250w ballast / bulb suggestions!!

[lolgranny]

Just put up my Lumenarc pendants and im looking for a ballast / bulb suggestion.

Im thinking about these sunlight supply ballasts / 20k ushio mogul bulbs.

I have 2 pendants above the 75g

Any imput / suggestions / pics would be more then helpful.
THANKS
D

[bnumair]

i am also looking for this answer.
what is the difference in 6k 10k 14k 22k bulbs.
i have a 120 gal tall reef tank with 2x250 14k and 4x55 t5.
i am getting mixed info from local fish stores between 14k and 22k bulbs.
what does the experts say here.

[lolgranny]

6k /10k /14k /22k are all the difference of how the bulb burns / its color / the affects it has on the corals.

Im not sure what would be ideal and i KNOOOWW alot of people on here have plenty of anwsers for us bnumair

[Stroob]

Not an expert by far but can give the basics on the bulbs. 10k range is considered better for growth and is usually the low end range suggested on DTs. The 20k range bulbs will appear with more of a blue hue and require less actinics to get the coral color to really show. The 12-14k range bulbs try to utilize the benefits of both the 10k and 20k range by providing better growth than 20k and better coloring than 10k. When you get down to around 6500k bulbs it will start to appear very yellow. You will find variations to this depending on each individual setup but is the generalization on each range.

[lolgranny]

Anyone?

[jackinfobo]

I strongly recomend the hamilton ballasts. About 2 months ago I changed my lighting to a hamilton 250w HQI ballast and I could not be more impressed. Their customer service is excellent, and the ballast is fantastic. When I had a couple questions about the ballast Hamilton really did their best to answer my quwstions. I have never had a problem with the ballast and it works amazingly with my 14k DE phonex bulb.

[Gondore]

Go with the Gallaxy ballast and Radium bulbs and you won't regret it. I got similar growth from my sps when running the Reeflux 10k compared to the Radium 20k. The Radium will burn a nice crisp whitish color with just a little blue.

[lolgranny]

Originally Posted by Gondore

Go with the Gallaxy ballast and Radium bulbs and you won't regret it. I got similar growth from my sps when running the Reeflux 10k compared to the Radium 20k. The Radium will burn a nice crisp whitish color with just a little blue.

Thats what i was thinking of going with. 250w Galaxy ballast / 20k ushio bulbs.

Thanks for the input my friend

[Gondore]

Originally Posted by lolgranny

Thats what i was thinking of going with. 250w Galaxy ballast / 20k ushio bulbs.

Thanks for the input my friend

Personally I would without a doubt go with the Radiums over the Ushio 20k bulbs.

[lolgranny]

im only using the 2x250w halides. will the radium be enough or will i need to supplement with atinics?

[Gondore]

Originally Posted by lolgranny

im only using the 2x250w halides. will the radium be enough or will i need to supplement with atinics?

As far as growth you should be fine with just the 2x250 in those reflectors. I supplemented with two T5s on my setup only to give it a bit more pop. Honestly though, the Radiums look great by themselves on the Gallaxy ballast. In the end I couldn't tell much of a difference with the T5s on when the Radiums were on but I ended up using them for a dawn/dusk effect which I really liked. I have also heard very good things about running VHOs with the Radiums but again it comes down more to color then growth in my opinion.