whats better?

iceman0032935 · 01/16/2008, 06:42 PM

whats better to have electric or magnetic ballasts for metal halides?

kdblove_99 · 01/16/2008, 08:14 PM

You have more options with Electronic they will fire any bulb

USC-fan · 01/16/2008, 08:24 PM

Plus electronic use less power but magnetic have more par.

What are you looking for?

iceman0032935 · 01/16/2008, 09:27 PM

i am making a reef tank and i want 2x250 watt metal halides, moon lights and atinics but dont know what wattage i should have on those.

iceman0032935 · 01/16/2008, 09:30 PM

whats par mean?

USC-fan · 01/16/2008, 09:42 PM

Par is Photosynthetically active radiation, measurement of the amount of photosynthetically active wavelengths in light. The amount of light that the coral can use.

You just buy actinics based on what size you need. For a 75gal tank you would buy 48" long actinic lights. You can use 2x or 4x actinic bulb based on what you can fit. Mostly likely you will be only able to fit 2x 48" vho actinic lights.

Tom Fay · 01/18/2008, 12:13 PM

The difference in output between magnetic and electronic is trivial at best, an in my opinion not worth the extra power consumption.

DarG · 01/18/2008, 02:09 PM

With some DE lamps the difference in par with a HQI magnetic ballast vs. and electronic can be 20% or more, depending on the bulb. Im not sure Id call that trivial. Another poster pointed out the other day in a different thread that on Sanjays site he has efficiencies listed as well for different bulbs on different ballasts. DE's on electronics are not always more efficient than the same DE on HQI magnetic so that extra par does indeed come with an efficiency advantage as well with some DE lamps on HQI ballasts vs electronic. Aside from that there is some information that DE lamps last longer on HQI magnetic ballasts and some user experiences on this forum that seem to uphold that information.

There is a reason why virtually every DE lamp is spec'd for an HQI Magnetic ballast. Thats not to say that they wont work on electronic ballasts. But if it really was the better ballast to run DE lamps, manufacturers would be spec'ing the lamps for use on electronic ballasts. M81 and M80 are still the ballasts that the 150 and 250 watt, respectively, manufacturers spec to run their DE lamps.

01/16/2008, 06:42 PM	#1
iceman0032935 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: melbourne,fl Posts: 313	whats better? whats better to have electric or magnetic ballasts for metal halides?

01/16/2008, 08:14 PM	#2
kdblove_99 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Frederick,CO Posts: 8,683	You have more options with Electronic they will fire any bulb

01/16/2008, 08:24 PM	#3
USC-fan Premium Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 3,626	Plus electronic use less power but magnetic have more par. What are you looking for?

01/16/2008, 09:27 PM	#4
iceman0032935 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: melbourne,fl Posts: 313	i am making a reef tank and i want 2x250 watt metal halides, moon lights and atinics but dont know what wattage i should have on those.

01/16/2008, 09:30 PM	#5
iceman0032935 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: melbourne,fl Posts: 313	whats par mean?

01/16/2008, 09:42 PM	#6
USC-fan Premium Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 3,626	Par is Photosynthetically active radiation, measurement of the amount of photosynthetically active wavelengths in light. The amount of light that the coral can use. You just buy actinics based on what size you need. For a 75gal tank you would buy 48" long actinic lights. You can use 2x or 4x actinic bulb based on what you can fit. Mostly likely you will be only able to fit 2x 48" vho actinic lights.

01/18/2008, 12:13 PM	#7
Tom Fay Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Tampa, FL Posts: 120	The difference in output between magnetic and electronic is trivial at best, an in my opinion not worth the extra power consumption.

01/18/2008, 02:09 PM	#8
DarG Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 5,515	With some DE lamps the difference in par with a HQI magnetic ballast vs. and electronic can be 20% or more, depending on the bulb. Im not sure Id call that trivial. Another poster pointed out the other day in a different thread that on Sanjays site he has efficiencies listed as well for different bulbs on different ballasts. DE's on electronics are not always more efficient than the same DE on HQI magnetic so that extra par does indeed come with an efficiency advantage as well with some DE lamps on HQI ballasts vs electronic. Aside from that there is some information that DE lamps last longer on HQI magnetic ballasts and some user experiences on this forum that seem to uphold that information. There is a reason why virtually every DE lamp is spec'd for an HQI Magnetic ballast. Thats not to say that they wont work on electronic ballasts. But if it really was the better ballast to run DE lamps, manufacturers would be spec'ing the lamps for use on electronic ballasts. M81 and M80 are still the ballasts that the 150 and 250 watt, respectively, manufacturers spec to run their DE lamps.