lighting a 36x37x18 cube

[semigodd154]

i would like to know if this will be sufficient comes to like $267 shipped after the RC sponsor discount tank will be mixed

CoralVue 250W Lumen Bright Complete MH Retro Kit
Size: LARGE (+ $5.00)
Ballast: non-dimmable
Bulb: Radium 20K (+ $23.95) this was supposed to be a link but it didnt work anyway it is from reef specialty any feedback would be appreciated thanks

[sirreal63]

More than enough but you may want to do some research on Radiums and electronic ballasts, not exactly the correct way to light one and you will have a more blue look and shortened life. It will light them and many people use electronic ballasts with 250 watt Radiums, but many people put catsup on eggs and think McDonalds is a great place to eat. :D

[semigodd154]

do you by chance have a recommendation for a better bulb the other options for this i believe are coralvue and what life expectancy can i expect out of the radium?

[sirreal63]

The Radium is in my experience, and many many others the best all around bulb for color and PAR. The second choice would be the Phoenix and as luck would have it, both of these are HQI bulbs and are properly run with the M80 magnetic ballast. You can run them with electronic, but the color is not correct and the PAR greatly reduced. That may not be as much of an issue with the LB reflector, and the tank you have, because it can take advantage of the spotlight that the LB is.

Some have claimed the life is reduced to 6 months, others have said 9 months. I don't know for sure as I use HQI ballasts. Running the Phoenix on HQI I usually change my bulbs at about 14 to 16 months, with the Radiums time will tell, but I expect a full year at the very least from them. That IMHO is the only issue with electronic ballasts, there are currently no MH bulbs designed from the start to be run by them. That of course does not mean they will not work, they do, but not correctly with all bulbs. Most SE bulbs work just fine with them, but HQI is different as they put out well over 300 watts to the bulb, so taking a 250 watt ballast and trying to run a bulb that was designed to run closer to 330 watts is not a good thing for the bulb.

[semigodd154]

well that sucks alot i may have to go with the lumenarc reflector and a phoenix grrr

[sirreal63]

I would still do the LB, no reason not to as it is the perfect choice for your tank.

[semigodd154]

i will go ahead with this reflector but what about the bulbs should i just let it run and eventually change the ballast?

[sirreal63]

I wish I could tell you what to do about ballast and bulb. There are so many different ways to set up that part. I have been through numerous bulbs, ballast and reflector combinations over the years. If I were going to do the Radium with electronic ballasts, I would use the LB reflector, the spotlight effect will help with the reduced PAR from the electronic ballast. If it were my choice, I would do the HQI ballast though, with either the Large LumenMax or the Large LumenArc to get the most even spread of PAR and drive the Radium correctly.

Your original plan is not a bad one, it will still provide plenty of light but with only 18" of height I would opt for a different reflector. I had it in my head that the tank was 27" high, not 18" and with that being the case, you will not need a spotlight to punch down the depth, but will want to spread the PAR out as evenly as possible. LB's can only do that if you raise them very high off the aquarium and can deal with the light spill.

[semigodd154]

also while i am thinking about it do you have or know anyone who has experience with the stunner strips i was thinking about 2 12" x 6w magenta and 12k and 2 12" x 6w magenta/actinic or should i do all 12k/magenta? To offset the blue of the radium and give a little pop.

[semigodd154]

I wish I could tell you what to do about ballast and bulb. There are so many different ways to set up that part. I have been through numerous bulbs, ballast and reflector combinations over the years. If I were going to do the Radium with electronic ballasts, I would use the LB reflector, the spotlight effect will help with the reduced PAR from the electronic ballast. If it were my choice, I would do the HQI ballast though, with either the Large LumenMax or the Large LumenArc to get the most even spread of PAR and drive the Radium correctly.

Your original plan is not a bad one, it will still provide plenty of light but with only 18" of height I would opt for a different reflector. I had it in my head that the tank was 27" high, not 18" and with that being the case, you will not need a spotlight to punch down the depth, but will want to spread the PAR out as evenly as possible. LB's can only do that if you raise them very high off the aquarium and can deal with the light spill.

light spill is a non issue i built a fishroom its a bit silly for a rimless tank but i wanted storage space and it turned out nice i think someday i will post pics lol

[sirreal63]

Light spill is only an issue when you consider it to be lost PAR. :-) As far as the stunner strips, good question, I haven't used them, but like the idea a lot, the ones I have seen do a great job.

