Ballasts!!! Ahh, Too Many Choices...

Ok, thats it. First, you shot me down with your knowledge. Now you try to put me on the spot. Thanks :)

Honestly, i would not go with Lumenmax. I have try both and i am inlove with Lumenarc. to me lumenarc produce better lighting and better material, easy to clean and it shiny. Custom aquatic has a sale on the LA mini DE.
 
... huh? What, the whole 'PFO uses Icecap ballasts' thing? Thats no big deal... very few know about that (or care). Hey, your reef looks sweeter than mine, so who cares what I know...
 
I thought you don't have a tank yet :). I like your new tank dimention. I am working on upgrading to 6x3x2 but i may have to go oversea for 7months to a year.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9299095#post9299095 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by hahnmeister
what juicy little tidbit did I elude to that got you hating?!?! Lol.

But yeah... the new lumenarc DEs are the bees-knees... best thing to happen to DE since the pheonix 14,000K IMO.
http://www.reefexotics.com/lumenarc.htm
Priced to move too... $99 for the 150-250wattDE reflector only version, $129 for the full pendant for 250/400wattDE bulbs. FWIW, design-wise the Lumenarcs always seem to pull ahead of the lumenmax reflectors, or I would suggest the lumenmax3 as well... but Im sure REEFER714 can attest to the lumenarc's superiority as well.



So if I ended up getting the Lumenarc DE pendants, what ballast and bulbs would you get? I'm looking to get 3 pendants over a 180 gallon (72x24x24).
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9300278#post9300278 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by REEFER714
I thought you don't have a tank yet :). I like your new tank dimention. I am working on upgrading to 6x3x2 but i may have to go oversea for 7months to a year.

yeah, Im talking about the existing tanks I have not looking as good. Im hoping the new one looks as good as yours, or Iwan's, or Sanjay's...
 
You have several options... but I would start with 3x250watt HQI ballasts (I like thePFOs, but Im sure there are other good M80s out there), with lumenarc DE stealths or pendants. Depending on how much room you have left over, then fill in the rest with T5 bulbs.... perhaps 4 rows of 80watt bulbs.

You dont need T5s BTW... you could just use pheonix bulbs or something similar (G-man 14,500Ks) depending on how much light you really need. prugs for instance, ran his 210g for a long time with nothing but EVC ballasts, PFO mini reflectors, and pheonix bulbs and did very well... considering the boost you will get from the HQI ballast over the e-ballast, and the better reflector you would have with the lumenarcDE... you could be set right there...

But the best tanks I see are halides with T5s... the halides provide the full daylight spectrum with 10,000Ks or Ushio type 14,000Ks, and the T5s provide all the blue and actinic. To me, the halide only option is a 'hey, your tank looks good' option, and the halide + T5 is the 'holy crap look at that!' option. It really brings out the colors in corals better than anything.

So you can go 3x250wattDE with 10,000K bulbs, then 4 rows of 80wattT5s... 2 bulbs as actinics and 2 as blue+. Thats a very sharp combo... top pick IME. The next best would be if you only wanted 2 rows of T5s... then use ushio 14,000Ks with 2x80watt T5s running blue+ bulbs for the T5s.

Here, I can even show you a pic from a friend's tank who runs 3x250wattDE Ushio 14,000Ks w/ 2 rows of blue+ T5s...
DSC04726.jpg

It looks sweet in person.

And here is a pic of a 120g tank that runs 2x250wattDE Ushio 10,000Ks with 4 rows of T5s... 2xblue+ and 2x actinic03... your 180 would be pretty much the same as this, just 50% more...
Bills_Tank.JPG
 
hahnmeister, just reading the thread and I think you changed my mind from using SE.....I think maybe ill get (2) hqi stealth reflectors w/ hqi pfo ballast or icecap electronic ballast. Do you think I could get by with (2)150w or would I need to go 250w?
75 gallon tank.....mostly lps/softies, but would like a clam or two.

I apologize, I didnt intend to hijack the thread...oops lol
 
150s would be plenty with the VHOs. 250s would be plenty for a 120g with the VHOs. FWIW, you could do a single 250 in the center like this guy did...
EvanJones1.jpg

He uses a single 250watt in the center with 2x54wattT5s for supplimental blue. As you can see, the results are awesome.

150s are plenty, but IMO... they are a waste of money almost. The ballast, bulbs, reflector... cost as much as 250s, and for the extra 100 watts, the output on many 250s is double. The bulb selection is also much greater. 250s are good for moving on up to a larger tank even.

But like I said... dual 250s AND VHOs is a bit much for a 75g. The expense of the combo, because you are mixing two types of bulbs and so each bulb needs to be lesser than it could be, makes me think that just halides alone... perhaps dual 250wattDE 20,000K bulbs... would be plenty... which they would be. But since you already have the VHO's... maybe rather than halides you should look into T5s. If you were to use a 6x54wattT5 retro, the light would be perfect with your VHOs. You would get as much light as the halides, but more spread and color options.

Now that I think more about it, yeah... Id look into T5s for a 75g given what you have already.
 
well as cheesy as it sounds....I like the 'shimmer' of the MH....so maybe ill just do a 250 de stealth reflector in the middle w/ the vho's Hopefully the brace in the middle wont be a problem
 
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