Hello,
I purchased 2 of the 250W ReefBrite MH pendants in DE without the LED supplementation to go on my 120 gallon 4x2x2 reef. I also bought 2 of their 250Watt ballasts I already have 2 48" ReefBrite actinic XHOs. These are to replace the 2 250W PFO MH DE pendants. I am using Phoenix 250W DE bulbs which I used for a couple of years - I bought these used at a fair price.
Before the PFO, I had 2 AI SOL Blues on the same tank. When I bought it, one AI SOL Blue was advertised as having the ability to light a 2x2 foot tank. In reality, I needed 4 of them, maybe 5 for proper coverage of my tank. Unfortunately, I didn't want to buy 2 or 3 more AI SOL at $400 each. Instead of buying more AI SOLs, I added a 4 bulb retrofit 36" T5HOs. This worked well for a while until my AI SOL started to fail. Some of the LEDs stop working, the power supply failed and so on. I didn't want to replace them purely because of costs. By this time, new AI or Ecotech were going for $600-$700 each! I found a used set of 3 PFO MH pendants with ballasts for $150 so I bought it. With these MHs, I also bought 2 used Reefbrite XHO 48" actinic blues. I put in new Phoenix bulbs and it look great! Other than the heat, I love everything about MH. Some fans and venting the heat to the outside solved the heating problem. I live in Houston and I survived 2 summers with MHs on my tank with this approach (no chiller).
Now my PFOs started to fail (they're just old now). Two of the pendants actually rusted where I couldn't put in new bulbs. I looked at buying EcoTech Radions but they were $800 each. It's advertised as each Radion have the ability to cover a 2x2 foot tank. Where did I hear that before? I have nothing against LEDs and if it wasn't for the $1600 or maybe even $3200 price tag, I would buy them but I couldn't justify the expense. For under $600, with the black Friday sales, I'm up and running again. I bought the DE pendants because I already have 2 sets of new Phoenix bulbs and according to the BRS TV, the DE bulbs are brighter than SE. I may someday upgrade to a 210 gallons 6'x2'x30" high and I can still use these lights.
The PFO ballasts were using 613 Watts of electricity where the Reefbrites are using "only" 515 Watts (If I actually put 4 AI SOLs on my tank, they will use more than 500 Watts.) To my eyes, they look nearly identical in color -- they both have brand new bulbs. I actually replaced one pendant at a time and I had a hard time distinguishing which side had the PFO and which side had the Reefbrite ballast. I don't have a PAR meter. The Reefbrite pendant is significantly cooler. I can actually touch and hold the Reefbrite pendant for as long as I want and not get burned. I could not do that with the PFO ballast. The light spread is more even with the Reefbrite. I lit up the ceiling (with the lights pointed up) with both lights and I could definitely see hotspots with the PFO pendant.
Anyway, I'm glad to join the Reefbrite club. Before I bought the ReefBrites, I actually called them and and spoke with Tulio where he explained the benefits of the Reefbrite ballasts over my PFOs. I was just going to buy the pendants because my PFO pendants were failing but the ballasts were fine. I think the 100 Watts difference and less heat on the pendant will make a big difference, especially next summer.