Pics are always fun, I just did a build thread on our local reef club website, and may even do one here but after seeing so many build threads over the years, it seems pointless. lol Post a pic of the tank, here is mine, day three after the move to a different house. It has a long ways to go still but it is getting there.

A pair of 150 watt Radiums in LAIII Mini's
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v362/sirreal63/110%20DSA%20Pentagon/Build%20Pics/016.jpg

I still have sand to add, moving the Tunze's around and the suspended canopy to finish. All I need is time. :-)

[semigodd154]

gotcha on the par and that is a sweet tank gc or a different vendor? 3 days in and you are better stocked than i am my tank has been running in one form or another for over a year started as a 33l i have been tossing my lights and skimmer direction around forever and now am ready to pull the trigger

[sirreal63]

Deep Sea Aquatics, the tank has been up about 18 months, I think, I am old and my mind isn't as sharp these days. We just bought our retirement home, though neither of us are retiring any time soon. :-) The tank got moved during Christmas and has sat empty while I did other moving related things. The inhabitants sat idle in a temporary tank all that time. Some things did not do so well, a few corals tried to check out and my Yellow Tang stopped eating. I am going to have my hands full getting him fat and happy again.

Lights and skimmer are two of the things I have changed numerous times. Most of the changing was done in 2004 through 2006 when I dumped more money on the tank than I did food. Lessons learned the hard way. lol

[semigodd154]

yeah i hear ya i have 3 kids at home who eat like locusts so i am taking my time with this i did get my tank through glasscages $411 shipped and picked up in OK city so i couldnt complain and the tank turned out amazing compared to some reviews i have seen clean silicone work and all i picked it up dec 4th and just put it in place i designed and built the fish room without anything but their website description and it turned out nice i think

[sirreal63]

I have seen many GC tanks over the years, some people knock them but compared to Aqueon and Marineland, they build a better tank, just not always as pretty. If it helps you any, my tank is 40x40 and 17" high and two 150 watt halides light it just fine. I had a single 250 over it prior to the move and it was still ok, but the LumenArcs help make it work.

[semigodd154]

sounds like i still have a lot of comparison shopping to do lol i will get it done eventually

[semigodd154]

went ahead and ordered this the ballast will operate the bulb correctly and i went from the large reflector to the mini wide eliminate the light spill hopefully

CoralVue 250W Lumen Bright Complete MH Retro Kit
Size: Wide_mini
Ballast: Luxcore Dimmable (+ $15.00)
Bulb: Radium 20K (+ $17.00)

[sirreal63]

That is as close to a M80 ballast as an electronic ballast can get. Reef Specialty?

[semigodd154]

yes reef specialty they are a sponsor here the owner mike called me this morning after i emailed him last night and i described what i wanted and he did the business side of it for the same price as the setup that was not going to work great for me all in all i am well pleased

[sirreal63]

What's done is done, they don't sell M80 ballasts or LumenMax Large or LumenArc, so he sold you what he had, which is still a spotlight reflector on a shallow and wide tank with an electronic ballast. Be sure you raise it high off the tank, at least 24" and it will work. I would have gone a different way but there are many ways to do it. :-)

[austin93]

Looks like an interesting build. Do you have any pics of the tank and setup?

[semigodd154]

the original order was for a coralvue lumenbright large 20x20x9 the new order is for the coralvue mini wide it is on their website

[semigodd154]

Looks like an interesting build. Do you have any pics of the tank and setup?

i will post some photos when the new light gets here and i can figure out how to get them off my camera and on to the laptop lol

[austin93]

Any updates?

[kmu]

I got a Hamilton pendant 250 radium and lumatek ballast with great results on a 48x48x24 cube, much more brighter than the coralvue XL pendant with 400 coralvue ballast and 20k bulb I had before.

In other word I got much better coverage, brightness and color from a 250 watt Hamilton pendant and lumatek ballast (set to 250 only) Vs the 400 watt coralvue pendant/ballast


here is the 250 Hamilton pendant and lumatek ballast

http://i812.photobucket.com/albums/zz50/k-mus/20c37b3d.jpg


here is the coralvue pendant, 400 watt coralvue ballast

http://i812.photobucket.com/albums/zz50/k-mus/IMG_0095.jpg

[sirreal63]

A perfect example of the LB being a spotlight, it shows up very well. They are great if you have a tall tank and need to penetrate, but they blow for spread.