will need input from everyone.. please help..

surfn

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Azurel said:
I really like my Hamilton 14k 250...I have been told they aren't that good for par but I really like the icy bright white/blue color and all of my zoanthids look good and I have had great growth.....You guy's have seen some of my pictures....I think I would go with Hamilton again when I get a new bulb. Just my opinion though.

what kind of ballast are you running? only prob w/ marvins ballast, is that it is magnetic, will over drive the bulb, and IME the blue from the hamilton only lasts a month, then turns completely white.

twon8 also runs hamilton 14k's on another tank, absolutely love the color. but they may be on ice cap 400's (electronic)
 

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I am running an Icecap electronic ballast.....Mine has been icyblue since I fired it up.....I do need toget another one as this one has or is getting old....
 

surfn

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Azurel said:
I am running an Icecap electronic ballast.....Mine has been icyblue since I fired it up.....I do need toget another one as this one has or is getting old....

ahhh, yeah, that would make a big difference IMO. i saw one person get a 14k hamilton, 250s SE on a magnetic ballast. looked great for a month, then turned white. stayed white for a couple more months then turned yellow around 6months. bleached alot of stuff too during each change in spectrum (over a AGA 29g)
 

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This is going to sound like a stupid question but I've only had MH for less than a year so be nice.....how do you know if your ballast is electronic or magnetic? I have a dual 250W PFO ballast but have no idea which that is. I am running into the same questions as I am running 15K XM bulbs but they are old (age unknown as I bought the set-up used and though the guy told me the bulbs were brand new I have my doubts) approximately 9 months old if they were new when I got them. I want to replace my bulb but have no idea what bulb would work best....not to hijack the thread but it seems that there is a good exchange of info going on about this and I wanted your opinion on what works best.
 

surfn

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no problem. in my local club, there are ALOT of DIY guru's, and engineering students and professors with reef tanks. so its kinda a listen/watch and learn kinda thing for me with this technical stuff.

Karen, can you look on the ballast for any tags/stamps on it anywhere? all ballasts have a tag with a bunch of numbrs/codes that identify what kind they are. IME, most people who have PFO ballasts have the electronic versions.

I have a PFO ballast, but it is an HQI type ballast b/c I am running a Radium bulb. Radium bulbs look like actinic only when run on electronic ballasts.
PFO%20HQI%20sticker.jpg
 

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The darn thing is very hard to read because there is a label that says 60HZ 120V but then the specifics are written in pen and have faded a lot but it appears to say 250MH-120V 2.5 x 2 whatever that means....wish it was more legible *grumble grumble*
 

surfn

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2.5x2 means it operates on 2.5amps per ballast (since yours is a double ballast).

all that really tells us is that it isn't an HQI. in my picture above, notice where it says my HQI ballast operates at 5.5amps. Radium bulbs require a higher amperage to fire the bulb b/c they are European bulbs (something about the voltage/freq of electrical systems in europe is different than in the US).

so your ballast could still either be a magnetic, or electronic. if its pretty light. I'd say its a electronic. If its really heavy, like a bowling ball...its magnetic.

another way to find out is to take the screws out of the sides and lift the panel up and take a picture. if its electronic, all there will be is circuit boards. if its magnetic, you'll see all kinds of strange bulky peices of metal tubes and stuff like you are looking on the inside of an old television set.

but I'd bet money you have an electronic ballast.
 
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I will try the XM 20K's.. will it turn a little white since my ballast is magnetic?

Marvin
 

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no, they are blue enough that i wouldnt think they would turn white even after 12months.

my only experience with the XM 20k so far, is that my girlfriend has the 175w SE bulb over a 15g tank. she also has a magnatic ballast (cheaper).

it was very bright from january until mid may, lost a bit of its intensity, but is still quite blue IMO and still looks great. i can tell it lost intensity b/c my purple digi (aka brown digi under all lights except actinic), turned brown, and some other sps pretty much stopped growing.

they give AMAZING color to everything except pink sps. the only thing i didnt like about them at first is the look of light blue sand, doesnt look very natural. but am used to it, and when i set up my zoa only tank at the end of the summer will choose XM 20k.

you should get ~8-10mos out of the bulb on the magnetic ballast. longer if you dont mind the drop in intensity.

come to think of it. one of my XM 15k bulbs turned yellow at the 8 month mark. the other kept the same color through month 10, but lost alot of intensity.
 
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I'll go with the XM 20K first, then try the XM 15K when it's time to change bulbs and decide which ones I like the best... :)

I'm finally reading my instruction manual for my camera for white balance.. LoLz.. so I'll still be able to catch the true color even though I have lots of blue with the 20K...

Marvin
 
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btw... how much should I expect to pay for 250w SE bulbs and how long do they normally last? can you guys suggest of a place to buy them online? again, my ballasts is 250w x 2 PFO magnetic but only will using one of them...

Thanks
Marvin
 

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From what I have seen it's anywhere form $50 to $100 bucks for a 250....I payed $65-70 for my Hamilton....
 
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Azurel said:
From what I have seen it's anywhere form $50 to $100 bucks for a 250....I payed $65-70 for my Hamilton....

great.. any recommendations where to look for first?

Marvin
 
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alright.. another question?

how much LS should I be putting in the 32g?

I got a guesstimate of 20lbs/inch..

I already have 20lbs coming from a local reefer... I figured, I'll buy another bag of dead aragonite sand and another black/white LS...

so, will total ~3" of sand bed... should be enough right?

Marvin
 

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I would say that will be enough....I figure if I have about a lbs per gallon roughly for live rock I'm not sure how they figure it for sand I would just go till you hit 3''.....I would also and I know this is short notice, is use some PVC stands for your live rock so it isn't sitting on the sand itself....I did this to my main display and have had no issues with any nuisance algae since...I had bryopsis and hair algae at one point so bad that I was about to give up....Not no more...IF you want to know more let me know I will tell you how I did it....It wasn't the normal way people use to make live rock stands....I don't like doing things the typical way sometimes and it has worked out perfectly.....
 
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