Broomer I have a question for you

[tanksalot]

I was looking at your lighting setup and was wondering if there was any reason why you had one ushio MH bulb and one ab MH bulb.
I think i am going to order a PFO retro fit kit. Comes with a dual ballast both reflectors and all wiring. It also comes with 2 Ushio 10K bulbs. I was wondering what you though of PFO and the Ushio 10K bulbs.
As always thanks in advance.

 

[broomer5]

I bought one Ushio and one AB to check them out.
I'm now using two 250 watt Ushio 10,000K and run them off of the dual PFO 250watt HQI ballast.
I like the set up, and I'm pleased with the selection.

 

[tanksalot]

The ballast i was looking into is a standard ballast is there a major difference between a standard ballast and a HQI?

 

[broomer5]

Tanksalot,
Not trying to dodge your questions by any means, but if I were you - I would pose this question to BigMac here on the board, under a new thread in the equipment forum.
He was very helpful to me when I was debating my lighting upgrade. One look at his tank - and I listened closely to what he had to say regarding MH lighting.
Plus ... he spends a great deal of time reading and actually doing tests on various lamp/ballast combinations. I thought that was another good reason to discuss it with him before I purchased anything.
There are others here as well that may be able to answer your MH lighting questions. This was my first MH lighting experience - so I'm sort of new at this stuff too.
My understanding is that the 250 watt 10K German & Euro lamps work better if driven ( overdriven ) with the HQI ballast - as opposed to the standard ballast. Obviously I don't have both ballasts here to do the comparison - so I listened to those that have more direct experience.
They are bright for sure, the corals have responded well and I like the look of the tank under them. I'm very pleased.

 

[tanksalot]

Thanks for the response, Ill try Bigmac.