which setup

[leaffish75]

Which ballast will be the best?
http://www.reefgeek.com/products/categories/lighting/104247.html

or

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=4363356043&ssPage Name=STRK:MEWA:IT

or

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4364053025&fromMakeTra ck=true

[jaded]

are you only looking into magentic ballasts?

[leaffish75]

yeah. Electric are a extra $100+ and its not in my budget. plus I have been reading that they dont drive the bulbs as well as the magnetic ones.
i found this site that has some nice setups.
www.aquauniverse.com

[jaded]

electronic are more cost effective in the long run because they don't "over" run the bulb.. you can get a year out of a bulb on electronic were your lucky to get half that on the magnetic... or at least thats what my research has told me.

You will get a greater PAR rating from magnetic, but if cost is an issue then you may be wise to consider the cost of changing those bulbs every 6 months. Check with Greg (360Reef) you may be surprised at the deal

if im reading the prices right at the link you provided it looks like that mag ballast is $60, while the hellolighting ballast (http://www.hellolights.com/aroelba2meha.html) (ARO Elec) is $105. For less than the cost of a bulb you will have all future bulbs last twice as long

[jaded]

just my 2¢

[leaffish75]

if foun a site with a decent deal. its the EVC ballast (electric) with socket and bulb for about $160. Ill just order two of them.

[fiji2000]

I have been running the sunlight ballast for about two months now. However they are 250 DE magnetic. So far I love them. They are extremely high quality and don’t run nearly as hot as I thought they would, and no noise. Which you may find written in many post.

[RobertG]

What is in your budget? The electric ballast have dropped my bill considerably. 40-50$ monthly. 450-500$ a year will really help me out in the longrun.

If you can really it would be worth it. Have you checked with Greg @ 360Reefs.

He is a member here. A great wholesaler aswell. I have 4 pendants 250W electronic ballast. They are Coralvue. I cant be more pleased!

Good luck!

Another thought your lights is one of if not the most important purchase. I have learned to just spend it first or I end up kicking my own Arse. My .02$ worth.

[jaded]

I'm with Robert on this one... I lost everything in my 55 because I cut corners in the beginning! It took a long time kill everything, but in the end no matter what I did, how much time I put into it I just couldn't make up for my lack of good lighting (water changes dont do much for that)

I'd personally talk to 360reef before pulling the trigger, but thats just me

[Tim Marvin]

They are all advanced ballast. Probably M-58. SO depends on how much you want to pay for the packaging.

[RobertG]

They are all advanced ballast. Probably M-58. SO depends on how much you want to pay for the packaging.

Tim are the M58 ballast the same ones you & I have? I thought those were magnetic ballast, not electronic.

Tim came over to my house after a long time not been by. He was wondering what I was doing different, Nothing. Just those new lights. The coloring of the corals is great. The growth rates took off. I had Geissmann pendants before, they were nice looking but however did not have the punch. Also they were magnetic. My bill was in the upper 300$ year round. Now they are in the low 3's. Works for me.

I bought the best lights I thought I could. They were'nt cheap at all. After seeing these I changed my tune about geissmann. 1500+ later.... then another 500 later for another one. :sick :sick :sick
Then me & Greg got together. I am much happier, If you are in the area you are welcome to stop by just pm me or something.

[Tim Marvin]

No we have electronic ballast Robert. I am refering to the three sites he posted at the start of the thread.

[brewercm]

I know I've posted this before but I just think their prices are great.

http://www.oceanencounter.com/

[leaffish75]

I decided to go with the ballast from oceanencounters (the above posted link)

[RobertG]

Cool!