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Re: More Zoo Med Stuff
Cavan <millsman7 at yahoo_com> wrote:
> Erik and Ivo, are you saying that the Zoo Med bulbs
> are the "real" T8 bulbs (slightly lower wattage per
> bulb that length than for T12s) that only work with an
> electronic ballast? I thought I remembered somebody
> saying that a Zoo Med person said the bulbs will just
> take longer to warm up.
>
Sorry, Cavan, I can't answer that since I have no experience
whatsoever with those bulbs. Hope they are as good as they
promise to be !
> You can get an electronic ballast for around 20 bucks?
> How good are these in relation to Ice Cap and other
> expen$ive ballasts? Will the ones you mention work
> with T12 bulbs as well, or only T8s?
I was looking for either Philips or Osram/Sylvania ballasts.
With sligth preference for the Osram/Sylvania, since they offer
a sligthly larger maximum ballast factor. These ballasts cannot
drive T12 bulbs. Why care, since T12 technology is dying anyway ?
I am not looking for, and will try to avoid, brands that either do not
provide enough technical data on their products and/or are connected
in some way to the aquarium market. I think I minimize the chances of
being ripped off.
I just looked into the Osram/Sylvania we site (http://www.sylvania.com).
Click on the "store locator" button, enter your zip code, and get
the addresses of distributors at your location. The first one
I called had the QT3X23PLUS for $22.13 apiece. Lower price if bougth
in larger quantities. These are supposed to be excellent ballasts; they
are inexpensive just because they are made in *huge* quantities, and not
directed to the aquarium market. For instance, the Osram/Sylvania web site
carries advertising material which describes, among others, a single office
building in Chicago that was entirely relamped using this ballast, about
7,000 of them. Things like this are enough for me to trust the brand.
In the unlikely event the ballast turns out to be crap, I can just try
a Philips one with minimal loss.
> How good are the bulbs themselves as far as things we
> usually look for? 5500k, 6500k, or 8500k(I already
> have a Triton. Does this make any difference)
> Thanks again guys.
I whish I knew; as I said, I don't know anything about these bulbs.
Hope someone else can fill the void ?
- Ivo Busko
Baltimore, MD