JBJ Bulbs

[Fliger]

Forgive me if this has already been asked. But why does JBJ use 24W bulb when the standard bulb is 28W. I was told by a vendor that the ballast in a JBJ will fire a 28W bulb. And that the ballast overdrives the supplied 24W bulb.

 

Also, has anyone tested these bulbs? I also asked about quality of bulbs and he said there is an absolute difference. As a large tank owner, I test MH bulb all the time. Are the JBJ bulbs up to snuff?

 

Just wondering.

 

Oh, BTW, a big thanks to Chris at nanocustoms who is building me a custom 4x 24W set-up to house some of more exotics. I have a few high dollar acans/lords/purple, red and orange Yumas going in there. Can't wait!

[Pet-Lover]

i thihnk they just want more money and it wont fit... like only a 9 watt and a 13 watt can fit

[rocko]

I also want to hear comments on whether JBJ NC can drive 28W bulb. Tagging along.

[ccjung]

The ballast in a JBJ NC 12 is a PONY 226 and will drive a CFL 18/24/27w bulb only. It will not drive a 28w 4 Pin bulb. The vendor is mistaken.

 

The 27w Bulb is "nice" but its a shorter fatter, T6 format.

 

The main bulb manufacturers for the 24w format are the following

 

JBJ

Realux

Helios

Aqua Medic

Jalli

 

The JBJ stock bulbs are a 10000K Daylight/7100K Blue (basically white with a blue filter)

 

I havent taken recent lux readings, but the realux bulbs slightly outperform the JBJ from what I remember.

 

The 28w Format would have to be driven by a WH family of ballasts to work correctly and their format may be slightly longer with endcaps.

 

hope this helps

 

Chris

[Fliger]

Thanks Chris. The vendor was hellolights, he said that they tried a 28W bulb and it fired. Who knows, go figure.

 

Thanks for the info - can't wait to get the cube.

[Pet-Lover]

probably they want more money because the ballast probably can only hold up to 24 watts.

[ccjung]

The thing about bulbs is that the rating is a "recommended" rating from the bulb manufacturer. Ultimately its the ballast that dictates how much power is seen by the bulb.

 

The Fulhams "autosense" the bulbs and apply the voltage based on the inductance of the PC bulb.

 

Hellolights may have been referring to the 28w Retro that they offer, but who knows..

 

Chris

[cannondale]

as far as your experience goes what do you suggest for a stock 12dx? two 50/50 realux or 50/50 jbj's?

thanks

[ccjung]

Cannondale, if you are sticking with a Stock 12g DX, i recommend sticking with the JBJ bulbs. The thing to bear in mind is that both the JBJ and Realux are "blue tinted" bulbs, meaning there is little to no actinic content in them (420-470nm Light). For the ultimate in coral health, id recommend 1 Actinic Blue bulb and 1 Daylight or 50/50.

 

I ran a stock DX for a while and was impressed by the way my corals looked under them.. It wasnt until i added Actinic lighting that I saw the corals really become more vibrant.

 

I rarely "push" a sale, so I think in a stock configuration, the JBJ bulbs will do just fine.. In a modded cube however, I would recommend a good mix of 30-40% actinic light and the rest to taste..

 

The Realux bulbs are nice, but I noticed that they have more of an "aqua" blue look to them than the stock JBJs, which seem to produce an "ice white" look.

 

Chris

[Web Guy]

Chris, post or pm me some links to bulb upgrades. Looking for a nice Daylight and Actinic or a combo set up that works better. Let me know!

 

Thanks,

Jason Webb