Questions going from T5 to MH...

[Eric The Red]

I've been running an older 8 bulb T5 fixture over my 90G for a while now and I need more light to support my colored stick addiction!! The fixture is older and doesn't have individual reflectors. I've had the PAR measured and its only260 about 6" below the surface. Since my tank is mostly sps I'd really like to replace the fixture and, unless someone is selling an ATI 8-bulb Powermodule for around $400, I'm probably going to go MH. (Please don't suggest LED's, I know too many people that are not happy with their results.)

I've never had MH's before and am trying to learn as much as I can before buying. I know what the compenents are but I don't know what is good or not. As an example; a friend of a friend is selling 2 Aquamedic 250 pendants and 2 Aquamedic Reeflex Cube HGI Magnetic ballasts for $350. The pendants come with 20k bulbs that are only 3-4 months old (I don't know what kind of bulbs yet.)

From what I'm learning about ballast's it seems like some ballasts are muuuch better than others.

Here are my first questions; what do you know about these Aquamedic products? Are they decent and does this seem like a good price?


Next, I'm thinking about retrofitting either 2 T5's or 2 VHO's in my canopy to supplement. I realize that the higher kelvin rated MH bulbs give off more blue so I'm wondering if I should stay with the 20k bulbs with no T5's (or VHO's) or go with something like a 10k or 12k MH and add a 454nm & 420nm flourescent? What are the advantages/disadvantages.

If my train of thought is off, please let me know. I'm a "MH newbie" :spin2:

Any other advice would be welcomed too !

[James77]

The AquaMedics are good ballasts, but they will overdrive some bulbs but run others at the right wattage. Radium and Phoenix bulbs run best on them. It being a good price would depend on the quality of the reflectors. Here are some kits here that add up quickly as you add better equipment:

http://www.aquacave.com/Metal-Halide-Retro-Kits-C261.aspx

The ballast itself is $120 brand new plus shipping. You could find higher end reflectors like lumenarc or lumenmax used here for maybe $75 and new bulbs for $65 ish. So for $260 you could have a better reflector and brand new bulb....

You could also look into LED actinic for supplements to the halides, I have them and they are far better and cheaper to run than T5s or VHOs. I dont like LEDs as the main source of lighting, but they pop well with the blue LEDs.

Instead of PowerModule, look around for SunPower new or used. Performs just as well as the Powermodule at a big chunk $ less.

[Eric The Red]

The AquaMedics are good ballasts, but they will overdrive some bulbs but run others at the right wattage. Radium and Phoenix bulbs run best on them. It being a good price would depend on the quality of the reflectors. Here are some kits here that add up quickly as you add better equipment:

http://www.aquacave.com/Metal-Halide-Retro-Kits-C261.aspx

The ballast itself is $120 brand new plus shipping. You could find higher end reflectors like lumenarc or lumenmax used here for maybe $75 and new bulbs for $65 ish. So for $260 you could have a better reflector and brand new bulb....

You could also look into LED actinic for supplements to the halides, I have them and they are far better and cheaper to run than T5s or VHOs. I dont like LEDs as the main source of lighting, but they pop well with the blue LEDs.

.

Thanks for the tips!

I never thought of LED's instead of the T5's for supplementation. They sure do "pop" the best!! If I was going to have 2X250 MH's over my standard 90G, how many and what kind of LED's would you recommend?

One more question; in my initial research it seems that DE has better output and is more efficient than moguls, is that corect?

[James77]

It can be, but the required uv glass for the de bulbs pretty much makes it a wash. Coverage can be a bit better IME since the large base on the mogul/SE bulb can take up alot of reflector space especially on a smaller reflector.

I use reefbrite LEDs, a single 36" blue fully covers my 120g tank which is 6 inches wider/deeper than a 90. The price will make you choke at $200, but each vho is 30 bucks and need replacing 2x a year. I use the reefbrite XHO which has 50% more LEDs and 50% more price. Not worth it IMO, I would go for the regular ones were I to do it again.

[sirreal63]

I would buy your friends setup, you can always switch to better reflectors in the future. I really like my Reeflex cube ballasts, they are actively cooled and are designed brilliantly. I agree with using LED's for actintic supplementation. I just hooked up some EcoXotic ones to mellow my 10K bulbs and they did the trick. I suspect the bulbs in the AquaMedic fixtures are double ended butt hat is no worry, the Phoenix 14K is an awesome bulb for it.

[Eric The Red]

It can be, but the required uv glass for the de bulbs pretty much makes it a wash. Coverage can be a bit better IME since the large base on the mogul/SE bulb can take up alot of reflector space especially on a smaller reflector.

