M57 Ballast: Which brand single ended bulb would be best?

[wannabeeareefkeeper]

I have to purchase two new single ended; [SE] lamps for a light I recently purchased. I've opened the housing to find that there are two 175 Watt Sola Basic M57 ballasts. I am currently looking at either the Ushio or Iwasaki Mogul Lamps [175 watt bulbs].

Are these brands of bulbs overkill for my current setup? I'm trying to maximize my dollars to go towards the mogul lamps that would be best suited for my setup. I want to eventually grow SPS corals in my 120 gallon aquarium. I'm still in the pre-planning arrangement; so your help is requested in determining the right lamps to purchase.

Please post any experiences you have related to metal halide lighting. A brief history of your tank size, etc. would be appreciated.


Wannabee

 

[acroholic]

I would replace the two 175 watt ballasts with either a couple 250 watt Lumatek or Galaxy eballasts, or Aqua-Medic M80 250 watt magnetic ballasts. If you want an all-in-one bulb not requiring any T5 supplementation, I'd recommend the Radium 250 watt SE bulb.

I'd recommend you go with the AquaMedic M80s if you choose Radiums, as that is the type of ballast (M80) specified by Radium for their 250 watt SE bulbs. Galaxy and Lumatek will run them as well, but the rendition is a bit different, brighter.

You can also buy Hamilton M80 magnetic ballasts, but the Aqua-Medics are half the price. I have Hamilton M135 magnetic ballasts over my 465 gallon tank, which are the ballasts (M135) specified by Radium for their 400 watt SE bulbs. I might have bought the Aqua-Medic Reeflex M135 cube ballast, but didn't know their was such a huge price difference.

There are not a lot of bulb choices in 175 watt range, no Radiums at all, and two 250s over a 120 is perfect for your tank. Personally, I would not use a 175 watt bulb.

AM Reeflex Cube M80 250 watt. I have seen them online or as little as $60 each, so a google search might get you better prices than the listing below:

 

[nickg]

+1 on going 250 watt.