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Kevin 
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Joined: September 12 2002
Location: Pleasant Grove
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 Topic: Metal Halide Opinions/Help
Posted: March 12 2003 at 7:20pm |
In my quest for a Reef Tank I have finally come to the conclusion that Metal Halides are the way I should go if I am going to have the corals and critters I want to have. Now my delma is deciding on which ballast is best to buy. This is where I want differing experiences and opinions. Basically I am trying to decide between going cheap and wiring my own ballast and everything or buying the Cool Touch Dual 250 Ballast that Ryan Willden was bragging about. (http://www.cooltouchlighting.com/productDetails.asp?parm=85) The Cool Touch Ballast on ebay I can get for 145$( without reflector) or $180( with reflector) and 35$ shipping and it comes fully assembled ready to go with a 5 year warenty. The cheapo ballast I don't know how much it would cost for everything or how long it would even last. I don't know if I would end up regretting my decision. I dont have much money and I don't want to waste it. Isn't that the way we all are. So your opinions are welcome. What have you done and what would you recommend? Thanks in advance for your input.
Kevin
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Jeff Hite
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Joined: March 02 2003
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Posted: March 12 2003 at 7:43pm |
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IMO, go to Marine depot, get the Ice Cap electronic ballast. For $124 you cant possibly go wrong. Its small, uses a lot less power, runs soooooooo cool, burn bulbs brighter. I have an electronic ballast (for lampsnow.com), and it burns the bulbs way brighter that the tar ballast I have does. After I purchased the lampsnow ballast, I noticed the Ice Cap was cheaper and was cussing all night. Bad thing is the price, but they are about $100 cheaper than they were 2 years ago.
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jfinch
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Joined: March 06 2003
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Posted: March 12 2003 at 7:54pm |
Wow! that's a pretty good price. If I were doing this diy these are costs I'd be looking at:
250 W MH ballasts - 2 X $50 = $100
Sockets/hangers/box/switch/ect - $50
plus tax (bought locally)
You probably won't find a better price. Great find!
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KeoDog
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Posted: March 13 2003 at 8:50am |
jfinch, Where would you buy the ballasts and sockets locally? And would they sell to Joe public or do you have to have an account with them? Also what brand of ballasts are you talking about.
The reason I ask is I need 3 more 175w ballasts to complete my setup. I got my first magnetic ballast from www.hellolights.com with spider reflector and socket for $99 plus shipping. no tax. It would have been cheaper but I need the pulse start ballast to light the Ushio bulbs I'm going to use.
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Kevin Kunz (Sandy, UT)
300g reef
"A trade by which one gains and the other loses is a fraud." Ayn Rand
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dmanshep
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Joined: October 11 2002
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Posted: March 13 2003 at 8:56am |
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Here's my opinion... Cool touch lighting ballasts are high quality and the reflectors are way sweet... I bought the dual 250's with reflectors and it's the total bomb... Ryan Wilden has the same kit and as far as I know he's happy with it... My say is go with cooltouch they do good business...
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SSpargur
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Posted: March 13 2003 at 9:46am |
I personally bought mine from http://www.marinedepot.com and they are great. I got the Icecap 250 HQI versions for $124.00 each. I got the Spider Reflectors with the mogel base and the Aqualine Busch 10k bulbs. With 2 of those setups, I spent right around $525.
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jfinch
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Posted: March 13 2003 at 11:09am |
Quote: Originally posted by KeoDog on 13 March 2003
jfinch, Where would you buy the ballasts and sockets locally? And would they sell to Joe public or do you have to have an account with them? Also what brand of ballasts are you talking about.
The reason I ask is I need 3 more 175w ballasts to complete my setup. I got my first magnetic ballast from www.hellolights.com with spider reflector and socket for $99 plus shipping. no tax. It would have been cheaper but I need the pulse start ballast to light the Ushio bulbs I'm going to use.
I would buy them through my work. The purchasing agent here thinks they're from Westco. We pay about $47 for 250 W probe start ballasts. I would imagine Westco (or most any other electical supply company) would make a cash sale to you. Can't help you with the pulse start ballasts other then I think hellolights sells 'em for about $70 plus shipping.
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KeoDog
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Posted: March 13 2003 at 12:57pm |
jfinch, Actually I have called several places but they all required you have an account with them. I could buy the one I want thru a friends account for $67 (special order) or go with the one from hellolights for $62. Allways trying to find a better deal. Thanks.
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Kevin Kunz (Sandy, UT)
300g reef
"A trade by which one gains and the other loses is a fraud." Ayn Rand
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Ryan Willden
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Posted: March 16 2003 at 12:22am |
Kevin,
I can get anything Cooltouch sells on E-bay for $15-20 less, direct through them. Not much, but it's something. The E-bay part of their marketing plan is only temporary as they are planning on raising their prices to retail very soon. E-bay was a pilot for them to test the market for product demand. Let me know if you're interested. Nothing in it for me, just passing the savings on to you. You're welcome to come by and check mine out any time.
Ryan
801-856-5661
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