MH Lighting Spread question

Anybody want to weigh in on whether these would be good lighting choices? It's what Premium Aquatics recommended. They told me that it would take two of them. That's about $600. Seems like a lot of money.
 
That's about right as far as pricing. I don't think you'll find too many places cheaper than PA.

I agree with them on needing two sets of lights. Even with those, you might see some shading around the top. I don't believe they have the best spread either. Any particular reason for wanting 150W DE?
 
I would also suggest 2, but I would not use 150 watters. Go big or go home is my new reef keeping moto...
 
I looked at them because that is what they recommended at Premium. They also recommended the same light in 250w.

I'm really open to suggestions since that much money is a bit of a challenge right now.
 
What are you keeping in this tank?

I would mix and match my own. Do a search for the LumenMax and Lumen Bright reflectors. Get some nice ballasts like the Galaxy or Ice Caps to go with them. I think price wise, it's going to come out to be about the same.
 
I've got some torch corals and a frogspawn hybrid. Some blastamousa, brain, leathers, some SPS frags. I want to get away from the Anthalia and mushrooms and get more color.
 
400w 20K XM's on lumenmaxx's can't go wrong!

Sone is going to go into some tangent about you don't need 400's etc... Don't listen to Sone he's an newb ;) That guy calls himself an amercian and doesn't have one piece of amercan made equipment on his tank, it's all from Italy or Germany.
 
It's a pretty good deal. Looks like you're saving ~$20 on the package.

Any reason why you want DE over SE? The bulb selection is somewhat limited in 250W DE and about the only nice bulb is the Phoenix 14K. With 250W SE, your possibilities open up a lot more.
 
No, no reason at all. I don't know a dang thing about making this choice, and I'm trying not to make a stupid choice.

SO, does everyone agree with Double-J that 400w 20K XM's on lumenmax is the choice? What ballast?
 
Since you are putting a mix in there. I would say if you put the reflector high enough you might get enough spread to do it using one light. You could always you some actniics to help fill in the ends a little. This way you can put all your SPS in the middle and LPS and softies towards the outer areas. Also the 20k XM 400w has about the same par as a 250W 10k bulb so it's not an overkill by any means. It just gives you the best color with the best par.
 
I guess if I put one in there that the worst that can happen is that I have to put another one in. I have 12" height inside my canopy. I already have the VHO setup for the actinics. It would cost a dang site less than two.
 
I'd say give it a try. Just use some lumenmax or some mini luminarcs (14x14) It's all about a good reflector
 
What's the lighting store of choice? I'm finding pieces here and there, and would like to get it all from one spot to make sure it will all play well together.
 
DIYreef.com
premiumaquatics.com
reefgeek.com
reefexotics.com

Are probably going to have everything and the cheapest.

Your going to need:
reflector
bulb (SE)
ballast ( I would go for a magnetic if you have the room) They run hotter but put out more par for the most part

You can't go wrong with a PFO or Sunlight supply magnetic ballast

Make sure the sockets recepticle matches the ballast you can always cut and heatshrink on the correct one but would be more work.

Post a link to a setup you find and I can look it over if you want.

Good luck!
 
on the ballast don't forget the cord $15. It's a pull down option.

The electronic ballasts will fire almost any bulb but the pulse start magnetic will fire 95% of bulbs so it's basically the same thing.

The magnetic ballasts are a little less efficient but provide better output to the bulb (in most cases). I use those ballasts on my setup I also use icecap 400w ballasts. They are all good but if I had to choose one I would pick the magnetic
 
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