drummereef's 180g in-wall build

[drummereef]

UPDATE:


Special delivery. :beer: I'll get some pics up tonight once I get a chance to install them.

 

[henrystyle]

Radiums/hqi ballast are nice for sps color but growth is really slow.
14k will give you the color and decent growth imo.
Anyone try the artemis bulbs on ebay? I have. The 14k and 20k are pretty decent. Cheapest bulbs available.
http://pet-supplies.shop.ebay.com/A...ipg=&_ssn=hobbylighting&_trksid=p3911.c0.m282

 

[Nanook]

I put four Phoenix 14K SE over the long softy/LPS/SPS tank on February 28th, so it will be two months in another week. I just fired up the frag tank a couple days ago with two more Phoenix 14K SE for SPS frags and a few softies. I will get some numbers in a few days.

 

[tegee]

Radiums/hqi ballast are nice for sps color but growth is really slow.
14k will give you the color and decent growth imo.
Anyone try the artemis bulbs on ebay? I have. The 14k and 20k are pretty decent. Cheapest bulbs available.
http://pet-supplies.shop.ebay.com/A...ipg=&_ssn=hobbylighting&_trksid=p3911.c0.m282

Henry....you may be correct. Love the Radiums, but at 250w and 20k the growth does appear to be painfully slow. All the local guys that have kick butt sps tanks (two of which are TOTM's) have 400w Radiums and I believe that is why they get there awesome growth. But at 250w I may need to look into another bulb on a magnetic ballast.

Brett and Dave.....can't wait to see some numbers and results. I am probably 6-weeks away from a bulb change out so PLEASE rush...lol.

Many thanks for everyone's input and valued experiences.....good stuff.

Boy I just love this build thread one of my all time favorites.:beer:

 

[prop-frags]

Realizing that this thread is all-encompassing and moves incredibly fast

I wanted to chime in on post number 2,882.
We faced a similar challenge with our Apex. We have a remote fishroom out in the garage. It was inconvenient to run a Cat5 over to our fishroom, so we opted for the wireless adapter. We happened to have an extra ethernet bridge sitting around so, we used that. Here's a pic of a portion of our fishroom "wall-o-electronics"

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/terryl93/5641587893/" title="DSC_5929 by terryl93, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5304/5641587893_a0d7bdbcbc_z.jpg" width="640" height="425" alt="DSC_5929"></a>

You can see the bridge in the top right.

We're facing the same quandary as tegee...apex is located in fishroom near sump, but we also want to control components at the display tank located some 20' away. We're looking at putting a second Apex EB near the display tank, and connecting them with a long USB cable.

 

[tegee]

Realizing that this thread is all-encompassing and moves incredibly fast

I wanted to chime in on post number 2,882.
We faced a similar challenge with our Apex. We have a remote fishroom out in the garage. It was inconvenient to run a Cat5 over to our fishroom, so we opted for the wireless adapter. We happened to have an extra ethernet bridge sitting around so, we used that. Here's a pic of a portion of our fishroom "wall-o-electronics"

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/terryl93/5641587893/" title="DSC_5929 by terryl93, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5304/5641587893_a0d7bdbcbc_z.jpg" width="640" height="425" alt="DSC_5929"></a>

You can see the bridge in the top right.

We're facing the same quandary as tegee...apex is located in fishroom near sump, but we also want to control components at the display tank located some 20' away. We're looking at putting a second Apex EB near the display tank, and connecting them with a long USB cable.

Thanks Mike...the pics and description will be a big help when I make the plunge with the installation of an Apex controller. Going wireless will be nice and I can definitely run a 50-60' USB cable with ease.

It is beginning to come together in my head regarding the task of installing the Apex.

Many thanks again...Tony

 

[prop-frags]

Thanks Mike...the pics and description will be a big help when I make the plunge with the installation of an Apex controller. Going wireless will be nice and I can definitely run a 50-60' USB cable with ease.

It is beginning to come together in my head regarding the task of installing the Apex.

