Need Feedback - Lighting Setup

[Gondore]

DarG - I really hate to say this, but I am second guessing my lighting decisions period. After reading more I am seriously consider going with the CoralVue ballast and lights (250w 10K). I would still stick with two 250w halides and T5 supplementation. What are your thoughts on the CoralVue 250w ballast compared to the Gallaxy one I was going to purchase. What really got me going in this direction is these two tanks:

Tank of the Month 1
Tank of the Month 2

 

[DarG]

The Reeflux bulbs are Coralvue ... Coralvue Reeflux.

As far as ballasts go, electronic is basically electronic. You wont see a noticeable difference between the bulbs on the Corlavue electronic ballasts vs the Galaxy electronic ballasts so whatever you feel better about, go with it.

Coralvue does have a dimmable ballast. I have no idea how well they work or what long term effect they have on the bulbs.

Not sure about the first link but the tank in the second link I know about and is using Coralvue Reeflux bulbs.

 

[Gondore]

Hmm...if all electronic ballast are pretty much created equal then I will stick with the Gallaxy for now. If I stick with my current setup and run the Reeflux 10k with actinic T5s I am worried about running an DE bulb on an electronic ballast. I know you had mentioned this earlier when we had discussed this setup and I have also read it several other places. I would prefer a pendant that supports SE bulbs if the DE is going to cause faster burnout for the MH bulbs. Has there actually been any solid evidence that this is the case? Also, are there any other quality pendants I could go with that are SE?

 

[DarG]

Reportedly the Reeflux bulbs dont hold up well on HQI magnetic ballasts according to some people. There are a few asian DE lamps that either arent made to true HQI specs for use on M80 ballast or are just poorly made and dont hold up well under the extra ouput. For the bulbs that are made to the spec. they are best run on the M80 ballasts.

There is info scattered on the web regarding issues with DE on electronic / advantages of mag. HQI etcl

I do have an excerpt from a GE white paper. Its a statement from GE regarding Acoustic Resonance (A.R.) related to operation of HID lamps on electronic ballasts with high frequency output (which is every popular electronic ballast in the hobby that I know of). There are other potential problems beyond harmonic resonance but it is one of the concerns. Many manufacturers recommend against driving their DE lamps with electronic ballasts with operating frequency above 300 Hz. In fact, Ushio goes as far as printing the warning in the text that comes with their lamps. Again, every popular electronic ballast marketed for the hobby operates at high frequency. Anyway:

"Analysis of lamp data has shown that there are limited operating bands between 1 kHz to 200 kHz in which an electronic ballast could operate a lamp wattage family without causing unacceptable arc instability due to Acoustic Resonance. Trend analysis of the A.R. maps show that this range extends well beyond 200 kHz. When the A.R. structure maps are overlaid there is no consistent frequency band, which can be identified as a stable location for ballast operation. There are large variations in the A.R. structure maps between multiple lamp vendors and from lamp type to lamp type or burn position. A.R. may cause visual annoyance, lamp cycling, shorten lamp life, and in extreme cases result in arc tube rupture."

As far as running SE lamps, it's a better option if you are intent on electronic ballasts. The Lumenmax comes in a SE version. The Lumenmax 2. Costs the same, is the same width which still allows you room for your T5's . It is 15" long instead of 11" so 4" longer which shouldnt affect your canopy plans at all.

One of the advantages of DE lamps is longer usable life. But this is for the euro spec DE lamps (HQI rated) run on Magnetic HQI ballasts . Which again is most DE lamps with the exception of a relative few, asian made lamps. Im not saying all asian made lamps either, seems like mostly the cheapies. The Reeflux may or may not meet the spec. Just that apparently there are reports that it doesnt hold output well on mag HQI. So for whatever reason, it may be better run on electronic or M138.

 

[Gondore]

So are you saying I should go with the SE pendants if I want to run the Reeflux 10k bulbs?

 

[IndyMatt]

Just wanted to let you know that if you go with the lumen brights in a canopy that the canopy should be made with the bulb at least 14" or so from the water that would be a 18" canopy since the mogul socket is about 4" below the top of the LB reflectors.

Just an FYI for you.

 

[Gondore]

IndyMatt - The reading I had done suggested 8-9'' from the water is the optimal height.

 

[DarG]

Lumenbrites are different. 8 or 9" is fine for the Lumenmax Gondore. Not sure where the Lumenbrites cam from.

What I was saying was that the Reeflux DE's are probably better run on electronics just because there seems to be some information that they dont last very long on HQI magnetic ballasts. This is either because they arent HQI rated or are poorly made. I would go with the former.
I also was suggesting that if you are definitely going with electronic ballasts then you are probably better of with SE instead of DE. I run DE lamps on Magnetic HQI ballasts only as these are the ballasts that the bulbs (most of them and all of the high quality DE's) are designed to be run on.

 

[Gondore]

DarG - It seems that you are very biased towards Magnetic ballast. I am still not set on Electronic or Magnetic. The main difference I see between the two is savings on the electric bill. Do you think a Magnetic HQI ballast with a DE pendent is superior to an Electronic ballast with a SE pendent?

 

[DarG]

It's not bias. It's just the right ballast for the majority of DE bulbs. They are made to run at the higher output which only the mag HQI ballast can deliver. The electronic ballasts cannot. Besides the output is enough information that suggests that the bulbs output is maintained longer, less spectral shift, higher efficency over time (not when the bulbs are new) and longer overall usable bulb life for DE bulbs run on mag hqi ballasts. There is a reason that the bulb specs still call for the M80 ballasts (250 watt - M80).

I dont think a DE bulb on Mag HQI ballast is necessarily superior than an SE on electronic ballast. I think that the DE bulbs generally last longer and retain more output over time with less spectral shift. Referring to the high quality DE bulbs on Mag. Hqi ballast. But that doesnt make them any better when our concern is providing par to our corals. It may just mean that DE bulbs dont have to be replaced quite as often. DE bulbs are considered higher tech for many of the same reasons that I believe they should be run on mag hqi ballasts ... longer overall usuable life, maintain lumens better over time, less/slower color shift ...
But again, it doesnt make them better for our tanks, they basically may just have a bit longer usable life.

The overall advantage to electronic ballasts is that they use less energy. The efficiency advantage is usually present when the bulb is new and that may shift to the mag ballast over time but the electronic ballast will still use less energy. The par is lower and so you get less raw light overall but they always will use less energy. That may be the single biggest appeal of the electronic ballasts to the majority of users. It probably is. Regardless of anything else, they use less energy.