Aquactinics 48" Fixture

[FastUno]

I am looking at your Aquactinics 48" Fixtures & have a few questions that I hope you can answer? I am looking for a combo set currently.

1-How is it that the fixture can sit directly on the tank & not raise the temp? How is this possible? Is it true for the 250W bulbs, as well as the 175W? Are you able to do this through the 2 fans & shield? Are you at all UNDER DRIVING via the ballast? Is lighting output compromised?

2-I heard your older fixtures fans were noisy. Do you now include the Icecap fans as a standar or is this extra?

3-How long are the T5 bulbs in your 4' fixture? 4 feet I hope? What wattage are they (54W or 39W)? What brand of bulb do you include (GE, ATI, Unknown)?

4-The ballast that you include. Is it one for the MH & the other for T5? Are they magnetic or electronic?

5-Am I able to start off with a 150MH bulb, then upgrade to 175, then to 250 at some point? Will different Watt bulbs work on your fixture?

6-Can you guys place a set of Moonlights if requested on your fixture?

Some of this info should really be on your site, so you do not get asked the same questions over & over. Typically people want to know more about a chunky purchase.

Thanks

[Aquactinics]

Originally posted by FastUno
I am looking at your Aquactinics 48" Fixtures & have a few questions that I hope you can answer? I am looking for a combo set currently.

1-How is it that the fixture can sit directly on the tank & not raise the temp? How is this possible? Is it true for the 250W bulbs, as well as the 175W? Are you able to do this through the 2 fans & shield? Are you at all UNDER DRIVING via the ballast? Is lighting output compromised?

Two basic principles. First, the way we designed the air flow through the fixture allows for no heat to build up in the fixture. Second, the materials we use help keep heat away from the outside of the fixture and most importantly away from the water. This is true for the 250W bulbs as well. There are however limitations. Example. Putting a 2 x 250W 36" fixture directly on top of a 30ga tank will raise tank temp, but you would never really need so much light for such a small tank. 2 x 175W 36" fixture would work great, even for SPS corals and would not really raise the temp. I have one of my 24" fixtures sitting directly on top of a 26ga bow front and it does not change the tank temp at all. A 2 x 250W 48" fixture on a 55ga tank might raise the tank temp 1/2 degree, but there are other variables to consider like room size, room temp, and tank temp. If the room that the tank is in is small and your using 250W bulbs, then it will warm up the room and indirectly warm up the water. This holds true to any MH system on the market. If you are ever unsure if an Aquactinics fixture can be used on your tank, please feel free to call or e-mail us. We will be happy to help out anyway we can.
We do not under drive any of our bulbs. The 175W bulbs run standard on 175W (M57) Venture Magnetic ballasts.

2-I heard your older fixtures fans were noisy. Do you now include the Icecap fans as a standar or is this extra?

It wasn't the fans that were noisy. The endcaps on my fixtures have a safety guard for the fans. The air passing through the old style endcaps created a noticeable humming sound. The new style (which all the fixtures now have) have taken care of most of the noise. There will always be noise from the fans, but not nearly as loud. Again, other factors come into play. If you have your tank in a small room or backed into a corner, then the sound of the fans might echo off the walls. The IceCap fans are an upgrade and can run a bit quieter.

3-How long are the T5 bulbs in your 4' fixture? 4 feet I hope? What wattage are they (54W or 39W)? What brand of bulb do you include (GE, ATI, Unknown)?

In all of my 48" fixtures there are 2 54W T5 HOs (yes about 46") In the 36" fixture there are 2 39W T5 HOs and in the 24" fixtures there are 2 24W T5 HOs. The standard T5 bulbs that come with the fixture are Blue+ Actinics The brand is D-D / ATI and some Coralvue. I also offer an upgrade to Pure Actinics ( ATI ). These bulbs along with my MH bulbs can also be purchased separately.

4-The ballast that you include. Is it one for the MH & the other for T5? Are they magnetic or electronic?