Many thanks again...Tony

Glad to help out. We had to go with a wireless bridge because of FIOS... they have a funky router and because of that we weren't able to use wireless adapter or router (can't use bridge mode on the FIOS router)...

Oh, for those who are looking for where to get a long cable for their Apex, look at this thread.

 

[drummereef]

Radiums/hqi ballast are nice for sps color but growth is really slow.
14k will give you the color and decent growth imo.
Anyone try the artemis bulbs on ebay? I have. The 14k and 20k are pretty decent. Cheapest bulbs available.
http://pet-supplies.shop.ebay.com/A...ipg=&_ssn=hobbylighting&_trksid=p3911.c0.m282

Thanks for the info Henry.

I put four Phoenix 14K SE over the long softy/LPS/SPS tank on February 28th, so it will be two months in another week. I just fired up the frag tank a couple days ago with two more Phoenix 14K SE for SPS frags and a few softies. I will get some numbers in a few days.

Gotcha. Looking forward to the PAR numbers. Thanks Nook.

Boy I just love this build thread one of my all time favorites.:beer:

Me too!

Realizing that this thread is all-encompassing and moves incredibly fast

I wanted to chime in on post number 2,882.
We faced a similar challenge with our Apex. We have a remote fishroom out in the garage. It was inconvenient to run a Cat5 over to our fishroom, so we opted for the wireless adapter. We happened to have an extra sitting around so, we used that. Here's a pic of a portion of our fishroom "wall-o-electronics"

You can see the bridge in the top right.

We're facing the same quandary as tegee...apex is located in fishroom near sump, but we also want to control components at the display tank located some 20' away. We're looking at putting a second Apex EB near the display tank, and connecting them with a long USB cable.

Great solution Mike. :thumbsup: What do you do for firmware upgrades? I thought I had read you can't do upgrades through a bridge or gaming adapter. Do you just plug in your laptop directly when needed?

 

[drummereef]

UPDATE:


I installed the new 250 watt SE Phoenix bulbs tonight. I cleaned both sides of the protective glass in the Lumen Brights as there was nice haze on the glass inside the reflector. Took a while but they needed a little maintenance.

I think Nanook described the color exactly. The Radiums have a slight gray overtone where the Phoenix are a clear blue. Honestly at first glance I couldn't tell a difference even after a few minutes of letting the Phoenix burn in. I was obviously looking at a year-old Radium vs a new Phoenix but they looked practically identical to my eye. I'm guessing after a week or so the true color will start to come out. I could tell the biggest difference looking at the reflectors in the sump room. The Radium had a slight "pink" color to it where the Phoenix was a true blue. So far I like how "clear" the blue looks especially on the sand.

This pic isn't going to help the argument since the colors look virtually the same from left to right, but I'm posting it anyway because I said I would. This was taken about 10 minutes after installing the first Phoenix bulb. Colors are about as true to what I see in real life as I can get. The tank is overall brighter than in the pic but you get the idea.


LEFT - Radium (1 year old)....................................................RIGHT - Phoenix (new)

 

[tegee]

Does anyone know what Par value the Phoenix 14k SE is? I checked Sanjay's testing, but he only tested the 10k. Running a magnetic M80 HQI the Radium puts out 85 PPFD and was curious if the Phoenix 14k puts out the same or more?

 

[Nanook]

From RC's unofficial (sorely missed) lighting guru:

The Phoenix 14,000K 250-watt Single-Ended lamp was built by request. It uses the same inner bulb (arc tube) as the Double-Ended lamp. The electrical spec is the same for both the Single-Ended and Double-Ended Phoenix lamp. It is designed to be operated on an ANSI M80 ballast.

