badfish
01/03/2008, 06:48 PM
Recently my 175w MH burnt out. A.J. (AZDesertRat) being the great guy he is lent me a 250w ballast and bulb until i am able to buy another ballast. I loved the 250w so much that i am switching over.
I would like some help on ballast brands and bulb "colors". I have done tons of reading about the two but i thought i would still ask ya'lls opinions.
I am going to be ordering from the aquacave.com web site from their MH kits. http://www.aquacave.com/searchresul...?CategoryID=438
I have read that ARO is a good ballast brand. Their ballast are simple and not all flashy but what i have read they are dependable.
Coralvue ballast are supoosed be dependable also. The loaner ballast i am using right now is a Coralvue. It has started up every time. A.J. told me that he bought his two 250w ballasts used 5 years ago and they still run like a champ.
Ice Cap is well known for great customer support. I have owned a Ice Cap 175w MH ballast in the past and was pretty happy with it. The new models sound and look awesome.
I dont know much about Galaxy. I cant find much on the internet in terms of reviews to read. I do know they are $20 more than Ice Cap.
I will be getting a Lumenarc reflector. I havent decided what size yet.
The bulb i had been using with my 175w MH was a 10000K South Pacific Sunlight bulb. It was super white with a tint of blue. I loved it.
The bulb i am using now with the 250w is a Ushio 10000K. It is to yellow for my taste.
I will be supplementing with 2 VHO Super Actinics. I have never used them before. I have always used PC's to supplement.
What bulb should i buy with the kit? I want to stick with a 10K or 12K. I dont want the tank to be to blue.
I have read that the Reeflux bulbs are popular.
Do you think that the Reeflux 12K with the VHO's would be to much?
What ballast do you like the best?
What combo do you like the best?
I would like some help on ballast brands and bulb "colors". I have done tons of reading about the two but i thought i would still ask ya'lls opinions.
I am going to be ordering from the aquacave.com web site from their MH kits. http://www.aquacave.com/searchresul...?CategoryID=438
I have read that ARO is a good ballast brand. Their ballast are simple and not all flashy but what i have read they are dependable.
Coralvue ballast are supoosed be dependable also. The loaner ballast i am using right now is a Coralvue. It has started up every time. A.J. told me that he bought his two 250w ballasts used 5 years ago and they still run like a champ.
Ice Cap is well known for great customer support. I have owned a Ice Cap 175w MH ballast in the past and was pretty happy with it. The new models sound and look awesome.
I dont know much about Galaxy. I cant find much on the internet in terms of reviews to read. I do know they are $20 more than Ice Cap.
I will be getting a Lumenarc reflector. I havent decided what size yet.
The bulb i had been using with my 175w MH was a 10000K South Pacific Sunlight bulb. It was super white with a tint of blue. I loved it.
The bulb i am using now with the 250w is a Ushio 10000K. It is to yellow for my taste.
I will be supplementing with 2 VHO Super Actinics. I have never used them before. I have always used PC's to supplement.
What bulb should i buy with the kit? I want to stick with a 10K or 12K. I dont want the tank to be to blue.
I have read that the Reeflux bulbs are popular.
Do you think that the Reeflux 12K with the VHO's would be to much?
What ballast do you like the best?
What combo do you like the best?