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View Full Version : Looking to Increase Lighting! MH 400W!!!


Rouselb
02/26/2008, 02:13 PM
Alright, im tossing around the idea of bumping my lighting up FROM (3) 250W DE HQI fixtures (sunlight supply reeef optics and blue wave) TO 400W SE HQI. The question of the hour is, which 400 to go with. Im leaning towards Sunlight Supply Ballast and Pendant (LUMENMAX 2 & Blue Wave 1), with a SE Giesemann coral 10k bulb! The PPFD is 209 according to SanJays website. Any suggestions???

mpdharley
02/26/2008, 02:46 PM
I made the same switch a few months ago. I ended up going with the Coralvue 400watt electronic with Reeflux 12k bulbs (from PFO 250 watt DE with XM 20k bulbs).

The new combination is working great for me. The PPFD is lower, but several of my corals have responded with better/brighter colors and decent growth.

Rouselb
02/26/2008, 05:01 PM
Did you hang the new fixtures high and lower them over a month or so. I had a huge spike (Hair Algae) when i changed from 10k to 13k. I hope i can ease into this one better. I like the sunlight supply ballast, iv had mine for a few yrs, and they rock. Im thinking about using them on my frag tank, well one or two of them.

OranguTang
02/26/2008, 05:06 PM
I have a similar setup.

SS Galaxy 400w ballast and SS LumenMax 2 SE reflector, I am running a 20k XM currently and will most likely switch to 20k radium.

I would personally get the galaxy's over the blue wave.

mpdharley
02/26/2008, 05:45 PM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11949558#post11949558 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Rouselb
Did you hang the new fixtures high and lower them over a month or so. I had a huge spike (Hair Algae) when i changed from 10k to 13k. I hope i can ease into this one better. I like the sunlight supply ballast, iv had mine for a few yrs, and they rock. Im thinking about using them on my frag tank, well one or two of them.

I hung the new lights 14 inches above the water (the 250's were 9) and shortened the photo period to 6 hours (from 12) for 2 weeks. Then, once a week I would increase the photo period by 30 minutes. I did have a couple of corals I had to move, but everything made it okay.

They've been on their full photo period (10 hours) for about 2 months. So now, I'm going to start lowering the lights by 1/2 inch. I probably won't go below 12 inches though since I also want to watch the heat. With my tank and the way I have the room setup, I was able to remove my chiller.

Rouselb
02/26/2008, 06:49 PM
What made you go with the electronic ballast over the magnetic? From all the lighting info i have read, magnetic seems to give you more bang in the PPFD, but cost a little more to run day in and day out.

mpdharley
02/26/2008, 07:16 PM
A big part of it was a TOTM that was running the exact setup I ended up buying.

Also, while talking to him, he made a comment that made a lot of sense to me and that was the best things to do was to match the bulb to the ballast. In this case, the same company makes both the bulb and the ballast.

Plus I've always preferred electronics to magnetic. It helps to balance what I can give to the tank and finances.