Halide help please.

[Krux]

Well i was able to sell my everquest account today for 275 dollars, not as much as i had hoped for, but its free money so hey, what the heck.


i was planning on using this money to buy some better lights for my system. i have looked on ebay, and there is a guy named opti1 who sells retro kits. there is currently a system for sale that is set at 189 with buy it now up. it is a pfo 175 ballast, a reflector, 2-24" Normal output flourescents, and of course all of the sockets and everything. the reflector is 24" long, which means i can make a canopy for my 29, and later if i get a 4 footer, i will still have room to put in a second setup if i want more light.

it also includes a 5600k bulb, and 4 zoomed flour. bulbs, 2-actinic and 2-10,000k.

i am inquiring about having one custom made for me with a 250 watt ballast and bulb, and i estimate that this will put the price around 250 or so.

my questions is, has anyone either bought a retro in the past from this guy, or bought one from someone else who offers this value or better. it seems to me that aside from the fact that it is not vho, which i would prefer for actinic lighting, this is a pretty solid deal.

also, if anyone has any skills at wiring and would like to help me do a diy thing and think we can do it for less, i would be more than happy to do that and then we could split the difference and spend it on beer, pizza, corals, whatever.

is it possible to get a reflector, ballast, wiring, bulb, as well as vho ballast, endcaps, and bulbs for around 250 anywhere to do a diy?

last option was to see if rick still had those used 250 watt halides he took down, but as he isnt working the next few weeks, it is going to be hard to get through to him. anyone know him on a more personal basis than i do?

payment for the eq character is coming in tomorrow, so the money will start burning a hole in my pocket. quick response is a must lest i impulse buy something and get ripped off!

thanks in advance.

[Krux]

i just got this pm from a guy on another board. i have been pricing systems, and it looks like i would spend about 350 to get a dual 250 watt setup. anyone think this is a deal i should jump on, or can we figure out how to do this for cheaper?


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Krux, I just noticed you are looking for a Dual 250 Halide. I have a Dual Coil and Cap Ballast, enclosed ina a watertight Electrical Box, Wire, to 2 mogul sockets. Have 2 12k Sunburst Bulbs, one is 3 months old the other is 5 weeks. I am asking $250 for the setup and would split shipping, if that interests you, I would ship bulbs seperately to avoid Breakage-Let me know

[DennisW]

Lighting is such a tuff choice. If it were me, I would go with two 250W, German 10K bulbs and two VHO, SuperActinic bulbs. I think you would be more happy with this "tried and true" setup versus, NO floursents and 5600K halide bulbs.

As far as prices go you can get a dual, 250W halide, PFO retrofit kit from Premium Aquatics for $239.85. This includes ballast, German 10K bulbs and 2 PFO (spider light like) reeflectors.

Then for VHO's, you could order from LampsNow. I have been running their electronic VHO ballast for a few years with absolutly NO problems!!! They work great and cost less than IceCaps. For $181.00 thru them, you get the ballast, 2 lamp wiring harness, two sets of three piece German endcaps (The best!) and two, 24" URI, VHO bulbs (SuperActinic). Seems like a fair deal and you dont need a reeflector with the URI bulbs as they are already built into the bulb.

The total not including shipping for the whole setup would be like, $420.85. This isnt THAT far off from the $350 deal.

Good Luck!
Dennis

PS: If you ask around on the boards, you should find someone to give you a LampsNow discount, coupon code. Its usually like 10 or 20 percent off I think.

[CatinHat]

Well you could always overdrive the NO tubes. Much cheaper than VHO with the same output. And zoomed tubes are great for overdriving because they are T8's.

[cwby416]

Opti1 is who I got my lights from on Ebay, I paid 250(after shipping) for his dual 250watt MH with dual NO actinics. you can upgrade from the 5,600k to a 10 k for like 20-30 bucks. I did have a couple balasts go out on me, but he was real good about replacing them and paying shipping both ways. He's a good guy to deal with!


~Randy~