It's always one MH ballast per MH bulb. So, in the 48" fixtures, there are standard 2 magnetic MH ballasts and one Workhorse 5 T5 ballast. The Workhorse ballast is electronic. I do offer an upgrade to IceCap Electronic ballasts for the MH bulbs. Again, it would be one IceCap E-ballast per MH bulb.

5-Am I able to start off with a 150MH bulb, then upgrade to 175, then to 250 at some point? Will different Watt bulbs work on your fixture?

150W MH bulbs are Double Ended (DE). Currently all of the fixtures we offer use Single Ended (SE) MH bulbs. There is an advantage to using SE bulbs in our fixtures. Yes, you could start off with 2 175W MH bulbs and later upgrade to 2 250W MH bulbs. We offer an exchange upgrade program. Lets say you bought a 48" fixture with 2 x 175W MH bulbs and a year later you wanted to now go with the 2 x 250W MH bulbs. All that you would need to do is exchange the ballast box for the upgrade wattage ballast box and install new 250W MH bulbs. The same holds true for upgrading to 400W bulbs, except you would also need to upgrade the shield to tempered glass. Otherwise everything else stays the same.

6-Can you guys place a set of Moonlights if requested on your fixture?

Yes. We do offer an after-market upgrade by IceCap. They are a mogul mounted. All you would need to do is purchase the moonlights and we would be able to install them as no extra charge. You would have to plug in the external power supply to a plug in the back of the fixture.

Some of this info should really be on your site, so you do not get asked the same questions over & over. Typically people want to know more about a chunky purchase.

Thanks

Thank you for all your wonderful questions. Some of these were already answered on our FAQ page, but I will make sure to update it with more answered questions. If you have any other questions or if something wasn't clearly explained, please let me know.

Thank you,
Tom
Aquactinics
203-234-9286

[FastUno]

Thanks for clarifying things, well done!

I realize now that some of the questions were answered in the FAQ, but I did not make that discovery until after this post.

[billwarren]

I have a 300 gal reef tank

I have 2 of the 36" units running 2- 250 watt MH and the Actinic+ bulbs.
Fans are suprisingly quiet.

I was having problems with the water heating up because I have a closed canopy.
It had 2 lids on the top and no doors on the front which meant no air was flowing. The canopy is open in the back buy 3" from the wall.

Tom sent me 2 of the ice cap fans and I installed them yesterday.

I ran the lights 10hrs and there was NO increase in water temp.
The temp was 78 degrees when the lights went on and 78 degress 10 hr later when they went off.

I am a very happy reefer.

Now I can sell my chiller!

Bill Warren

[FastUno]

I think in a closed canopy the fans will definitely be quieter, mine are in the open. I do not like canopies, but prefer an open tank top.
I am sure that the fans will be noisier on top of my tank. In fact, I hear my damn PC fan right now, so annoying that this variable speed fan is. I would definitely go for the Icecap fans, for the piece of mind.

Also, I know many things can break, including a chiller. But just lets say hypothetically that one of the fans on a 48' fixture, for whatever unforeseen reason, stops working. With the fixture being directly on top of the tank & only 1 fan running, how much would the tank temp raise by? Now lets say the reef gods are really after you that day & both fans halted. I would probably consider connecting the MH to a temp sensor/relay & have them go off if temp raises above a certain amount. Just food for thought.

On another note, I really can't wait to see your DE fixtures. I would think this would reduce temp output a bit more & give reefers the ability to go lower wattage MH & save on electricity at the same time. I will not be gung ho on SPS's, but would like to keep some & perhaps add more over time. If they made a 175W DE I would definitely go for that. How close do you think a 150W DE bulb can compare to a SE 175W or 250W bulb? I think the reflectors on the DE will play a VERY important factor in this. The whole advantage of DE is their smaller size, allowing for more reflected light to make it back into the tank.

