New 250watt Vertex E-ballast and Radium 250SE...

I know ,, No pics yet.....

It on its way....

I havnt seen any post on New 250watt ballast and Radiums...Except for running a 400 on a 250 lumitek.


I decided to try something new like Vertex halide ballst..

Coulda had the Lumitek 250 ballast and 250Radium...but thats been proven already;D

As soon as its in ill post up my likings..
I dont have a Par meter but i do have before Pictures of my 175 20k XM .

So im shure it will be better than this was.

20K 175XM....M57ballast 200watts


10K+ Blueline...M57ballast 180watts


My Goal is to be inbetween the above Two bulbs with lots more Atinic and lots more Par/Whiteness/Brightness;D

We soon shall see..
Ive been using 175's for 7years now replacing bulbs every 6months like clock work. Ive swapped from two SE's to One about a year ago because ive been changing so many 175's..ive noticed people are getting longer life outa 250's and even 400's at that. I also dont like hanging the fixture @ 9" it probally didnt help my center brace Either. I am ready for something different and believe this Vertex and radium will be plenty for what i want to do...

 

i wouldnt do anything until you measure the par already used

 

I will be raising the 250 higher and the water line is also gonna be 3"-4" deeper.. Due to less sand and More water.

The 175 sits 10" off the water . The 250 will have to be probally 15-16"

The new tank is 21"tall and will have water @ a dept to 19" of water @waterline to top of a 2-3" sand bed.

The old one is 18"tall with water dept@ 13" of water @waterline to top sandbed

My sand bed is going from 4-5" to 3" with the Corals a little lower so they can grow out and up...



I dont hink i can get a par meter... A fish plac eby me i think rents them .. Im not shure ,,If i do borrow/Rent one ill test the 175 first then the 250... I know the 175 is only lasting about 7months tops i usually change them @ 5-6months becasue about the 7th they shift or Burn out fast beyond that because of the ballast runing them Over 175watts.

I decided to get The 250 and eletronic ballast when my 175 ballast smoked on a Hot day with a fan over it.

Ive read so much on how the Radiums are pretty long lasting on the right ballast .

I figured since my water is gonna be 3-4" deeper and there is actually more Surface area to cover with light now , i needed to do something..
Then the fact my M75ballst is frying bulbs and its self.

I had Two 175's on the same tank but went to a single to save on watts.. All i did was remount and lower the single 175.. If i went back to two 175s im mearly wasting money again. Then it would be too much light compared to a single 250....

Using a single 175 again would definatly be less bright than it is now since my tank is gonna be 4 more inches deeper the way it will be set up. Then it may not penatrate as i wish.

Using the 250 should keep the light level close .. Im shure ill need to screen my tank and use limited time to let things adjust..


Well see.

 

Bump,,

250Radium was on back order last week.. ill have to call and see if they shipped yet. I told em i could wait a week ,that was a week ago lol

Its tough being nice sometimes;D.

JUST WAITING FOR THE BULB, BALLEST LOOKS GREAT THOUHG.

 

Your going to have the lamps 15-16" off the water? Sounds like a waste to me!! Why do you have them so far? The PAR can't be all that high on the tank...

I have a buddy who had 175s on his 75. The were maybe 10" or so off the water, and the PAR was AWFUL!! Granted his corals had good color and grew but they grew slow, most of his tank was upper 100's...

On the other end of the spectrum I have seen tanks with 500's on the sand bed....
I would shoot for somewhere in between

 

dr frag. It's all about reflectors my friend. You know that! what kind of reflectors did you friend have. What brand of bulb. When I was running 175 watt iwasaki bulbs I had great growth in my 150. The only reason I changed at all was the fact that my 400 watt ballast was given to me by a friend. I decided to run that.