will changing my ballast make a difference?

[dannyd711]

I have been thinking about updating my lights for my 56gallon tank. Right now i have an aquatrader MH. It worked fine on my 29gallon with my lps and soft corals. Now that I am starting over and will be getting sps corals now. I want to update my light so my corals grow and show the best of their colors. I dont have the funds for a l.e.d system right now (maybe next year) After much thought I figure I can just put better quality parts into my existing light fixture.

The light comes with 2 65 pc lights I plan on getting rid of, and getting a excotic panorama led module.

I am going to replace the 250 mh bulb with a 250 watt Phoenix 14K bulb (heard alot of good things about it).

I dont really no what ballast to get of if I should even bother. Will a different ballast make a difference in the way the bulb looks and corals grow)

 

[THEDLO]

yes, but i dont know the bulb/ballasts combos, the a whole lighting section on the hompage that discusses this. hope that helped.

 

[reefs4life]

I have been thinking about updating my lights for my 56gallon tank. Right now i have an aquatrader MH. It worked fine on my 29gallon with my lps and soft corals. Now that I am starting over and will be getting sps corals now. I want to update my light so my corals grow and show the best of their colors. I dont have the funds for a l.e.d system right now (maybe next year) After much thought I figure I can just put better quality parts into my existing light fixture.

The light comes with 2 65 pc lights I plan on getting rid of, and getting a excotic panorama led module.

I am going to replace the 250 mh bulb with a 250 watt Phoenix 14K bulb (heard alot of good things about it).

I dont really no what ballast to get of if I should even bother. Will a different ballast make a difference in the way the bulb looks and corals grow)

I have the aquatrader units as well, I left the pcs the way they are because all i use them for are for dawn and dusk effect. As far as the mh ballast goes the easiest swap is to buy icecap ballasts they have the same connector as the aquatrader ballasts so you simply unplug the aquatrader one and plug in the icecap one. I run 3 of those setups, 250w 14k phoenix on icecap ballasts and it works great. IMO you dont even have to waste money one the panaroma led because the phoenix are blue enough

 

[dannyd711]

I have the aquatrader units as well, I left the pcs the way they are because all i use them for are for dawn and dusk effect. As far as the mh ballast goes the easiest swap is to buy icecap ballasts they have the same connector as the aquatrader ballasts so you simply unplug the aquatrader one and plug in the icecap one. I run 3 of those setups, 250w 14k phoenix on icecap ballasts and it works great. IMO you dont even have to waste money one the panaroma led because the phoenix are blue enough

Do you keep the pc lights on when the mh is on or are they set to turn off when the mh comes on?

 

[reefs4life]

Do you keep the pc lights on when the mh is on or are they set to turn off when the mh comes on?

Yeah I have mine set to go on 2 hours before my mh lights go on and then off once the mhs are on and then they go on for antoher two hours once the mhs are about to turn off

 

[Master Shake]

changing the ballast will make a difference, its the difference between having a hdmi cable or an old video outbut cable( i dont know the name but the red, white and yellow plugs for dvd players, game systems etc.) Even tho you may have a great bulb or reflector(tv) you need something good to get the power needed to the bulb(hdmi). And any ballast should work for pretty much any bulb just as long as the wattage output is the same

 

[reefs4life]

changing the ballast will make a difference, its the difference between having a hdmi cable or an old video outbut cable( i dont know the name but the red, white and yellow plugs for dvd players, game systems etc.) Even tho you may have a great bulb or reflector(tv) you need something good to get the power needed to the bulb(hdmi). And any ballast should work for pretty much any bulb just as long as the wattage output is the same

The name is a component cable lol and aquatrader bulbs don't work with brand name bulbs


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