Given the best reflector for a 150W DE bulb, I think would produce higher par than the 175W, but lower than the 250W. Probably more like a 200W SE bulb? Only speculation on my part!

[billwarren]

Just to let you know you are not talking to Tom at Aquatinics.

My name is Bill and I am a customer who purchased his lights.

If a fan goes out just turn off the lights until you get a new one.
Wouldn't take but 2-3 days and life in the Ocean see weeks of no sunlight so no big deal.
Bill

[FastUno]

Top 1/2 of my last post was for you Bill & bottom 1/2 for Tom. With plenty of room for anyone to interject.

Yes, I agree about reefs not needing light every single day. I really meant what if you are not there in time to catch it. What if this had happened in the morning when you left for work & came back late. What if you were on vacation. Perhaps, by the time you notice this the temp may have reached 86-90. Maybe because the lights are directly on top of the tank, they might soar over 90. Just purely what if questioning.

Bill, I do appreciate your input, makes me feel more confident about the product Especially, since heat is my biggest worry. Do you have any experience with T5's? Can you compare the heat output to T5's? Also, do you have any additional fans running on your system?

[billwarren]

I have the fans that came with the lights and I put 2 ice Cap fans in the back because I have a closed canopy that is only open in the back. And it's about 3" from the wall.
Before I put the fans in the back my heat was increasing about 1.4 degrees a day (Which is pretty impressive consider there was no ventilation)

After putting the 2 fans in the back yesterday I had NO increase.'It started at 78 degrees when the lights went on and it was 78 degrees when they went off 10hr later.

Also, I have to tell you that Tom is the best!
He went the extra mile and then some to help me with all of the issues I faced with the canopy I have.
His customer service is second to none.
Just a great guy to do business with.
Kinda like the way business is SUPPOSED to be done...:):)

You'll be very happy with the lights.
Bill

[Aquactinics]

Originally posted by FastUno
Also, I know many things can break, including a chiller. But just lets say hypothetically that one of the fans on a 48' fixture, for whatever unforeseen reason, stops working. With the fixture being directly on top of the tank & only 1 fan running, how much would the tank temp raise by? Now lets say the reef gods are really after you that day & both fans halted. I would probably consider connecting the MH to a temp sensor/relay & have them go off if temp raises above a certain amount. Just food for thought.

In the unlikely chance that one of the two fans would fail, the other fan will be enough to keep the system going and it might (using 2 x 250W MH on a 90ga no canopy ) raise the tank temp ~2 degrees. If in very unlikely event that both fans fail, it might raise the tank temp ~4-5 degrees. Now these are all estimates, but I've tried this out on a 55ga tank. I ran the fixture for 5 hours with no fans and the tank temp rose about 4 degrees. The fans that I use are very reliable and have not had any failures.

On another note, I really can't wait to see your DE fixtures. I would think this would reduce temp output a bit more & give reefers the ability to go lower wattage MH & save on electricity at the same time. I will not be gung ho on SPS's, but would like to keep some & perhaps add more over time. If they made a 175W DE I would definitely go for that. How close do you think a 150W DE bulb can compare to a SE 175W or 250W bulb? I think the reflectors on the DE will play a VERY important factor in this. The whole advantage of DE is their smaller size, allowing for more reflected light to make it back into the tank.

Current DE fixtures on the market actually run warmer then SE fixtures. Basically because of poor air flow design and smaller size of the fixtures. While DE reflector designs might be better in reflecting light, they still have to be off the tank. Mine can be directly on top of the tank and therefor allowing for more light to go directly into the tank. I am working on a DE fixture that can be placed directly on top of a tank, but that's still far off. By the way, there is no such thing as a 175W DE bulb. I know there is a company out there that's advertising this, but I think it's just a 150W DE bulb running on a 175W ballast ( not a good idea ).

Tom
Aquactinics

[FastUno]

billwarren, can you post any pics of your tank?

