MH trouble. Needing HELP

PaulErik · Apr 13, 2023

300 volts output without a lamp operating is normal and within specs for an M58 ballast. The normal range is 270-350 volts. This is still not enough to fire a Radium bulb properly which requires a minimum 4.0kV (4000V) ignition voltage.

xabo · Apr 13, 2023

bdupuy said:
Correct. I’ve seen that and questioned it in this discussion. Others said to run it.

The reason this is even an issue is I cannot find mogul base 250w bulbs that are not Radion. This is what I was saying earlier about bulbs being hard to find.
I checked BRS, soslightbulbs, championlighting, Amazon, and Hamilton. The only 250w mogul are Radions. If anyone knows where to find these that are not Radion let me know.

Aquarium

USHIO Aqualite™ Metal Halide lamps feature the best combination of color balance, color rendering and photosynthetic light output for healthy marine aquarium and reef systems. Our USHIO BLV factory in Germany, collaborated with leading marine biologists to develop the first 10,000K Metal Halide...

estore.ushio.com

bdupuy · Apr 13, 2023

xabo said:
Aquarium

USHIO Aqualite™ Metal Halide lamps feature the best combination of color balance, color rendering and photosynthetic light output for healthy marine aquarium and reef systems. Our USHIO BLV factory in Germany, collaborated with leading marine biologists to develop the first 10,000K Metal Halide...

estore.ushio.com

Perfect! I didn’t think to look at the Ushio website. I know those are good bulbs. Just ordered one and was able to cancel the Radium from BRS. I emailed them last night after the post about Radiums not working with my M58 or electronic ballast.

Thanks again all of the help!

bdupuy · Apr 18, 2023

Just want to say thanks to those that talked me in to keeping my metal halides. The ushio bulb came in and fired up right away. The tank looks fantastic! Nothing like halides!

Over the past few days I built a custom canopy with the halides in mind. The canopy stands 18” off the tank so when the halide fixture was mounted inside the bulb is about 12” off the water. I left the top open to all the heat from the halide to escape.

Mounted directly center over the tank at about 12” off the water this halide gives great coverage to my 4’ 90 gallon tank.

Next I’ll paint the stand to match the canopy (using lots of tape as the tank is setup so it will be painted in place) and it’ll be good to go!

Thanks again to all for the advice and help. I will be ordering these Ushio bulbs again.

Hurricane Aquatics · Apr 18, 2023

bdupuy said:
Just want to say thanks to those that talked me in to keeping my metal halides. The ushio bulb came in and fired up right away. The tank looks fantastic! Nothing like halides!

Over the past few days I built a custom canopy with the halides in mind. The canopy stands 18” off the tank so when the halide fixture was mounted inside the bulb is about 12” off the water. I left the top open to all the heat from the halide to escape.

Mounted directly center over the tank at about 12” off the water this halide gives great coverage to my 4’ 90 gallon tank.

Next I’ll paint the stand to match the canopy (using lots of tape as the tank is setup so it will be painted in place) and it’ll be good to go!

Thanks again to all for the advice and help. I will be ordering these Ushio bulbs again.

Great to hear that everything is working now. Tank is looking good and you'll really enjoy the simplicity and results of MH.

xabo · Apr 18, 2023

Got me thinking of putting mine up now.

OrionN · Apr 18, 2023

I think you can buy bulb directly from Hamilton. I thought they are about 60.00 or so.

bdupuy · Apr 18, 2023

OrionN said:
I think you can buy bulb directly from Hamilton. I thought they are about 60.00 or so.

You can, they just didn’t have the 250w single ended in stock right now.

OrionN · Apr 18, 2023

I just added a single ended 250 W MH 10,000K bulb to my cart. 65.00

bdupuy · Apr 18, 2023

OrionN said:
I just added a single ended 250 W MH 10,000K bulb to my cart. 65.00

Oops. I guess they have them in stock now.

bdupuy · Apr 18, 2023

OrionN said:
I just added a single ended 250 W MH 10,000K bulb to my cart. 65.00

Go to check out. That’s where it tells you it’s out of stock.

OrionN · Apr 18, 2023

That is too bad. At least you got your bulb

minus9 · Apr 18, 2023

Ushio has them in stock. I’m using a cheaper option right now (Marine Color) and they’re pretty good for the money. But if Hamilton doesn’t have stock soon, I’ll pick up some Ushio’s.

djf91 · Apr 19, 2023

What kelvin bulb is the ushio? I really like that look.

minus9 · Apr 19, 2023

djf91 said:
What kelvin bulb is the ushio? I really like that look.

Aquarium

USHIO Aqualite™ Metal Halide lamps feature the best combination of color balance, color rendering and photosynthetic light output for healthy marine aquarium and reef systems. Our USHIO BLV factory in Germany, collaborated with leading marine biologists to develop the first 10,000K Metal Halide...

estore.ushio.com

djf91 · Apr 19, 2023

minus9 said:
Aquarium

USHIO Aqualite™ Metal Halide lamps feature the best combination of color balance, color rendering and photosynthetic light output for healthy marine aquarium and reef systems. Our USHIO BLV factory in Germany, collaborated with leading marine biologists to develop the first 10,000K Metal Halide...

estore.ushio.com

There are multiple bulbs on that web page. I’m asking which one bdupuy went with.

minus9 · Apr 19, 2023

djf91 said:
There are multiple bulbs on that web page. I’m asking which one bdupuy went with.

Sorry, by the looks of their earlier post, it shows 10k in the cart. If you have supplemental blue bars/T5’s, then either 10k or 14k will do the job nicely. I prefer 14k myself.

Here’s a crappy pic of the Marine Color brand 14k 250w SE with Quanta Pro meso blue bars. iPhone with no filter.

bdupuy · Apr 19, 2023

djf91 said:
What kelvin bulb is the ushio? I really like that look.

This is a Ushio 20,000K bulb. I really like the look of it. In the past I've had a 14,000K from Hamilton and I much prefer the look of this 20,000K. It's much brighter and cleaner looking in my opinion. No supplemental lighting in these pictures, only the MH.

The 10,000K posts were just OrionN and I talking about Hamilton's current stock.

Hurricane Aquatics · Apr 19, 2023

Two things, when I bought 24 Hamilton DE 14k and 20k bulbs, I was told Hamilton would have new stock in March. Well, that came and went and I still don't see new stock.

Second, when I was running MH only, 14k, my Acro colors were not good at all. Their health was excellent, but no color and certainly no blue color. I added the LEDs and everything colored up nicely.

I don't think this had anything to do with spectrum, but the light intensity. When I added a lot of LEDs and higher par, they colored up nicely. So just keep that in mind as you go along.

djf91 · Apr 19, 2023

Hurricane Aquatics said:
Two things, when I bought 24 Hamilton DE 14k and 20k bulbs, I was told Hamilton would have new stock in March. Well, that came and went and I still don't see new stock.

Second, when I was running MH only, 14k, my Acro colors were not good at all. Their health was excellent, but no color and certainly no blue color. I added the LEDs and everything colored up nicely.

I don't think this had anything to do with spectrum, but the light intensity. When I added a lot of LEDs and higher par, they colored up nicely. So just keep that in mind as you go along.

Yea, LEDs certainly do bring out some great fluorescence when coupled with Halides. Though it is possible under perfect conditions to pull out authentic vivid colorations under 10k/14k lighting.
Nandos old tank always exemplified this perfectly I thought, although he did have some t5’s mixed in.