Radium Bulbs

bkv1997 · Aug 24, 2008

Has anyone used Radium 250 and 400 watt bulbs?

I seem to remeber someone mentioning the 250s were better than the 400s, but can't relocate that thread.

I'm thinking of trying them out, but feel the 250s might not be enough to keep SPS lower in my tank at the colors i'd like.

Brandon

Hypertek99 · Aug 24, 2008

I think the 250's have more par than the 400's

Stixbaraca · Aug 24, 2008

They are now making DE Radiums in 150 also!!

dough · Aug 24, 2008

I heard the best ballast for the 250 was a galaxy ballast. Anybody have an opinion on that?

cee · Aug 25, 2008

250s are designed to run on an HQI ballast whereas 400s are not. Therefore, the 250s last a lot longer than the 400s because people tend to use these bulbs on HQI regardless of wattage. I just put a new set in yesterday, and I use HQI and CV ballasts. The CV ballasts are nice because you can adjust their intensity which directly affects the bulb's color temperature.

Dave

EliteReefs · Aug 25, 2008

i use all radium 400's and LOVE them. i have tried every bulb i can find and nothing brings out the color of zoas and sps better then these radiums IMO. i have been running them for around 6 years now. they used to be rather hard to find but now they have been catching on. the price kinda sucks thats for sure

FaviaFreak · Aug 25, 2008

i run 1x150 watt DE Radiums 20k in my nano and love them, seems to produce some excellent color so far, growth isn't as good as 10-12k but I am in no hurry to grow my corals either, just want good coloration

EliteReefs · Aug 25, 2008

FaviaFreak said:
i run 1x150 watt DE Radiums 20k in my nano and love them, seems to produce some excellent color so far, growth isn't as good as 10-12k but I am in no hurry to grow my corals either, just want good coloration

I just bought a 150 for my nano yesterday and was annoyed to read this becasue i did not know they started to make DE bulbs. i would have got one. oh well

Stixbaraca · Aug 25, 2008

I just found them also. I am in the process of some major tank upgrades, and I am going to run 2x150 Radiums along side my T5s

EliteReefs · Aug 25, 2008

Stixbaraca said:
I just found them also. I am in the process of some major tank upgrades, and I am going to run 2x150 Radiums along side my T5s

you are going to LOVE the color these things produce. everything in the tank seems to jump rigth out at you. you get the killer color of actinic without the super blue look. just a very bright crisp white

Stixbaraca · Aug 25, 2008

SWEET! I have been running 2x150 Phoenix 14K right now alongside my T5s, but I am ready to take it to the next level. I too am not concerned with the growth as much as the color pop in my corals.

bamachamp92 · Aug 25, 2008

So has anyone used both 250 and 400 watt and got better light or color from one of the two?

paintballer768 · Aug 25, 2008

Does anyone have any shots of their tank with only the Radiums on? Hopefully one of the 150 watt nano-ers? I want to get a new bulb and hear such good things about the Radiums but Im curious what they actually look like. My LFS uses 10k MH and the rest blue T-5s so Ive never really seen 20k in person before.

cee · Aug 25, 2008

The color you get, IME, is going to depend on the ballast you use. On most e-ballasts with the 250 W bulbs, it will be quite blue since these bulbs are optimized for slightly more than 250 W. An HQI ballast will give you the crisp white with blue undertones. With a CoralVue ballast, I can cover that whole spectrum just by adjusting the intensity potentiometer (CCW gives max output on the non-adjustable ballasts).

paintballer768 · Aug 25, 2008

Ive got the Current-USA Sunpod fixture, dunno what balasts it comes with honestly.

bkv1997 · Aug 25, 2008

Well we just did a little test here at the house.

A new 250 watt radium in an Luminarc Reflector powered by an icecap ballast was emitting 650 PAR. Same combo with an HQI I was getting close to 1200 at a depth of 8" deep.

My current 14k Pheonix 250watt DE bulbs on the icecap ballast in an oceanlight fixtrure is pushing 325 PAR at the same depth.

I was at first worried because without the reflector i was only get a PAR reading of 152, but I think my mind is made up and i'll be going with the 250s starting out on Ice Cap ballasts and then trying the HQI if needed.

All I can say is I had no idea how much difference a quality reflector can make.

Brandon

bkv1997 · Aug 25, 2008

The radium bulb wasn't burned in for the above test if anyone was wondering, but from previous experience the PAR doesn't change that much after a couple weeks.