I use reefbrite LEDs, a single 36" blue fully covers my 120g tank which is 6 inches wider/deeper than a 90. The price will make you choke at $200, but each vho is 30 bucks and need replacing 2x a year. I use the reefbrite XHO which has 50% more LEDs and 50% more price. Not worth it IMO, I would go for the regular ones were I to do it again.


Yeah, well considering the retro kit for the VHO is $80 plus another $60 for 2 bulbs, I'm walking in the door at $140...so I'd break even in 12 months on the LED's :)

[Eric The Red]

I would buy your friends setup, you can always switch to better reflectors in the future. I really like my Reeflex cube ballasts, they are actively cooled and are designed brilliantly. I agree with using LED's for actintic supplementation. I just hooked up some EcoXotic ones to mellow my 10K bulbs and they did the trick. I suspect the bulbs in the AquaMedic fixtures are double ended butt hat is no worry, the Phoenix 14K is an awesome bulb for it.

Do you think the 14k bulbs w/ LEDS would be too blue? Would you recommend a 10k or 12k MH...?

[sirreal63]

There is no way to answer that, I like less blue and some prefer it to look like Windex in the tank. The Phoenix, run with the Reeflex M80 ballast is not too blue to me, but it may be to you. I prefer the Radium but the Phoenix is very close, just a bit more washed out looking than the Radium. I can't stand it to be very blue, but I have no idea what you would like. My favorite color combo was 10K bulbs and VHO SuperActintics but the LED's come pretty close. I used the 445nm and actually like the color, but will add another Panorama Pro strip to the mix. It is hard to overcome the 10k Ushio's.

[Eric The Red]

There is no way to answer that, I like less blue and some prefer it to look like Windex in the tank. The Phoenix, run with the Reeflex M80 ballast is not too blue to me, but it may be to you. I prefer the Radium but the Phoenix is very close, just a bit more washed out looking than the Radium. I can't stand it to be very blue, but I have no idea what you would like. My favorite color combo was 10K bulbs and VHO SuperActintics but the LED's come pretty close. I used the 445nm and actually like the color, but will add another Panorama Pro strip to the mix. It is hard to overcome the 10k Ushio's.

That's true, color choice is a personal preference. Here's another question; how many ecoxotic strips do you have in your tank? Do you suggest 1 or 2 over my 90G?

I'm also wondering if anyone knows the pros/cons of going with a Reefbrite LED fixture ($220 for a 36") or the Ecoxotic ($100 for a 48")...?

[sirreal63]

I have one Panorama Pro and one 24" Stunner. I would look around, the ReefBrite may be a better choice, I had space constraints to deal with that you will not. It isn't exactly cheap, after power supply, splitter and dimmer it was close to $200 and I will probably replace the stunner with another Pro, if I can squeeze it in.

[Eric The Red]

Thanks guys, you've been a big help !!
I'm going to skip the VHO's and go with the LED's.

[Eric The Red]

I use reefbrite LEDs, a single 36" blue fully covers my 120g tank which is 6 inches wider/deeper than a 90. The price will make you choke at $200, but each vho is 30 bucks and need replacing 2x a year. I use the reefbrite XHO which has 50% more LEDs and 50% more price. Not worth it IMO, I would go for the regular ones were I to do it again.

I took your advice and went with the Reefbrights. I originally went with the regular but then returned them nand went with the XHO's. There was a only a slight difference when the MH's were on but the tank was too dark during dawn/dusk use of the LED's only.

Mission accomplished :) I can control the heat quite well with only a 7" clip-on fan hooked up to my controller.

Since the MH's have been up for the last several weeks I've noticed many of my sps turn colors I'd never seen before. My Emerald City table is finally green!!! I've also noticed much better pe in almost all coral (sps on down to softies).

My nextstep is to upgrade these cruddy reflectors. I don't know much about the specific brands and which is the best. I'd like to get the best ones and not need to worry about upgrading later. I would need something that can be mounted inside of my canopy. My tank is a standard 90G (48x18x25) and the bottom of the inside canopy is 14.5" above the waterline. So essentially I need something less than 18" wide and no more than 8 or 9" deep so they won't be too close to the water. A friend has Lumen Brights that are 16x16x7 but, if possible, I'd prefer something that wasn't as wide.

So I would like one that:
1) can mount in a canopy (would I need to mod something?)
2) be less than 18"x9" (but preferably smaller and also one that would give good spread being ~ 7" from the waterline)
3) will not need to be upgraded :)

The next thing I'm cluless about is whether I should go SE or DE. Presently I have an AquaMedic DE pendant and run an AquaMedic Reeflex Cube magnetic 250 ballast. If I get another reflector will I need to splice the power cord so they can plug into the ballasts...?

Thanks in advance for your input,