Ballast for 400w Radium?

[Mr Neutron]

I'm looking to upgrade one of my 3 halides to 400w 20K. I would like either a Blueline electronic ballast or a Sunshine Supply Blue Wave ballast. Anyone have either of these and can share pros/cons? I have extremely high energy bills ($350-$500 per month) so electricity consumption is more of a factor than initial cost. Also what is the useful bulb life on either of those ballasts?

TIA

[Lutefisk]

If energy costs are a primary factor what about 250 watters?

I, together with many others, use them with good results. Also, it is nice that the chiller doesn't run as much with the 250's too.

But, on the other hand, those Radiums on the right ballast sure are nice!

Paul

[Sir Knight]

Chad,
If electric cost is an issue the difference in an e-ballast and a core ballast is something like 3.7 amps for e-ballast vs 4.0 amps for a tar ballast.

If I were going to go with 400 watters again I would look into Icecap ballasts. Icecap just introduced the 400 watt e-ballast I think last month. Go to the chat room for vendors to read about them. The Icecaps can be repaired , the Bluelines cannot. As far as useful life 20000K bulbs at 10 hours a day are good for 6 to 8 months. After the 6 month time frame just increase the time to 12 to 14 hours a day and you should get a year out of them.

I agree with Paul that the 250 watts will do a good job just use 4 bulbs instead of three and again if you want an e-ballast look into Icecap HQI for running the 20000k's also Marine Depot is running a sale on them check them out.

Hope this helps
Joe W.

[Lutefisk]

Darn Joe! For a second I thought I understood your post to say that the 250Watt 20,000K DE HQI bulbs were out:rolleyes:

Sorry about forgetting to bring that IV drip bag to the last meeting. I didn't remember about it until the next day.

How are those corals continuing to do?

Paul

[Mako]

Chad - I notice you say you are wanting to upgrade 1 of your 3 halides to 20K 400W. What are the other two right now?

[Mr Neutron]

Currently I have 3 - 250w Ushio 10K halides and a couple actinic PC's. I can only fit 3 halides in the hood right now. My main reason for upgrade is 1)additional light and 2)coloration of SPS.

I had thought about 250 20K but when researching on RC I read that they put out minimal PAR. I'm concerned the 250w blue bulb will leave the middle of the tank too dim.

I'm leaning to the electronic ballast so I'll check out the Icecap. I also heard they run cooler than my tar ballasts.

Thanks for the help!

[Rockfish]

Mr N,

How do you like the Ushio 10K's with or without supplementation. I was thinking about using these or the AB 10K's. What ballats are you running?? Thanks,

Steve

[wayner1]

I'm running the 400w Radium on the Blueline E-ballast, Love it!,
I beleive the ballast is under waranty for 2 years, if any thing goes wrong within that time, they'll give you a brand new one.

After running for 11 ours, the Blueline is not even hot.

[wayner1]

Oh, BTW, from what I've read on this Board, IceCap is having problems with their 400W E-ballast, People are complaining about Bulb Noise & FLickering.

I'd hold off on purchasing one until the bugs are ironed out.

[Mr Neutron]

Originally posted by Rockfish
Mr N,

How do you like the Ushio 10K's with or without supplementation. I was thinking about using these or the AB 10K's. What ballats are you running?? Thanks,

Steve

Steve,
I use 96w actinic pc's - it makes the light a bit bluer when on but mostly for the dusk and dawn effect. I use the standard PFO ballasts.