two 250 watt metal halide

smooth_9

smooth_9

Member
I ordered two 250 watt metal halide bulbs for my 55 Gallon suppose to be a reef tank hopefully one day. What else will I need in the light department? I have the hood installed just waiting for the bulbs to arrive. I am using four 40 watt fluorscents presently. (only two worked cheep fixure) Any suggestions on what type of reefs I should start with<see signature please>. I was thinking about sps, But I am not sure I have some more reading to do. Will the temp. go up much? I plan on taking the glass cover off the top. The hood has two fans.
Thanks SMooTH
 
derrikd

derrikd

Member
i would use the 2 40 watt hoods for some blue...that would be a must for most corals...
as for sps i would wait untill you can get softies to work out.. start with a muchroom or two and some colt.....so on
 
josh

josh

Active Member
Yes the 20 K are very blue, are you getting the radium bulbs? I wouldn't get any supplemental lighting, it will just be drowned out by the MH anyway....espcially no flo lighinting. VHO might be able to highlight the tank, but even it really won't be seen and would only be seen as a dusk and dawn lighting.
 
josh

josh

Active Member
Well, I have heard mixed results on them. First off what type of ballast are you running? This seems to play a major role in how they perform. In general, they are very very blue and dimmer than other 250 lamps. Just a reminder that color is in the eye of the beholder so very very blue might not be all that blue to you. Also, some people seem to feel they have a very short bulb life. I don't know this myself as I run a 250HQI setup with AB bulbs.
As for the ballast, the radium bulbs are german....or in general european. They were made for the european ballast that run a specific type of voltage, the ballast in europe is called the reactor ballast. So we here in the US have to find a ballast that comes as close to the voltage as it was designed for. One manufactuer that I trust states the proper ballest is the ANSI M80 or generally referred to here as the HQI ballast.
Here is a pic for you, this guy is running the 250 radiums on the right and 10K on the left. Also he is using a blueline. ballast.
PIC
 
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