drock59 Posted October 2, 2007 Share Posted October 2, 2007 Continuing with my nature to be tinkerer, I am considering a lighting change. I am looking for something to make my corals pop a bit more and fluoresce. Currently I have a Bluewave 7 Dual HQI ballast with 2 Reef Optix III pendants, running Phoenix 14k. There are a couple of options I am considering. 1. Switch out the HQI ballast for Dual e ballasts to increase the pop on the Phoenix bulbs 2. Switch to 20k Radiums or XM 20K on my current setup Keep in mind I like the blue look to my bulbs, any opinions or experiences welcome. I know lots of people love their 400w Radiums/XM's but I cant find any info on 250watters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAVES Posted October 2, 2007 Share Posted October 2, 2007 I have had great success with 250w Radiums on HQI. I have a specific customer with a 90gal with RO2 and 2 x 48" actinic T5. I could get a picture Im sure if you were interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drock59 Posted October 2, 2007 Author Share Posted October 2, 2007 I am very interested and would love a picture. Lighting changes are always tough for me as I am on a "budget"(relative term in this hobby.). I still have some concern for the radium being too dim for my liking. Joel, any experiences with the XM 20K in 250w? How about electronic ballasts? Thanks for the input. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drock59 Posted October 2, 2007 Author Share Posted October 2, 2007 Just to be clear these are DE fixtures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAVES Posted October 2, 2007 Share Posted October 2, 2007 Just to be clear these are DE fixtures. I assume you know that Radium only comes in SE? I thought you were considering replacing your fixture too. If your not going to consider SE (even for XM) I would stick with Phoenix hands down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefgeek84 Posted October 2, 2007 Share Posted October 2, 2007 I assume you know that Radium only comes in SE? I thought you were considering replacing your fixture too. If your not going to consider SE (even for XM) I would stick with Phoenix hands down. Even if he upgraded to 400w? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAVES Posted October 2, 2007 Share Posted October 2, 2007 400w DE would require a new fixture as well, they dont fit in the 250w fixtures. Also 400w DE SUCKS there are only like 3 bulbs to choose from. Not sure I understand your question about upgrading to 400w though.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefgeek84 Posted October 2, 2007 Share Posted October 2, 2007 400w DE would require a new fixture as well, they dont fit in the 250w fixtures. Also 400w DE SUCKS there are only like 3 bulbs to choose from. Not sure I understand your question about upgrading to 400w though.... I misunderstood his question, apparently I read it to fast...I though he was considering upgrading to 400w and assumed 400w SE, since, like you said, there like 3 DE bulbs...So I was seeing if you though 250w DE HQI was better then a 400w SE set up...my bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drock59 Posted October 2, 2007 Author Share Posted October 2, 2007 Let me clarify. I am open to all ideas. I would rather stay at 250 just for the energy savings but I am willing to think about all options. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mbeef61 Posted October 3, 2007 Share Posted October 3, 2007 vho actinics hands down make the corals pop most Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drock59 Posted October 3, 2007 Author Share Posted October 3, 2007 Already have them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drock59 Posted October 4, 2007 Author Share Posted October 4, 2007 any thoughts/experiences with E ballasts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAVES Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 Eballasts (SLS) are cheaper, they have a decent warrantee but have ZERO serviceable parts inside. If they break, you throw them away. According to Sam, the 400w Galaxy eballast is designed specifically around the radium. He claims it looks incredible but I have never seen it. I have sold 6 or so of these ballasts, but I dont run any here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drock59 Posted October 5, 2007 Author Share Posted October 5, 2007 Joel, great info thanks. Im surprised there are no other people around running them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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