Need lighting help for a 120

[NC Reef Guy]

Just assembled my new 120 dual overflow tank. I was going to use my old lights but since the are only 150w i thought that might not be enough for the corals and such. I'm thinking i need to go up to 250w. The LFS says to go with just reflectors and ballasts instead of a whole new fixture. I have always had a fixture so it took the guesswork out of everything. So, the question is...Who makes the best units for the money, and is it possible to get everything i would need for $500 or less? What would i need to get this lighting thing going? Any help on the matter is appreciated.

 

[DarG]

Is the new tank deeper than the old? How deep? Are you running a DSB? Do you have any flourescent supplements? What fixture is it that you have now?

 

[NC Reef Guy]

Sorry, going from 55 gal. I think the new one is 2'x2'x4'. Not sure what a DSB is...Currently I have nothing on this tank. My old sunpod 150 fixture is on the 55 now till i can move things over.

 

[THE ROOK]

I was able to purchase an Current outer orbit fixture for $470.00 delivered to my house. It was a refurb unit that Current USA sells on ebay. I think they have a ebay store.

It has (2) 250 watt halides, (4) 54 watt T-5's & bunch of moonlights. They give brand new bulbs with it & I can't even tell it's a refurb. I was pretty impressed with the deal.

If you have a canopy, then I'd probably do my homework & grab the ballasts & reflectors used from the for sale forum here. Then add (2) t-12 Actnics & your pretty much done.

 

[DarG]

DSB is a deep sand bed.

You probably are better off with a new light, 250 watt X 2.
Seperates are better because the reflectors are better. But they arent cheap for the good reflectors. Under 500 bucks is tough unless you can find some used stuff. Looking at a quality reflector like the Lumenarcs, they are over 100 each. Then there are the bulbs and ballasts. Then the extras ... how to hang the pendants. Did you purchase a full canopy or is it open top? If a canopy, then you can mount inside the canopy. If not, then the two seperate pendants have kinda an industrial look hanging over the tank. If aesthetics are important then you may be better off with another fixture. You can always convert the sunpod to 250 watts. New reflectors and sockets from current usa are under 100 bucks. A pair of 250 watt electronic ballasts can be found that will fit inside at a couple hunder bulbs for the pair and then a couple of bulbs. I converted a 150 watt outer orbit to 250 watt with the new ballasts installed inside the fixture. Need a little wiring savy and some creativity but its doable. But when is all said and done, even that may not save enough money to be worth the effort when you can sell the sunpod and put the money to something else.

Lots of options and it depends on whether you have a full canopy or not and if not, how you feel about hanging a couple of pendant type reflectors over the tank. But again, for good halide lighting, under 500 is tough. Check the online sites for reflectors like the Lumenarcs or Lumenmax or Lumenbrite. Some sites have package deals on reflectors ballasts and bulbs.

Hello lights has a killer deal on the now discontinued PFO acrolight. One left on clearance. It is a fixture but a bit different than the typical combos. It uses an open style reflector. These are 250 watt X 2 HQI halides plus dual 96 watt compact flourescents for supplemental lighting. The ballasts are external and feed the fixture via cables. Ballasts and bulbs are seperate purchase but the compact flourescent fixtures are included. It is under 300 bucks. You need to add a couple of halide ballasts which can be had under 100 each (ballastwise) or ARO. And the halide bulbs and PC bulbs. But it is a good deal nonetheless for a complete solution. I still prefer the seperates with top performing pendant style reflectors in terms of performance but it is a nice option.

If you want to do it right and you do go with seperate pendants, do yourself a favor and stay away from the cheap spider and batwing style reflectors and other cheap reflectors and go with brand name, reputable items like mentioned above. Even if you have to use the old light while you save up a bit more for the lighting. It really is worth it. The difference in quality of light in terms of spread and uniformity of coverage with less intense hot spots is really signifigant.

