Opinions on MH lighting

[rickjames]

Hey,

Well I am in the midst of a large tank upgrade and I was hoping to get some opinions on MH lighting. Right now I am running a small 30G with a 250W XM 10,000K bulb on a PFO pulse start ballast. Almost all my corals so far are SPS. I am going to be getting a 155 Gallon tank (5'X2'X2') and am currently trying to figure out what MH halide lighting combination to use. I really like the colour and intensity of my XM bulb, so I was thinking of running XM bulbs on the new tank, but I am not dead set on it.

My plan (so far) was to either buy a PFO double 250W ballast for 250$ and run three 250 bulbs over the tank, or to buy two son agro 430W ballasts (~90$ each) and run two 400W bulbs with my existing 250W in the middle of the tank. Has anyone run the 400W XM's on a son agro ballast?

What combination of bulbs/ballasts would you setup if this was your tank



Thanks!

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by rickjames

What combination of bulbs/ballasts would you setup if this was your tank



Thanks!

Hypothetically, if this was my tank, I'd setup 3 radiums on Son Agro bulbs. Although it would also look good with 10k Ushio and actinics. If it wa my tank, anyway.

[rickjames]

It is your tank right now!

I kinda like the radiums, are the ushio's nice and white on the son agro? The ones running at Safari's here in town seem yellow to me...

[Aquattro]

If you want to come by, I can throw the 10k in and you can see what they look like.

[rickjames]

Cool.... so the bulb thing is kind of a debate.... is the son agro (I think some people call this a 400W HQI ballast) a good ballast for firing all 400W bulbs?

[Aquattro]

I think so, but it does over drive the bulbs slightly, reducing the lifespan.

[chwkreefer]

Originally Posted by rickjames

Hey,

Has anyone run the 400W XM's on a son agro ballast?

What combination of bulbs/ballasts would you setup if this was your tank



Thanks!

I have a 150 gallon tank with two 400 watt son agro ballasts for lighting. Originally I started out with the radiums. They look great but lose their intensity fairly quick. I love the color but I decided to switch them out for 10k's and now supplement with 2 -110 VHO. I am running a 400watt 10K XM beside a Ushio. They look virtually the same to me. If I run carbon in my tank, I could almost handle not having the VHO's on. But how white or blue you like your tank is very subjective.

I would buy XM again. The downside of the SA ballasts is the lifespan of the bulbs appears to be a bit shorter from the overdriving. At least I sure found that to be my experience with the radiums. If you go radium definitely prepare to switch them out every 9 months.

[rickjames]

Thanks for the post, like I said I like the 10K look best, I know that the colour thing is totally subjective, everyone sees a little differently. The blue look is a crowd pleaser though, it looks more like the ocean i suppose. I think I will get the son agro ballast and give the XM's a try on it. I am curious to see how long they last.

[StirCrazy]

At a tank that is 24" tall I would go the 250 watt route, by staying with 250 watt you only need to buy 2 more lights instead of 3. also I would look at getting the PFO HQI ballast instead of the pulse start (80.00 more for a dual 250 watt HQI set up) But I just like having all my bulbs the same (as in type).

Steve

[rickjames]

Originally Posted by StirCrazy

At a tank that is 24" tall I would go the 250 watt route, by staying with 250 watt you only need to buy 2 more lights instead of 3. also I would look at getting the PFO HQI ballast instead of the pulse start (80.00 more for a dual 250 watt HQI set up) But I just like having all my bulbs the same (as in type).

Steve

No I plan on running my existing 250W setup with what ever two more ballasts I go with, so I would only be buying the two anyways. I am just going to run all the same brand and colour rating, the 250W will look different but I don't think enough to notice overall.

I think I am going to go for two 400's. Burn baby burn