best ballast for 250w Radium mogul

[wampuscat]

What is the best ballast for the Radium 250w mogul bulb? I like the blue look, but want the pop also.....

 

[Blackhawk Fan]

It's actually a 280w bulb so you want a magnetic m80(HQI) or any of the new electronic ballasts that will operate at HQI wattage.

 

[roshi719]

I believe Galaxy ballasts are the best if I am not mistaken

 

[BayCorals]

I also say Galaxy Ballast

 

[wampuscat]

Do any of you have any pics you could post?

 

[luke33]

Being a hqi bulb it will have the best par with a m80 ballast like a blue wave 3, 7 or pfo hqi, aquamedic hqi ballast. It will have a crisp white/blue color with those ballasts. The eballasts like the galaxy, lumatec, IC, vertex, aro....etc will give it a much bluer look but will have a lower par.

 

[I-K@ndY]

+ one on the galaxy but also check if they make Lumatek ballast..

 

[wampuscat]

What is the difference between the IC and the Galaxy ballasts? Which one gives a bluer look and which one gives off the most pop?

 

[ddiver]

i'm loving the bluewave magnetic...

 

[Acrokeeper3729]

I have tried both Galaxy and Bluewave7 My bluewave 7 is more intense and has a slightly less blue color to it. I ditched my Galaxy for the Bluewave 7 and couldn't be happier.

 

[BHAMR6]

I have the Galaxy ballast and love it !!!!!!! I will tell you this i have read that a Radium run on any ballast will put out more par than a regular 20k

I had some south pacific sunlight 20k and was running them on pfo magnetic ballast . I switched to galaxy radium combo and love it i will never go back..

Also to the Radiums on my galaxy arent as blue as other 20k i have seen

I have seen radiums run on a m80 ballast and the color isn't that much different

 

[puntific]

What's the comparison between Galaxy and Lumatek? Looks like the Lumateks can be gotten for less money...

puntific

 

[iani]

HQI ballasts run the 250w radium bulb best. Don't waste your time with electronic ballasts on a 250w radium bulb.

 

[puntific]

How about a 400 wt radium? Best ballast?

puntific

 

[Blackhawk Fan]

400w Radiums are 360w bulbs. You would want to get a dimmable 400w ballast and use a kill-a-watt to measure the wattage of the ballast.

IMO they look best on a 400w HQI ballast which overdrives them to around 430w. This also cuts the life of the bulb down significantly.

 

[puntific]

Arg... this is too complicated.

400w Radiums are 360w bulbs. You would want to get a dimmable 400w ballast and use a kill-a-watt to measure the wattage of the ballast.

IMO they look best on a 400w HQI ballast which overdrives them to around 430w. This also cuts the life of the bulb down significantly.

 

[benny z]

i switched to 400w radiums on galaxy ballasts over my display in november and ended up torching almost all of my sps, even adding egg-crate and dropping the photo period to 1 hour. my tank is only 24" tall - should have stuck w/ the 250 radiums. ah, hindsight...

i think i'm switching to t5 + led.

 

[puntific]

What did you switch from? (bennyz)

 

[Blackhawk Fan]

i switched to 400w radiums on galaxy ballasts over my display in november and ended up torching almost all of my sps, even adding egg-crate and dropping the photo period to 1 hour. my tank is only 24" tall - should have stuck w/ the 250 radiums. ah, hindsight...

i think i'm switching to t5 + led.

That sucks.

 

[puntific]

I'm running 400 wt Hamiltons on 8 yr old PFO ballasts. One just died today so I'm on the prowl for new lights. I'm not sure I have room in my hood for the super cool reflectors. Would moving to 250 wt Radiums on a great ballast be an upgrade in lighting Par wise?