 

[robot2222]

the rook, that sounds like a really good deal . i am going to check that out.thanks

 

[DarG]

Ive owned the Outer Orbit w/T5. Its a nice fixture for the price, especially as a refurb. but personally I wouldnt recommend one for a 2 foot wide tank. The reflectors are small and the spread is limited. After using better/larger reflectors, the current usa outer orbit and sunpods almost look like spotlights in terms of coverage compared to the wider, more unform spread of the better reflectors. I liked the fixture and it will work, even for a wider tank. But honestly, it doesnt provide the uniform coverage of the better pendants like the Lumenarcs, Lumenbrites, Lumenmax etc.

But for an all in one solution that is decent looking hanging over a tank, it's a good option on a budget.

 

[NC Reef Guy]

I do have a full canopy on the tank...so it sounds like I need to find some lumenarc or the like reflectors to maximize the light distribution. What type of ballast would i then need? and then who makes the best bulbs?

 

[DarG]

Lumebritres are meant to be mounted higher than most so generally not a good choice for canopy mounting.

Lumenmax and Lumenarc are good choices. Lumenarcs are cheaper and they have a version that is perfect for canopy mounting. It is just the reflector material itself and that saves a few bucks because you dont need the pendant housing for canopy mounting. They come in double ended and single ended versions. You have to decide on what type bulbs you want to run. Single ended and electronic ballasts are a popular choice. You can run virtually any bulb with the electronic ballasts. I prefer magnetics but electronics are very very popular choice and they generally work fine, especially with most single ended bulbs.
You can get an electronic ballast for anywhere from 70 or 80 bucks each from ballaswise to about 150. There are dual electronics as well, two ballasts in a single case. Probably the most convienent option although a couple of generic singles may be cheaper. You can always add a pair or two of T5's at a later date for supplemental lighting. Or a pair of VHO actinics.

I know that Reef exotics had package deals on the lumenarcs with the reflectors, bulbs and ballasts sold as a package. Check their website for the lumenarc retro packages to see what pricing looks like. Not sure if they are THE cheapest but not everyone has package deals like they do and they may end up being the least expensive.

You can go cheaper with simple open ended spider or batwing type reflectors. These are only like 30 bucks each where the lumenarcs are about 100 each. But the extra 150 bucks or so spent up front is well worth it. The reflectors make a huge difference and are the only things that cost more up front. You still need to but ballasts and bulbs either way. So do it right up front and you wont need to upgrade reflectors. The difference in quality of light is huge and well worth the extra money spent up front.

Both bulb types work fine. The DE bulbs require the use of a glass shield on the reflector to filter UV. This usually makes the reflectors a little more money up front. The SE bulbs outer glass envelope filter the UV so no glass shield is required.
There are also probably more bulbs options in SE so thats another consideration. The electronic ballasts will drive them all. There are probably more options for less expensive bulbs in the SE versions as well. I have used both. I prefer DE run in Magnetic HQI ballast but that is generally a more expensive way to go and the difference in quality of light is not really signifigant.

Check reef exotics, reef geek and some of the other RC sponsors to see what is out there and compare prices. Again, reef exotics had the package deals and probably still does. Not sure who else does. Youll come away with a good idea about what everything looks like and what it will cost.
If money gets really tight, there are generic bulbs for about 20 bucks each on ebay that can get you by. That alone can save you 70 bucks or more up front as the brand name, popular bulbs probabaly start at about 55 - 60 bucks each and up from there.

 

[NC Reef Guy]

I've looked at the reef exotics website and see that they have packages with reflectors, balasts, and bulbs all in one. The 400w is only about $25 more. Would it help any to go with 400w or would that be overkill on this tank?

This is what I was looking at...would this be what I need ?

http://reefexotics.com/lumen_bright_retro.htm

 

[DarG]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14810612#post14810612 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by NC Reef Guy
I've looked at the reef exotics website and see that they have packages with reflectors, balasts, and bulbs all in one. The 400w is only about $25 more. Would it help any to go with 400w or would that be overkill on this tank?