An ANSI 138/M153 ballast will operate the Radium 20,000K or Phoenix 14,000K lamp but at a reduced wattage (below 250-watts). The starting voltage is slightly lower with the ANSI M138/M153 ballast than the ANSI M80 (3000-4000 Volts Vs 4000-6000 Volts). The biggest difference between the two is the output starting current and output operating current. The lower output starting current will extend the lamp warm up period and the lower output operating current will operate the lamp below the rated wattage. Unlike filament based lamps operating a metal halide at reduced output can actually degrade the lamp at a faster rate. This is because the lamp is not allowed to operate at the intended internal pressure and temperature. Lower internal pressure and temperature allows the tungsten electrodes to degrade and vaporize at an increased rate. ANSI M80/HQI is a world specification but is most common in Europe.

The Phoenix DE 250's have PPFD of 88, so, the SE are ball park with the Radiums.

 

[prop-frags]

Great solution Mike. :thumbsup: What do you do for firmware upgrades? I thought I had read you can't do upgrades through a bridge or gaming adapter. Do you just plug in your laptop directly when needed?

Actually, I've not done a f/w upgrade yet. But the thought would be to string our long cat5 cable from the router over to the Apex for that.

 

[drummereef]

Actually, I've not done a f/w upgrade yet. But the thought would be to string our long cat5 cable from the router over to the Apex for that.

Sounds good to me.

 

[drummereef]

UPDATE:


After a couple days with the Phoenix bulbs, I can say I really like them. I may have caused a premature failure with my Radiums since I ran them straight 250 watts for 8-9 months before switching to HQI. I've heard switching wattage during a bulb's life isn't good for them and can cause a spectrum shift, but not totally sure on that. But in any event, I didn't realize how much of a "haze" the Radiums had compared to the Phoenix. The Phoenix bulbs make the tank look really clear. I think it's the color of blue or something but whatever it is I'm really liking how transparent it's making everything look. Makes the tank look really natural with a hint of actinic overtone.

 

[psteeleb]

Brett

did the tornados come close to you?

 

[drummereef]

Brett

did the tornados come close to you?

Hey Pete, thanks for asking. We had some pretty bad storms in my area but the tornados that did the most damage were about 25 minutes north/east of where I live. I'm guessing you saw the footage of Lambert Int Airport and surrounding areas on the news. There were a few tornados west as well but luckily we missed most of it. Sirens were going off every 10 minutes, it was pretty crazy.

 

[psteeleb]

Hey Pete, thanks for asking. We had some pretty bad storms in my area but the tornados that did the most damage were about 25 minutes north/east of where I live. I'm guessing you saw the footage of Lambert Int Airport and surrounding areas on the news. There were a few tornados west as well but luckily we missed most of it. Sirens were going off every 10 minutes, it was pretty crazy.

good to hear - these severe storms got me rethinking my whole backup power plan.

 

[drummereef]

good to hear - these severe storms got me rethinking my whole backup power plan.

I know what you mean. Honestly I'm more afraid of spring storms than I am winter storms. I have 2x Vortech Battery Backups now to power both MP40s in case of power loss. The frequency of lightning strikes on power stations is more threatening than ice storms, at least in my area. There's always that fear in the winter but spring, summer, and fall thunderstorms present more of a problem at least to me.

 

[cromedogg33]

Brett,

Are you still dosing MB7 and the coral snow with AA? I think after doing some reading over the weekend that in order for my cyano to disapear that I will need to continue to dose MB7 so that it will out compete the cyano.

 

[drummereef]

Brett,

Are you still dosing MB7 and the coral snow with AA? I think after doing some reading over the weekend that in order for my cyano to disapear that I will need to continue to dose MB7 so that it will out compete the cyano.

I've cut back on the "special brew" as I thought it was too effective at cleaning the system. I do still dose it occasionally when I see necessary, but just not weekly like I was. I don't have the acute algae/cyano issue like I was having in the past. I've been dosing the ZEOzyme and BioMate combination 3-4 days per week with good results in regards to bacterial mulm buildup on the rocks. I agree, I think it's a good idea to continue dosing the MB7 until all the algae cycles have passed. Also you might want to think about diversifying the bacteria strains with other bacteria products and/or some live sand. This can really help boost the system too. Some of the bacteria products need a carbon source to survive others don't from my research. This can be crucial to their overall effectiveness and beneficial to what you are trying to do with them.