Lighting Struggle

[ArizonaReefer]

Having a really hard time trying to understand everything there is to know about the lighting for my new 240 (84X28X24)

What I have decided on is the reflector, which will be three ââ"šÂ¬Ã…"œLumen Bright Large Reflectorsââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ (20x20x9)

The problem is trying to understand what bulb and ballast combination to choose, does anyone want to give me some recommendations? I'm sure it may depend on color taste.

Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢m considering an ââ"šÂ¬Ã…"œ IceCap 250 Watt Electronic Metal Halide/ HQI Ballastââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ with some brand of 2000k bulb.

 

[HaroldT]

I would consider another reflector......Sunlight Supply or Lumenarc are better choices.......God forbid something was to go wrong with Coralvue model, they don't seem too eager to help people with defective products these days from what I read.

For bulbs, consider Radium 250 watt and Ice Cap ballast.

 

[ArizonaReefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14530307#post14530307 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by HaroldT
God forbid something was to go wrong with Coralvue model

Not sure I understand what could go wrong with a reflector? Isn't it just a shinny piece of metal with a place to screw in a bulb?

I'm not considering using their ballast.

 

[Rouselb]

I installed (3) LB minis this year on my 190. Im running LB Minis, 250W CV dimmable ballast, and 12k reeflux bulbs. I previously was running 250W Reff Optix pendants, 250W Blue Wave Magnetic Ballast, 14k Gmann HQI bulbs.
Each blue wave ballast draws 330W to supply the 250W bulbs. I was getting 200-250 PAR @ 26" deep.
Each CV ballast can be adjusted to run between 170-270W to supply the 250W bulbs. I was getting the same PAR after burn in, 200-250W @ 26" deep. This is with a 12k reeflux bulb, which is not known for PAR. The nice thing about the ballast is that you can run bulbs more blue just by decreasing the power. Here is a link where a 10k bulb is running on a CV ballast and looks like a 14k and still has good PAR. The reflectors boost the PAR by an estimated 16%.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1568800

Here is a general link for the LB setups.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1211402&perpage=25&pagenumber=29