Metal Halide Q&A

this may be a stupid question but im new to MH's, are all MH fixture compatable with all ballasts assuming they are the same amount of watts.....i ask this because i picked up a 250w hamilton fixture from ebay for $25 and all i need is a ballast so in the choosing of the ballasts im trying to figure out what i will have to get

 

Im sure you can get which ever ballast you want, but make sure its for a 250w halide, i like my coralvue one but there are so many other ballasts out there hopefully someone can chime in and put some more light on the subject. I to have a question about halides, i picked up my 400w coralvue, installed it, and im noticing every now and then it flickers, not a whole lot but i can just catch it with my eye, my gf cant see it but i know it does it, any idea what this could be?

 

most are compatible... but there are a few match ups that will cause issues. Generally if you stick to the quality brand electronic ballasts you will have nothing to worry about. (Lumatek, Galaxy, icecap if you can find one anymore)
If you go with magnetic ballasts or even off brand electronic ballasts you might have some flickering or startup issues with certain types of bulbs.

 

What kind of bulbs are you running? im going to guess that they might be HQI...?

 

anything you would recommend as a decent budget fixture like decent quality with low price....im just getting into the reefing hobby so id like to keep it cheap and if i like it go from there....i have a hamilton 250w fixture so something thats pretty good thats not going to burn a hole in my pocket, im probably going to buy something used from another member or off craigslist/ebay so i just need to know what to keep an eye on

 

havent even gotten to that point yet all i have is the fixture and the bulb it came with from the auction so i figured let me get this thing together before working on getting a bulb

"Hamilton Metal Halide 250 Watt Fixture with HQI Bulb. The bulb is four month old and ran daily for 10 hours a day."
thats exactly what it says on the ebay auction

 

life time of MH bulbs

Ideally how long a new MH bulb last? I am currently running with T5's how ever i would like the combination of MH and T5 at one point. I have heard people say every year they need to be changed.Is it true?

One other Question is there diff kinds in MH bulb? ( this tells i have no idea about MH but hey we all learn...) Thanks for starting this thread

 

from my understanding its more or less closer to 4-8 months depending on how long per day you leave them running. the higher quality name branders usually last the longest and you dont necessarily need to go by the amount of time before you change a bulb....as the bulb gets old it starts putting out more yellow light and less blue light and you'll notice more algae growth

 

I recommend ballasts by Lumatek, Galaxy, and icecap. You will be paying between $100 and $120 for one of these ballasts. These ballasts will also run HQI or non-HQI bulbs... you dont have to be selective with your bulb purchase.

Now for the bulb. You will be okay using that bulb for about 5 more months but you will want to get rid of it asap if you are keeping corals. When you get a new bulb you will have to make sure that you have the right type (double ended or single ended). One of the most important purchases are quality lights... I would recommend good bulbs like phoenix 14k for DE and radium or ushio for single ended.

 

its a mogul base reeflux 20k bulb