250w Radium Ballast?

[cpllongjk]

Hi,

I currently have a ICECAP ballast powering my 250w Radium and I know it's not optimal but it was a good deal and came in a package I could not resist.

After doing a lot of research many people say that the m80 ballast like this one... http://www.hamiltontechnology.com/it...ed-Ballast-378 are the best available for the 250w Radium.

I've also seen some posts that the newer select-a-watt ballasts are good to because they have "overdrive" and will give the radiums their 270w they require.

Which ballast would give me the best PAR and color? My tank dimensions are 24x20x20 and I will be using the Reefbrite Halide Hybrid pendant with 2 15" XHO All Blue LED strips.

Can anyone explain the differences between the M80 and Select-a-Watt ballasts?

 

[Reefing Madness]

 

[Choll]

Copy and paste from someone who knows MH

The 250w Mogul Base Radium is a unique lamp in that it’s actually rated as a 270w lamp and is specified to be ran off of an M80 Magnetic HQI ballast. This is one of the very few metal halide lamps on the market which are single ended that are spec’d for this particular ballast. This does not mean that the lamp can only be ran off of a magnetic M80 HQI ballast though. Other ballasts that are very common to run this lamp with are standard electronic ballasts such as the ReefBrite, old IceCap, or the Vertex ballast. With the introduction of the somewhat new “Select-a-watt” ballasts that are now on the market such as Lumatek, and even better the Luxcore brand, you can choose to run this lamp at standard 250w, closer to spec of 270w with the “250” or “250 HQI” settings that are on these select-a-watt ballasts.

When running the lamp off of a magnetic M80 HQI ballast you will pump a good amount more of white light through the lamp, which is easier to see with the naked eye. This is the result of the lamp running at a slightly higher than intended wattage, at 330w. Please note that actual wattage to the lamp will be slightly less due to power loss through the wiring. This makes the lamp have a very good mix of white and blue light, and excellent PAR numbers for a bulb that is heavier weighted to blue side of the spectrum.

Running the lamp on the standard electronic 250w ballasts will produce the most blue out of the lamp that you can get. The wattage does drop down on the lamp to approximately 245w, and the more visual white light is more subdued to the naked eye. PAR levels do decrease, but you do gain some in terms of coral coloration that is displayed.

When using an electronic ballast that has a select-a-watt setting on it and running it on the “250 HQI” you split the difference in output between a standard electronic 250w setting and the magnetic M80 HQI numbers. This gives a very good balance of blue and white mix to the lamp, and splits the difference between PAR numbers that generally equate to growth, and more blue light, which usually helps with maximum coral coloration.

250w specs are as follows:

Lamp Wattage: 270w
Ballast Spec: ANSI Code M80 Magnet HQI
M80 Magnetic Wattage: 330w
Electronic 250w Setting: 245w
Electronic 250w “HQI” or Super Lumens: 300w
Average Lamp Life: 9-10 months @ 8hrs/day

 

[Pete polyp]

The good thing about the luxcore is that you're not locked in to only running radium or hqi. I plan to grab a couple in the next couple of months because I have the m58 ballast and it won't fire radium.

 

[Battlecorals Verified Sponsor]

Ideally the m-80 is the best option for radiums. The "overdrive" feature on electronics does not quite replicate what the m-80 does for the radium, which actually run them closer to 350-370 watts.

 

[Pete polyp]

Copy and paste from someone who knows MH

The 250w Mogul Base Radium is a unique lamp in that it’s actually rated as a 270w lamp and is specified to be ran off of an M80 Magnetic HQI ballast. This is one of the very few metal halide lamps on the market which are single ended that are spec’d for this particular ballast. This does not mean that the lamp can only be ran off of a magnetic M80 HQI ballast though. Other ballasts that are very common to run this lamp with are standard electronic ballasts such as the ReefBrite, old IceCap, or the Vertex ballast. With the introduction of the somewhat new “Select-a-watt” ballasts that are now on the market such as Lumatek, and even better the Luxcore brand, you can choose to run this lamp at standard 250w, closer to spec of 270w with the “250” or “250 HQI” settings that are on these select-a-watt ballasts.

When running the lamp off of a magnetic M80 HQI ballast you will pump a good amount more of white light through the lamp, which is easier to see with the naked eye. This is the result of the lamp running at a slightly higher than intended wattage, at 330w. Please note that actual wattage to the lamp will be slightly less due to power loss through the wiring. This makes the lamp have a very good mix of white and blue light, and excellent PAR numbers for a bulb that is heavier weighted to blue side of the spectrum.

Running the lamp on the standard electronic 250w ballasts will produce the most blue out of the lamp that you can get. The wattage does drop down on the lamp to approximately 245w, and the more visual white light is more subdued to the naked eye. PAR levels do decrease, but you do gain some in terms of coral coloration that is displayed.

When using an electronic ballast that has a select-a-watt setting on it and running it on the “250 HQI” you split the difference in output between a standard electronic 250w setting and the magnetic M80 HQI numbers. This gives a very good balance of blue and white mix to the lamp, and splits the difference between PAR numbers that generally equate to growth, and more blue light, which usually helps with maximum coral coloration.

250w specs are as follows:

Lamp Wattage: 270w
Ballast Spec: ANSI Code M80 Magnet HQI
M80 Magnetic Wattage: 330w
Electronic 250w Setting: 245w
Electronic 250w “HQI” or Super Lumens: 300w
Average Lamp Life: 9-10 months @ 8hrs/day

Which luxcore ballast are they using here? The blue 250w or red 400w?

 

[RedneckReefer68]

The 150-250 call it super lumens. The 250-400 call it hqi I think, but both settings are the same according to the manufacturer. I'm running the 150-250 at the moment and when switched to regular 250w setting, you can really tell the difference between the 2 settings. The regular 250 setting is slightly dimmer and bluer