Originally Posted by
Katz
Thank you for the reply again Reefnut.
I have another question?
How many ballast do I need to run 3 mh bulbs?
There are so many different kinds of ballasts that I am getting confused.
single probe
dual probe
single pulse
dual pulse
electronic
magnetic
Katz :scared:
probe start ballast...magnetic ballast without internal ignitor. designed to run american style bulbs (bulbs that have ignitors built it). Coralvue,reflux,XM are examples of probe style bulbs. probe start ballast may not fire german style bulbs properly or at all (or by chance work fine).
pulse start...magnetic ballast with internal ignitor. designed to run german style bulbs (bulbs without built in ignitors). Most Ushio except 250 watt, Aqua Bushke, Radium are examples. These will fire any type of single ended bulb but may prematurely wear out or alter the coloration of pulse start bulbs. Sunlight supply's blue wave and special order PFO are the only commonly available aquarium pulse start ballast in america.
Magnetic ballast: see above. Most every bulb is designed to work with one or the other. they are ANSI coded. example: "M57" is the ANSI code for 175 watt probe start ballast and "M137" is the ANSI code for 175 watt pulse start. If you buy a probe start ballast bulbs designated with M57 were designed with that code of ballast in mind. If you buy a M137 bulb it may work fine but it might not and vise versa.
electronic: will work properly with either kind of bulb. some people not convinced of their reliability compared to tried and true magnetic since many earlier ones had reliability problems. bugs are probably ironed out by now.
single=fires one bulb. dual= two ballast in one housing for firing two bulbs. usually one switch and power cord so both operate together.
I went with sunlight supply blue wave 175 watt dual pulse start ballast because the bulbs I was most interested in using were german style and I could still fire american style if I wanted to use those. the only reason I went with sunlight supply over PFO is because pulse start is special order. I used sunlight supply reef optix 2 reflectors which are prewired with quick disconnect cords that plug right into the blue wave ballast. I paid $195 shipped for the ballast. $120 shipped for both reflectors and $75 each locally for the Aqualine 13K bulbs. so $470 total. Could have and almost went with Coralvue electronic ($170 per kit X2) which is cheaper but I had more confidence in sunlight supply and the bulbs I chose. I use two bulbs but the standard for a 6ft tank is 3 bulbs. I think mine is fine with two because I dont have any center bracing to block the light.
