopefully gold I won't need but with the 6 tablets that will do a 3 time dose in my tank if or when I get those little b*stards. I try to stay away from smooth skin acros to be safe but I think it's possible they could be on any coral especially from a reefers tank more so that most of the reputable online vendors.
I'm interested in seeing how many mantis and other crabs fall out of your rock, there could be tons of crustaceans in there!
This stuff is like gold, hopefully gold I won't need but with the 6 tablets that will do a 3 time dose in my tank if or when I get those little b*stards. I try to stay away from smooth skin acros to be safe but I think it's possible they could be on any coral especially from a reefers tank more so that most of the reputable online vendors.
I'm interested in seeing how many mantis and other crabs fall out of your rock, there could be tons of crustaceans in there!