This is what I was looking at...would this be what I need ?

http://reefexotics.com/lumen_bright_retro.htm

Lumenbrites may not be the best option. I believe that they are optimized for mounting about 16" over the tank. But you would have to double check with the dealer or with users of that reflector. The Lumenarc is designed for more standard mounting height, 8 - 12". So maybe a better choice Unless you have that extra clearance.

I didnt see the lumenarcs on the site any more. Check with them and see if they still offer them in packages and check into mounting height. Maybe ask about the Lumenbrites in a seperate thread with the name in the title. But basically, that is a package that will work well with a canopy. Maybe just substituting the Lumenarc for the Lumenbrite unless the opinion is that the Lumenbrite will work well with the clearance you have.

As far as 400 watt. My opinion is that Lighting is one of the biggest overkills in the hobby. There are some that would tell you that 400 watt would be the way to go. Personally, I would go with 250 watts. With good reflectors like those we are talking about you can get plenty of par for anything, anywhere in the tank and with 300 less watts in energy used and heat generated. You also have more bulb choices in 250 watt. If the tank were 30" deep I would consider the 400 watt but, personally, I dont think par is going to be an issue at all with 250 watts on your tank.
But again, you could get opinions both ways.

Wish I knew more about the Lumenbrites. I know that they are very highly thought of by reefers using them and they are reportedly excellent performers in the right application. But again, I think they are meant for higher mounting above the tank. If they are designed for higher mounting and you mount them too low then you dont get the light spread that they were designed to provide. So check with those more familiar before you commit.

 

[NC Reef Guy]

So if I have 9" from canopy to tank, will the luminarc fit ok? Are their ballasts of decent quality?

 

[DarG]

9" is right in the range for most reflectors. The Lumenarc minis (the 14.5" version "mini" is the one you want) and the Lumenmax are designed for 2 foot square coverage at "regular" mounting heights which are in the 8" - 12" range. So the Lumenarcs should work great mounted to the inside top of your canopy and provide full and uniform coverage of the 2 foot square area (each one). I you havent seen the version made for canopy mounting (doesnt have or require the outer case) there is a photo here. It is the mogul version. The dealer is apparently out of stock but they usually dont have the best prices anyway ...
http://www.hellolights.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1473


The Coralvue electronic ballasts are pretty popular. I havent used them but they do the job. There are lots of electronics ballasts these days. Icecap, Lumatek, Galaxy (sunlight supply), Coralvue, ARO (cheaper, no fancy case but work great) ... these are probably the most popular of the brand names and of course Im probably missing a few. The Lumatek's are very popular these days and they arent very expensive at all relative to some of the others but I dont think they ever introduce a dual. The company has been making ballasts for a long time for the horticulture and general lighting industries and introduced the ballasts to the aquarium hobby not all that long ago. But they have been very well received.

You can do some number crunching after looking up the prices of some of these other ballasts and see if the package deal is really the best price. Obviously buying eveything from one place is ideal to save on shipping costs as well.

For specific feedback on the coralvue ballasts, it's best to start a seperate thread and ask about them, check if users are happy with them. I havent heard anything negative but I havent inquired specifically. I use magnetics because they are as close to bullet proof as possible and the parts that do go bad (cap, ignitor) are easily user replaceable and readily available. The problem is that you need to run a specific magnetic ballast for the different bulbs ... for example, there are Pulse start, probe start and HQI bulbs in 250 watt. I Have a magnetic ballast for each of the types (as well as for 175 watt and 150 watt).
The electronics are made to run all of them so you can swap bulb types and not worry about ballasts. The only thing you need to worry about is the wattage. 250 watt ballast with 250 watt bulbs. So electronic pretty well covers them all. They may not be exactly optimum for every bulb type but they are designed to run them all and most reefers are probably running electronics these days with no signifigant issues to speak of.