newby with a new tank

panaboy95

panaboy95

New member
well i have been lurcking around on this forum for a while. i have been researching saltwater for about a year and a half. i bought a 75 rr aga tank about six months ago. since then i have been working on building it into a bar in my basement. it is finally starting to fill with water. i am sure i will have millons of questions in the up coming months. i am taking everything slow because i do not want to do it twice. plus i have a 9 month old that takes a lot of time too. i am posting some pics (everone likes pics) i have never posted pics before so hopefully they will show up. sorry no pics of me doing happy dances.


barandtank.jpg


DSC00060.jpg



i still have to get the electrical done and some other odds and ends.

i was thinking on doing two 175 watt halides. what does everyone think of that i do not plan on keeping any sps yet. i love the shimmering effect. i had myself talked into a tek fixture till i took a trip to TMR and saw there halide lights that shimmering is awsome.

well i am sure i will have more questions in the future

thanks for all the help you guys have allready gave me.
 
sweet!

imo you should do 2 x 250w halides. there is an evc kit which has an electronic ballast w/ the highest par output available, from what i understand...the kit w/ spider reflectors and 14k bulb is $159 + shipping online. they are currently out of stock, but hopefully they'll have them again soon. i'm also in the market and this is what i'll be buying. brad23 has two of them on his 75g and his tank just glows...
 
what site are they online, that seems like a killer deal.

i have been reading alot about halide. is electronic the way to go a lot of people like the pulse start pfo magnetic balasts they say they are work horses. i am not worried about noise. i am not sure, they say the electronic ones are real delicate. me and delicate don't get along sometimes.
 
Well it is a bit misleading to say that the EVC setup is the highest output available..I know what your saying but people may take it the wrong way. This setup is by far NOT the highest output you can get. But the EVC ballast tends to put out the most PAR of the ELECTRONIC ballasts. These kits do not hold a candle to an HQI ballast or a typical M58 ballast for 250w halides. Also the reflectors are VERY basic and are far from the best out there. But I will agree, for the money they are a pretty fine deal indeed. Personally if I was looking for really high par, I would probably go with a magnetic ballast and the lumanmax or lumenarc reflectors. But those alone go for ~$150/ea. If your looking at medium light corals, this kit will do just fine, and if you put 10ks in there, probably just fine for anything out there in a 75g like yours.
 
yeah, sorry, that's what i meant. highest output for electronic ballast. must not have come out that way. wasn't tryint to be misleading.

obviously if you want to spend $500+ on lighting you can do better. for $159, though... :D

brad can give you the link...i'm sure he'll see this thread.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7086867#post7086867 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by panaboy95
what site are they online, that seems like a killer deal.

i have been reading alot about halide. is electronic the way to go a lot of people like the pulse start pfo magnetic balasts they say they are work horses. i am not worried about noise. i am not sure, they say the electronic ones are real delicate. me and delicate don't get along sometimes.
Click to expand...

Electronic advantages:

About 25% savings on power
longer bulb life (suposedly)
longer ballast life
run cooler
no noise


Magnetic advantages:
About 25% more PAR on most bulbs....
Cheaper than electronics

If you havent looked at this page, it is a MUST have for any halide user.

http://www.reeflightinginfo.arvixe.com/selectperformancedata.php
 
Actually I must retract my statements about the magnetic being better PAR output. It totally depends on the bulb choice...So your best bet is to find the bulb you want first, then decide on the right ballast for that bulb. Just as a FYI, the XM 10k is highly used because its a nice crisp white and also is the highest PAR 10k bulb out there. EVC makes the second highest PAR 10k. Pending which bulb you choose the M58 or the electronic will be the better ballast. For the XM its the M58, for the EVC its the EVC electronic.

The only situation where the magnetic ballast is always better is if you use an M80 ballast which is an HQI ballast. I HIGHLY discourage using an M80 on anything but an HQI bulb. It will put out a TON of PAR but it will also burn out your bulb super fast.
 
+1 for the EVC setup, I believe there ballast put out 273watts which makes it one of the better ones out there. I believe a M58 puts out 330w or something like that.

My setup is nice if you don't want to have to buy extra lighting and I can keep any coral or clam in it I want.
 
THANKS TO THE THREE MUSKETEERS FOR GIVING ME THE INFO ON THE HALIDES. BRAD IS THAT THE SETUP YOU HAVE ON YOUR TANK IT SEEMS LIKE A GOOD DEAL I THINK I WILL HAVE TO WATCH WHEN THEY COME BACK IN STOCK I HAVE DECIDED ON TWO 250 WATT ANYWAY. 10K I THINK WILL GIVE ME THE BEST WHITE LIGHT FOR NOW I THINK. IT WILL BE A LITTLE WHILE BEFORE I CAN AFFORD SOME T-5 RETROS FOR ANTINIC. WILL THE HALIDES BE ALLRIGHT BY THEMSELVES FOR A WHILE?
 
You'll be allright with 10K halides by themselves indefinately. I've been doing it for years. Adding actinics is better as far as asthetics are concerned, IMO. It is also better to have that nice 450 nm spike available to your corals.

Also, though you've probably allready seen this, here's something that may help you decide on the lamp that you want.

http://metricksystem.com/chris/250wcolour/

http://www.cnidarianreef.com/lamps.cfm

That EVC setup has a very tempting price tag on it. But, a CCT of 6100 K for the EVC 10K on the EVC e-ballast is so ......... yellow. That would immediately turn me away from setting one up on a display tank ..... but the decision is ultimately up to you. You have a PM, in a moment.
 
Really?! That's something that I have to see to believe .... (no offense intended in any way). I mean, it says on Sanjay's page that the XM10K on an M58 has a CCT of 12000K. That's twice the CCT of the EVC 10K on an EVC e-ballast. PLus, the XM has a much larger spike at 420 nm. ... wierd ...
 
HEY BRAD IF YOU GET TIME CAN YOU SHOOT ME A PIC OF YOUR TANK WAS JUST WONDERING ABOUT THE LIGHTS I HAVE ALMOST MADE UP MY MIND ON THE EVC SETUP.

I AM ON A BUDGET AND NEW TO THE REEF THING.


E-MAIL PANABOY95@HOTMAIL.COM
 
Brad, just curious, but when have you seen in person a 10k EVC on an EVC ballast?? You have never run them personally so I am just curious (he runs the EVC 14k). From what I have read, the XM is very white. I havent read much about the EVC 10k though. The only numbers I have to go on are Sanjays for PAR. I havent looked beyond that.
 
That kit is a bit more expensive because those ballasts are more expensive than the EVC. I havent had any luck even finding the EVC ballast for sale anywhere other than OceanEncounters either :(. Anyone else find them anywhere?
 
THE ICECAP IS STILL A GOOD BALAST RIGHT? I WAS THINKING OF GETTING THIS SETUP. WAS WONDERING WHAT BULB TO GO WITH I WAS THINKING OF THE XM 10K OR XM 15K I WILL NOT HAVE ANY OTHER LIGHTS FOR A WHILE SO I WANT SOMETHING PRETTY WHITE OR A LITTLE BLUE BUT NOT YELLOW.
 
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