Tom, what would be the advantage of upgrading to the electronic ballast? Is it a heat issue? Why would heat be the issue, when the ballast is external? Does the magnetic ballast throw that much more heat, to the point where it will affect room temp & ultimately tank temp?

If I order the 48' fixture as is & decide to upgrade to a different ballast, how much work is it on my part? Is it a matter of just disconnect the quick disconnect from the magnetic ballast & inserting in the new e-ballast? I will not have to change wiring or fixture, correct?

Also, how much work/can I upgrade your existing fans to Iceprobe fans down the road (if necessary). Are your fans rust proof or are they standard PC fans?

[Aquactinics]

Originally posted by FastUno
Tom, what would be the advantage of upgrading to the electronic ballast? Is it a heat issue? Why would heat be the issue, when the ballast is external? Does the magnetic ballast throw that much more heat, to the point where it will affect room temp & ultimately tank temp?

One advantage to upgrading to electronic ballasts is that you can run either a probe start or pulse start bulb. Another is weight. Electronic ballast weight about 1/3 less then magnetic ballast. As far as heat goes, yes e-ballasts to run cooler, but with my ballast box design, that really doesn't matter. The top of the ballast box only gets "look warm" when you are using the magnetic ballasts. Unless you have a very small room, the remote ballast box with magnetic ballast will not affect room temp. What size room is your tank in? Also, what is your usual room temp?


If I order the 48' fixture as is & decide to upgrade to a different ballast, how much work is it on my part? Is it a matter of just disconnect the quick disconnect from the magnetic ballast & inserting in the new e-ballast? I will not have to change wiring or fixture, correct?

We offer an exchange upgrade program. Lets say that you started off with a 48" fixture with 2 x 175W MHs. Later down the road you decide that you now want 2 x 250W MHs. All that you would do is exchange the old ballast box (as long as in good condition) for the new one with an upgrade fee. And then all else you would need would be new 250W MH bulbs. Same goes if you wanted to go from a 175W magnetic ballasts to 175W electronic ballasts. You do not have to change any wiring and you would not open the ballast box at all.

Also, how much work/can I upgrade your existing fans to Iceprobe fans down the road (if necessary). Are your fans rust proof or are they standard PC fans?

Upgrading the fans on your own is not easy and you would void the warranty. You can though send back the unit for an upgrade, or simply have to done in the first place. My standard fans have a cast aluminum housing and are rust proof. They are heavy duty fans that work great in this environment.

Thank you,

Tom
Aquactinics

[billwarren]

I have taken pics of the tank and they come out really blue and don't represent what the tank really looks like.
As soon as I figure out how to correct this I will post some pics.
Bill

[FastUno]

My room size is 24'x17' & temp is between 75-80, but it can get as high as 86 in the summer without an AC on.
"probe start or pulse start bulb", what are those & why would someone use them. Is it a matter of wanting a particular bulb & it happens to be one of the 2 that cannot be run on the magnetic ballast? Also, does it cost more to run a magnetic ballast vs an eballast, or the difference nil?

What is the price for upgrading from 175W to 250W? Right now I am considering the 175W or 250W XM 20K bulbs. Will that bulb be a problem at all on the magnetic ballast (actually I heard there was trouble with eballasts with this one). You wouldn't happen to have any pics of a tank lit by your fixture with this bulb type? Do you feel that it's too blue? I am considering not running the 2 T5's, only for extended use (over 10-12 hrs).

As you can see I am trying to do my homework, I want this to be my last lighting purchase & be done with it. I have spoken to others about your fixture & no one had anything bad to say. If anything it was the non-space age design, but hey who cares about that! If you can save us all on money from buying or maintaining a chiller, then that is a BIG plus. It would be nice to see some test results on spectral output, have you considering contacting Sanjay Joshi? He has reviewed many bulbs/fixtures & would give you the RC credit that you might need. I could see how others might question the spectral output. Have you done any testing yourself?

billwarren, eagerly awaiting the pics. What bulb combo did you go for? Which MH brand & rating..etc.

