pfo dual 175 bulbs ?

[artfish]

What would be the best bulbs to use in my 175wt dual setup. I have the dual ballast and moguls over a 90g surfline. Also what would be the best height to put them at? I also have the jbj 4x65. Should i keep this running too or not. I would like to have some actinic lighting in the tank still. I like the blue!! Thanx alot for you help.

 

[Jeremy B.]

It really depends on what you want the tank to look like. I personally like the coloration of a crisp white 10k with the hint of blue from some supplemental actinics. If you like it to be a little more on the blue side, maybe take a look at the 12k Coralvue's, or 14k hamilton's. I personally would run your 4 x 65w pc's as your blue, then some AB or Ushio 10k's.

 

[artfish]

Thanx for the info. Is there a correct height that the mh should be set above the water surface? Also, should i arrange my jbj 4x65 at a slight higher elevation than the mh to avoid the heat from the mh bulbs getting to the plastic encasement or would the jbj be too high then to have any real affect? Thanx again for your help.

 

[Jeremy B.]

I would try to keep the MH's in the realm of 7"-12" off the water, although 9" is about right on. You could probably keep the JBJ's lower than the halides, just use your discretion on how much heat they are getting where the setup is located at.

 

[artfish]

Thanx again for helping me out. I will probably see ya soon. I need to pick up a better reflector.

 

[artfish]

Jeremy thanx for the help Friday. The reflectors worked out great. I got everything setup with no heat issues. Thanx again.

 

[Jeremy B.]

Glad they worked out well for you!

 

[ScottT]

Artfish, did you have problems with firing the 10k bulbs?

History:
I purchased the ballasts, sockets w/ wiring, and bulbs from Artfish and reflectors from PA. Got it all installed this weekend to find out the ballasts are struggling to fire the 10K Ushio and 10K Aqualine bulbs.

After posting my problem on another RC forum, it appears that these bulbs require pulse start ballasts and mine are just the standard probe ballasts. It seems that some reefers have no problems while other do. I have a dedicated 20A circuit for my tank and with everything (I mean EVERYTHING) unplugged, I can't fire both bulbs!

Artfish: I'm not complaining about you or what you sold me, but I am wondering if you had the same problems that I am having? If not, and I have the exact same hardware, then I'm very confused!

PA: If I can't find a solution for this problem, I will be ordering bulbs from you.. how do I determine whether a bulb is compatible with my ballast or not? If your answer is something like "german bulbs" vs "american made bulbs", then how do I know by the manufactures name whether they are german or american?

Thx, Scott

 

[artfish]

I never had any probs with the bulbs firing up. They do take a little time to reach their full potential. They do not turn on like a normal light bulb would. Everything that i had sold you was the exact same as what i was using. Everything was plugged into an outlet strip that was plugged right into my apartment outlet on the wall. I can even send you pics of the lights on that i sent to everyone else who was interested in the lights if you want. I hope you can get this prob solved because it bothers me too.

 

[ScottT]

Artfish, I hope I can get this figured out too! It's driving me nuts after all the planning that's gone into this... but obviously not enough planning.. I'm glad you didn't have problems and since you were in an apartment I'm sure you didn't have a 20A circuit dedicated to your tank, so that gives me hope that I'll figure something out... just very frustrating... Thx!

 

[Jeremy B.]

Hi Scott,

What happens if you fire up the system and just let it run for a couple hours? Will the lamps eventually start up?