My first metal halide

Just got a nice little 150w pendant in a trade this weekend and could use a little advice. it looks exactly like this one

Reef Aquarium Lighting: Hamilton Technology Low Profile ReefStar HQI Metal Halide System

It came with a hamilton 150w ballast, and it says "use only Ansi M102" on it When I look at ansi m102 lamps online there all SE lamps . . . and I have a DE that lights up in the fixture. I asked the guy if it was an electronic ballast and he told me it was, but now I'm thinking its a magnetic? the bulb is 8-10 months old so I want to get a new one in it before I start up my new little tank but I cant ffigure out what kind of bulb I need.

~Will.

 

Nice light! Is the ballast heavy or light? Usually mag ballasts are a bit heavier and larger. Up side of the mag ballast is that it produces a more powerful light. Downside, is that it's not as "stable" as an e-ballast and can flicker. If it's a 150 HQI, any double ended HQI 150 watt bulb would work well. A phoenix 14k would be a nice choice. I've seen the color of one of those under a 150 hqi powered by a mag ballast and it's beautiful.

 

SPS Blue life, love the color of them

Actually, I should have asked if you are going for color or growth? Because if it's a frag tank I would go with Ushio, great PAR but very yellowish color, you can always color them up in your DT though.

 

This is going to be the only light for a while over my 25 gallon thats in the works, its 24x16x16. I have some moonlights that I might try to squeeze in there, but they wont do much to help out the color. I'm not too concerned with growth as I will be keeping mostly LPS and a huge RBTA, but i still want it to look nice (obviously) and keep everything photosynthetic happy.

The ballast is pretty heavy but I have no frame of reference on what a heavy or light ballast would be. it also says "lights h6" on the sticker, but thats about it. I have someone that wants to trade me some e-bay no-name lamps for some of my remaining livestock, are those even worth looking into?

thanks for the help!

~Will.

 

I wouldn't trust any Ebay lights.

I am running SPS 14K bulbs and love them.

It is most likely magnetic. Hamiltons are almost all magnetic. Only way to know for sure is to open the case. You should know instantly. A magnetic will not have a circuit board.

 

Any specific reason why you wouldn't trust e-bay lamps, or is that just like the same reason I wont own a kia? I was reading about them on RC and figured they would be slamming them pretty hard, but par numbers dont lie and the general consensus over there is there not too shabby.

Reason I'm asking is I have someone that wants to trade me 4 lamps (2x 14k and 2x 20k) for my pink tail trigger that I am having a surprisingly hard time selling.

~Will.

 

I have used those no name brand Ebay bulbs($5) and they have worked just great. I dont know the Par, but they where great imo.



luna