Happy Birthday!!!

got2lb

got2lb

New member
My reef is officially one year old!

To celebrate I bought it the one thing that it needed most.


NEW LIGHTS!!!! WOOOHOOO!!!


Got them today! I ended up getting 2x250 watt icecap ballasts with 14k hamilton bulbs with the parallell reflectors from Premium aquatics.

These are the reflectors: http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merc...duct_Code=PFO-PR24SA8MO&Category_Code=Sockets

I just about went with the lumenarc mini's but I def. think they would have been overkill for what I have going on in my tank.

Unfortunately Premium aquatics dropped the ball and the reflectors are backordered :mad2: even though they didn't tell me that and shipped everything else with out them!

But being impatient that I am I hooked them up anyway and have them above the tank. WOW is that bright! I can't imagine how bright it will be with the reflectors on it! The bulbs are def. bluer than I was expecting but I assume they might lighten up a little bit as they burn in. But man oh man do they make the colors POP!!!

I'm only going to run them about 2hrs a day for a couple days and slowly lenghthen the amount of time they're on to get everything adjusted to the much more intense ligting than I had before. (8 x 40w NO shoplight bulbs)

Just thought I'd share my excitement! Now it's time to buy some nice corals with some COLOR!!!
 
Tell me about it! It would have been easier if I would have made up my mind between T5's and Halides sooner. :D

I'll get some pics up after I get my reflectors. I should have taken some before I ripped out my old ones for some before and after pics but couldn't wait to get the new ones in! :D I'm sure I have some old shots that I can find though.
 
Thanks for the offer but they should be coming in pretty soon and i'm sure everything is getting way more light even without the reflectors than they were before.
 
did you check any wheres else for your light? I am looking @ a set at hellolights.com. they are 250watt ARO ballast with parabolic reflectors and mogul socket for $130 each. Plus I am planning on a set of 2x46.5" VHO actinics with with ARO ballast. the bulbs are $24 each and the ARO kit is $60.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8899136#post8899136 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by wenszoo
did you check any wheres else for your light? I am looking @ a set at hellolights.com. they are 250watt ARO ballast with parabolic reflectors and mogul socket for $130 each. Plus I am planning on a set of 2x46.5" VHO actinics with with ARO ballast. the bulbs are $24 each and the ARO kit is $60.
Click to expand...

I just called hellolights today. They are going to have or do already have a retrofit deal. They're giving away free MH lamps with the MH retro kits.

Also, if you want to save a few bucks on bulbs, the 48" URI actinics without the internal reflector are on sale for $15.50.

EDIT: the free lamps are only for 175w 10k and 400w 10k or 20k.
 
Trust me I've done TONS AND TONS of checking! :lol: I was debating between the icecaps and aro stuff for a long time and I finally just paid the extra $20 per ballast and went with the icecaps. I also went with the parallel reflectors intead of the plain spider reflectors because they're supposed to be quite a bit better. If you're gonig to run VHO's with halides you might be better off that way as well. They are made to include VHO's inside of the same reflector. You can kind of see what I'm talking about in the picture in the link above.

You're more than welcome to come up and check it out whenever you want if you want to get an idea of what the bulbs look like over my tank to help you decide which ones to get. I went with 14ks because I didn't want to have to run VHO's with them.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8899136#post8899136 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by wenszoo
did you check any wheres else for your light? I am looking @ a set at hellolights.com. they are 250watt ARO ballast with parabolic reflectors and mogul socket for $130 each. Plus I am planning on a set of 2x46.5" VHO actinics with with ARO ballast. the bulbs are $24 each and the ARO kit is $60.
Click to expand...

I am doing the 46.5" vho's so they fit in my canopy. I already have my MH bulbs they are 250 watt blueline 14K bulbs. If I don't need the VHO's then maybe I might not order them. I don't know opinions are truly welcome. I have never ran MH's before.
 
You have the bulbs, but no ballasts or anything? I would try the MH bulbs by themselves first and see what you think. You can always add the VHO's later if you think you still need them.

That mh setup at hellolights should work fine for you. If I wouldn't of had the extra cash on hand I would have gone with that setup.
 
Got my reflectors today. Man does that make a difference!

That made it at least twice as bright as it was before!
 
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