250 watt MH ballast(s)
 

I'm thinking of cleaning up under my tank a little bit. Currently I have 3 ballasts under there, I'm planning on getting a ballast that will fire two bulbs so I can remove one (I know I likely won't gain any space but it would still make things a little more tidy) I'm considering this one http://www.sunlightsupply.com/aqua/p...s&type=product Anyone have a review on it? The ballasts I have now are DIY's I bought used. They are magnetic style, I'd like to learn more about lighting but the info is quite overwhelming. I need to keep my mogul base bulbs/reflectors, is there a ballast that will do a better and/or more efficient job? Or am I stuck with only magnetic ballasts as an option?

Thanks for any help/info

If you want "clean" as in small and unobtrusive but want to keep your mogul bulbs then the choice will be an electronic ballast.

Electronic pros:
- can run any type of MH bulb of that wattage (SE, DE, Euro, etc, etc)
- runs cooler
- uses less electricity (a true 250W draw)
- smaller
- lighter

Electronic cons:
- more expensive than magnetic ballasts
- usually gives less PAR than magnetics when using the same bulb (less energy in = less out)

I know that Vertex just came out with some electronic ballasts at bargain basement prices. Not sure with how they perform, though.

http://www.jlaquatics.com/product/vt...e+Ballast.html

I'd be curious to see if the decrease in power consumption is comparable to the decrease in par. For example if the power consumption drops by 15% does the par drop 15% or is it more or less dramatic? Just how much more efficient would an E-ballast be over a traditional magnetic?

Also, what about electronic interference with other stuff such as televisions, radios, aquarium controllers,etc.?

I have this guy here and i am very impressed with it

http://www.jlaquatics.com/product/pf...+2+x+250W.html

I have mogul base lamps (ushio 10k) you can run a HQI ballast on mogul's, it will overdrive your lamps giving you better light output but shorter lamp life.

I was wondering about the about your first question(s) as well. Hadn't thought about interference.

Albert, parkinsn...thanks for the links.

Only problem I could see with a dual ballast is if one fails then you might end up with a huge ballast running only one lamp due to the fact that you can't just replace the one that failed. With two single ballasts, if you run into problems you only have to fix/replace the one.

That's easy to figure out. Look to Sanjay's light testing results:

http://www.manhattanreefs.com/lighting

You see how the PAR (PPFD) drops as the power (Watts) drops from an HQI, to magnetic, to e-ballasts? However, the efficiency remains relatively stable. Different bulbs will react somewhat differently but if you check out Sanjay's other results, the trend is fairly constant.

A properly built e-ballast in an enclosed Faraday Box (i.e. made of metal) should not give off electrical interference (EMP).