Radion and I broke up! Went back to my old girl, MH

[zemuss]

I was looking at the ReefBrite MH Hybrid system. Is that what you purchased?

 

[JBNY]

update.... i am extremely impressed with change. however the luxcore ballasts are completely subpar. i tried 3 different bulb brands and these ballasts flat out do not fire a 20k spectrum. needless to say i will be swapping them out soon.

i will start documenting coral progress shots so show the different....

side note i sold the radions over one of my prop systems as well and put a the (2) 175w Reefbrite MH over it... holy cow is those lights are amazing.

You can set the ballast to match the type of bulb? I found the Luxcore to be a pretty good ballast and I have a lot a ballasts including the magnetic old school ones to compare it to.

 

[kannon50]

You can set the ballast to match the type of bulb? I found the Luxcore to be a pretty good ballast and I have a lot a ballasts including the magnetic old school ones to compare it to.

Its all about efficiency, on how it fires the bulb. I borrowed a friend of mines Lumatek ballasts just to try it out to figure out exactly what the difference would be .... the Lumatek makes the Radium much more bluer than the Luxcore and gave me about 180+ par. I also tested out 250w radium bulb with the Luxcore and it put out about 150+ par than it did with the 400w. again back to efficiency... not saying the Luxcore is a bad ballast just saying that it doesnt perform how i expected it too

I was looking at the ReefBrite MH Hybrid system. Is that what you purchased?

i thought i was ordering the hybrid, i only wanted the Tech LED's so i figured if i didnt order the "Upgraded Leds" then the lights with come with Tech Leds.... not the case... 2 fixtures and 2 ballasts were $650. I plan on adding a DIY led strip to the front and the back in the next few weeks.

 

[zemuss]

So supplement with LED and not T5's?

 

[kannon50]

So supplement with LED and not T5's?

yeah i think the LEDs will give it more pop... your giving me something to think about tho lol ... 2 t5's might not be a bad idea lol

 

[JBNY]

Its all about efficiency, on how it fires the bulb. I borrowed a friend of mines Lumatek ballasts just to try it out to figure out exactly what the difference would be .... the Lumatek makes the Radium much more bluer than the Luxcore and gave me about 180+ par. I also tested out 250w radium bulb with the Luxcore and it put out about 150+ par than it did with the 400w. again back to efficiency... not saying the Luxcore is a bad ballast just saying that it doesnt perform how i expected it too

That is really weird. The more blue the radium is the less power it is getting from the ballast, so the less PAR you should get. But you found the opposite.

 

[zemuss]

Well it comes down to what your trying to do with the LED or T5's. Is it a supplement? Will they be on when the MH is turned off? If only a pop in color while the MH is off then stick with the leds.

Also 175 w or 250w for a 60 g cube?

 

[Jayellul]

Honestly, without even going into the 'cant grow coral' 'cant colour coral' debate, the light radions emit just looks **** IMO