Best Electronic Ballast Kit

Found it! This is a reply that I got about lighting about a month or so ago.

"The best combo for a 2 lamp system would be Aquablue which is a 60/40 actinic daylight combo which is a very crisp white and a Blueplus which is very blue but not actinic. The Blueplus will fluoresce corals but it has a lot more visable light than actinics."

The site I found some of the best prices on ATA T5HO lamps is:

http://www.specialty-lights.com

They have a full line of the ATI bulbs at reasonable prices.

 

I have heard mostly bad things about that AquaTrader deal. $50 for 108W of T-5HO does seem to be pretty cheap...I hear it is because they ship direct from China and eliminate a lot of the middleman cost. Either way, I was considering these lights, and now that you say they are pretty good, I may give them more consideration. Do you know if the ballast is Programmable Start or Instant Start? What brand bulbs come with the fitting? Anything else?

Thanks,
Mike

 

They are Inexpensive. (I try not to use cheap, the implication is not always right).

Reflectors - Not parabolic, but they do seem effective. I pulled the bulbs out of the fixture and compared the light output with a photographic light meter and the difference was about 2.2 times brighter in the fixture.

Bulbs - I have not actually looked at the brand name, but will tonight.

Ballast - Electronic, instant on, no controls.

About 6 ft. of cord from fixture to ballast and another 4 ft or so from ballast to line plug.

heat - they get warm but not so you cannot comfortably lay your hand on them.

the fixture has a clear plexi cover on the bottom, so it is easy to slip out and clean spray accumulation off of it.

All in all, I will repeat that I, for one am quite pleased. Will probably end up buying a second fixture if I think I need more light.

Mike

 

Glad to have your opinion on them. I will let you know what I end up going with!

Thanks again!
-Mike

 

Well, after a bit of research, I think I am gonna go for the retrofit kit on reefgeek.com

http://www.reefgeek.com/products/categories/lighting/104068.html

Greg (at reefgeek) was a great help and was very speedy in replying to my questions! Also, the price of $329 includes the price of the 4 bulbs, so thats an added benefit. I will keep you all updated on my venture into the T5 market...I look forward to getting some nice looking colors and corals in my new tank!

-Mike

 

PC's and VHO's are similar in output. Watt for watt, they are interchangeable. The T-5's are fine, too. Basically, fluorescent bulbs are more alike that different. The big difference is the quality of reflector. VHO's are old-school, so you aren't likely to find good reflectors for them. T-5's are in vogue right now, so they all come with very good reflectors. PC's run the range, but the link I posted sells very nice reflectors.

Like I said, I think the PC's are the best buy. I don't know anyplace where you can get a good deal on T-5 bulbs yet. And PC's are half the length per Watt ... so you can save on shipping.

 

http://www.hellolights.com/2x96wcfbalki.html
Has anyone used this ballast kit? I was considering to buy one. Just need some input before purchase. Thanks , Danny

 

I will be adding it to my new DIY cannopy with the orbit light. Just need some input on the Ballast. Should i buy it or go with something diffrent?