So I can't get PFO ballasts...what to fire Radiums???

[mcoomer]

So, I posted a thread (http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1820104) asking if anyone knew of any PFO ballasts for sale anywhere and it appears I'm out of luck. I'm going to keep checking EBay, Craigslist, and forum classifieds but failing that what is the preferred ballast for firing 250W Radium 20K SE bulbs. I checked out Sanjay's lighting database and the only choice beside PFO is the Ice Cap ballast. Is that all there is?

Thanks,
Mike

[mfinn]

I used a ARO electronic ballast, model LN-250-02.

Worked great.

[GQuinn]

I used a Sunlight Supply Blue Wave 250 watt hqi ballast with my Radium.

Gary

[Stupes]

Any Pulse Start 250 watt MH Ballast.
Pulse start, HQI, or electronic will do. They require a high burst to start, then run at a lower voltage.

[James77]

Preferred ballast are M80 ballasts. Sunlight Supply Blue Wave 3 or 7, Aquamedic also makes them.

[rob.mwpropane]

From what I gather they run well on the dimmable lumateks. It has an hqi setting.

[ganjero]

From what I gather they run well on the dimmable lumateks. It has an hqi setting.

Actually people that have that ballasts are reporting that there is not increase in PAR when using the HQI option. I'm currently running that combo but I dont have a PAR meter so I can measure that for sure.

The ballasts that will match that bulb on paper is a M80 ballast, but people run that bulb on different electronic ballasts with great success. I recently visited a fellow reefer who has an amazing tank and he runs his radiums on ARO ballasts. He changes bulbs around 1 to 1.5 yrs. He uses a PAR meter to make sure when to change bulbs. You can see his tank an corals here http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1457892

[Tek_Diver]

LumaTek