[billwarren]

I have 4 of the 250W 14K Coralvue MH and 4 Actinic+ 39 Watt
Not sure what brand the actinics are.
Seems to be a good balance.
The background on my tank is a deep blue and the Pure Blue bulbs were way too much.
I also tried some 10K bulbs and way too much yellow.
I just took some more pics trying different lighting settings.
If I get any that are worth posting I'll post them once I figure out how to post to the site
Bill

[billwarren]

I finally got my pics posted but when I click on them they do not enlarge.
Every time I tried to upload it said that I exceeded the 50K file limit but I see others with files much larger.
How do they do that?
When I resized my pics they were 44K but when I uploaded it said they are 24K
This is confusing.

[FastUno]

To resize go here:
http://www.ximinasphotography.com/lessons/lesson09/reefcentral.html#Resizing%20an%20Image

To post go here:
http://www.ximinasphotography.com/lessons/lesson09/reefcentral_3.html#Uploading%20to%20the%20RC%20Gallery


Other good lessons:
http://www.ximinasphotography.com/lessons/index.html

[billwarren]

Thanks
Bill

[Aquactinics]

Originally posted by FastUno
My room size is 24'x17' & temp is between 75-80, but it can get as high as 86 in the summer without an AC on.
"probe start or pulse start bulb", what are those & why would someone use them. Is it a matter of wanting a particular bulb & it happens to be one of the 2 that cannot be run on the magnetic ballast? Also, does it cost more to run a magnetic ballast vs an eballast, or the difference nil?

Your room size is good. If your room temp gets up to 80 then how do you keep your tank from cooking? When the AC is on, what temp to you keep it at? There are two different ways that MH bulbs are started. Probe start bulbs have the starter built into the MH bulb while pulse start bulbs don't. Pulse start bulbs require an external starter that's usually attached to the pulse start ballast. I really haven't found one or the other to be better, but some bulb manufactures use probe while others use pulse. Electronic ballasts will work for either bulb type. The good news is that almost all the SE bulb manufactures for reef tanks use probe start bulbs. The only pulse start bulbs that I can think of for reef tanks are the 175W and 400W Ushio 10K, all AB, and Radiums. As far as cost of which one to run, magnetic ballasts do draw more amps then electronic ones, but not a whole lot more. For example, a 250W magnetic ballast will run at 2.5 amps while an IceCap 250W Electronic ballast will run at 2.1 amps. More of the real benefit of using an electronic ballast is that if you like the bulbs that are pulse start and the ones that are probe start.

What is the price for upgrading from 175W to 250W? Right now I am considering the 175W or 250W XM 20K bulbs. Will that bulb be a problem at all on the magnetic ballast (actually I heard there was trouble with eballasts with this one). You wouldn't happen to have any pics of a tank lit by your fixture with this bulb type? Do you feel that it's too blue? I am considering not running the 2 T5's, only for extended use (over 10-12 hrs).

48" fixture with 175W XM 20K MHs with dual blue+ actinics and dual fans would be $709.50 . To upgrade to 250W XM 20K MHs would be an extra $27.00 . XM bulbs are probe start so the standard ballast will work very well. Only the DE XM bulb seems to have had problems with the e-ballast.
Although its not really a good pic, you can see in my photo gallery that my 26ga bow front tank is running a 175W XM 20K MH with dual 24W T5 HO pure actinics. I personally like the look of a 20K bulb and don't find it too blue.

Tom
Aquactinics
203-234-9286

[FastUno]

Thanks for all your input thus far, it helps a great deal.

I was actually talking about the cost of an upgrade from 175W after the fact. It will probably be the cost of the new ballast plus new bulbs. Just wondering what the total upgrade cost would be if you use the standard MH bulbs that you provide.

The past summer I ran my AC 24/7 for the 3 months & temp was about 77-78, but without the AC running it can get as high as 86.