Halide Q & A

sirreal63 said:
DE or SE?
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SE. This is exactly the bulb I have: here. It says on their website, "Use with 250 watt Magnetic ballast with ANSI code M58 or 250 watt Electronic ballast". But I have a poor track record when it comes to choosing the right equipment. :fun4: So, I really appreciate your help. :)
 
If this is the bulb you plan on running, I would suggest one of the new e-ballasts that will run regular M58 style bulbs and also has an HQI or Super Lumen setting in case you decide later to use a European bulb that may be a HQI bulb, such as Radium. This will give you some flexibility in bulb choices.

There are several out there, Lumatek, LuXcore, Galaxy etc etc.
 
sirreal63 said:
If this is the bulb you plan on running, I would suggest one of the new e-ballasts that will run regular M58 style bulbs and also has an HQI or Super Lumen setting in case you decide later to use a European bulb that may be a HQI bulb, such as Radium. This will give you some flexibility in bulb choices.

There are several out there, Lumatek, LuXcore, Galaxy etc etc.
Click to expand...

Thank you.
 
I have a 50 gallon (30"L x 24"W x 18"D) what would you suggest I use? And can you recommend a pendant or fixture. Thanks.

Added. My tank is mostly sps.
 
seriousdude5 said:
I have a 50 gallon (30"L x 24"W x 18"D) what would you suggest I use? And can you recommend a pendant or fixture. Thanks.

Added. My tank is mostly sps.
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Lumenbright or lumenmax elite pendants are the best, the lumenbright is meant to be raised high above the tank because it directs the light down so much, good for not having heat transferred into the tank.

250w single ended Phoenix or Radium on m-80 reeflex cube (m-80 HQI ballast) or digital or electronic ballast like lumatek or galaxy with HQI setting.

If you want a whiter look you'll have to ask someone else who likes lower k bulbs, 10k XM is a beast but its way too white for me & needs a lot of blue t5 or LEDs to make it look good to me.
 
I am kicking around the idea of turning my 37 column into a softy tank and am looking at a 150 watt MH stand alone set up and would like some suggestions as where to start please.


Normally I enjoy researching but lighting has never been part of that.

Thanks.
 
^^^^^^ Maristar units are nice you could also check out aqua Medic site I have seen some really great deals there also. Giesemann are really nice but expensive.
 
i have a 72" standard 125, and am currently using 4 36" 4 bulb odysea t5 fixtures. the bulbs are all over due for a change, and i hate the look of them on the tank and all of their wires. i am picking up a coralife pr with 3 150w mh and 4 96w pc's and led moonlights. all the bulbs in the new fixture are less than a month old. i only have lps and softies mostly low, and simple acros and monti caps up high. is this going to be a downgrade in light?? im just confused and a little burned out on this right now. and if so, is the corallife fixture able to be modded to be 3 250w mh?
 
Well I had pc and upgrade to mh 150w, it look 100 x better ,but now my coral look like they are bleaching . Any idea what can be done ?
 
cheezischrist said:
i have a 72" standard 125, and am currently using 4 36" 4 bulb odysea t5 fixtures. the bulbs are all over due for a change, and i hate the look of them on the tank and all of their wires. i am picking up a coralife pr with 3 150w mh and 4 96w pc's and led moonlights. all the bulbs in the new fixture are less than a month old. i only have lps and softies mostly low, and simple acros and monti caps up high. is this going to be a downgrade in light?? im just confused and a little burned out on this right now. and if so, is the corallife fixture able to be modded to be 3 250w mh?
Click to expand...

The 3x150 will be an upgrade in light, even with the so so Coralife fixture. Yes it is possible to mod the light to use 250 watt bulbs but for the price you can get a better used fixture that is already 250 watt.

Jonnyhot said:
Well I had pc and upgrade to mh 150w, it look 100 x better ,but now my coral look like they are bleaching . Any idea what can be done ?
Click to expand...
Raise the light, shorten the photoperiod or use a few layers of fiberglass screen to help shade the corals from the light until they are acclimated to it.
 
I have a standard 75g tank, and need to replace the MH set-up. The old wiring is rusted out (and is a mess). The old ballast died. A couple questions:

1. Is 2x 250w MH enough, or should I seriously consider 2x 400w? This would be in addition to 2x actinic fluorescents (probably T12, but maybe T5).

2. What brands (and models) of electronic ballasts should I look at? Looking for the best efficiency I can find. Prefer to pay a bit more upfront for better long term performance.

Thanks in advance.
 
^^^^They probably are bleaching you need to raise up the light, shorten the light cycle, place sheets of screen below the light. You can try any of these three options.
 
freedr, I think 400 would be overkill (course can depend on your reflectors, bulbs, etc etc) - as mentioned one page earlier: I have a 150, 30" deep and I'm running two 250w radiums w/ lumenmax elite reflectors.. I think it's plenty
 
Thanks, hoaglanddiver. I was thinking 250w would be plenty. I don't think I'm going to have enough room in my canopy for big reflectors and also VHO actinics, but I'll keep looking around.
 
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