Good budget 400w SE bulb for a magnetic ballast?

redfishsc · 04/01/2010, 09:39 AM

I'm helping a fellow reefer with a 120g tank, it's 48X24X24. Right now he only has a 2X65 PC light (50/50's) but some leathers he has are doing fine.
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Need a suggestion for a low priced, decent looking 400w mogul lamp. PAR isn't critical. Must be able to run on a magnetic (M59) ballast. Need a nice blue bulb. This will be a softy/LPS tank.

I've seen the threads on the cheap Plusrite bulbs, I'm hoping someone here is running something similar in the $30 range that's fairly blue.

There will be one bulb in the center flanked by his two PC 50/50's.

I have a PILE of old shop light M59 400w halide ballasts, and we are going to build a canopy and retrofit the single 400w lamp in. No need for two lamps--- too much electricity/heat and he's only doing softies/LPS anyhow.

redfishsc · 04/02/2010, 05:57 AM

Any suggestions? Not looking for anything that throws out tons of PAR but just something fairly inexpensive that looks nice and blue.

04/01/2010, 09:39 AM	#1
redfishsc Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Wake Forest, NC Posts: 3,696	Good budget 400w SE bulb for a magnetic ballast? I'm helping a fellow reefer with a 120g tank, it's 48X24X24. Right now he only has a 2X65 PC light (50/50's) but some leathers he has are doing fine. . Need a suggestion for a low priced, decent looking 400w mogul lamp. PAR isn't critical. Must be able to run on a magnetic (M59) ballast. Need a nice blue bulb. This will be a softy/LPS tank. I've seen the threads on the cheap Plusrite bulbs, I'm hoping someone here is running something similar in the $30 range that's fairly blue. There will be one bulb in the center flanked by his two PC 50/50's. I have a PILE of old shop light M59 400w halide ballasts, and we are going to build a canopy and retrofit the single 400w lamp in. No need for two lamps--- too much electricity/heat and he's only doing softies/LPS anyhow. __________________ "The measure of a life is not its duration but its donation." Corrie Ten Boom “The tyrant dies and his rule is over, the martyr dies and his rule begins” -- Søren Kierkegaard Current Tank Info: ghetto grad school reef.....11g rimless tank, 36X9X9, lit by Cree and Rebels scobbled together. Stocked mostly with free stuff I got from panhandling my fellow reefers.

04/02/2010, 05:57 AM	#2
redfishsc Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Wake Forest, NC Posts: 3,696	Any suggestions? Not looking for anything that throws out tons of PAR but just something fairly inexpensive that looks nice and blue. __________________ "The measure of a life is not its duration but its donation." Corrie Ten Boom “The tyrant dies and his rule is over, the martyr dies and his rule begins” -- Søren Kierkegaard Current Tank Info: ghetto grad school reef.....11g rimless tank, 36X9X9, lit by Cree and Rebels scobbled together. Stocked mostly with free stuff I got from panhandling my fellow reefers.