Cali Kid Corals

M58 ballast.

I have this Aquactinics fixture basically new; besides firing two Iwasaki bulbs for a tank shot, it has seen no action.
Took it home to place it over my tank, installed two T5, two brand new Radiums BUT THEY DON'T FIRE !!! I'm so frustrated.
Ballast is the stock M58. I just placed back the Tek fixture and stored the MH away maybe for couple years more.
 
M58 is a probe start ballast and will not fire a Radium, a pulse start ballast will fire a Radium, however it will underdrive the bulb so you will not have the whiteness that you do on an HQI and your bulb life is significantly reduced.

For an M58 you may want to look into XMs or Ushios they both are designed to be run on M58s
 
What can I say Jeremy... it sucks; having both, bulbs and fixture new and not being able to use them. I don't want to perform surgery on the ballast unit
The fixture has been in hibernation and goes back into the basement; I might go back to my DIY canopy and couple Hamilton 14K@175W with electronic ballasts.
I like the shimmering effect of the MH and wanted to try the Radiums. :(
 
I love electronics. They fire just about everything in case you change your mind. They may not overdrive them but I always check the PAR values on bulbs to make sure I have enough lighting
 
hiepatitis said:
I love electronics. They fire just about everything in case you change your mind. They may not overdrive them but I always check the PAR values on bulbs to make sure I have enough lighting


+1 they are what I use 90% of the time.
 
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