Switching from 150 HQI Radium to 250 Radium for better growth

M

MisterP

New member
I posted this in lighting but I may get a better response here, so here goes.

Ok guys I am thinking about switching from my 150 HQI Radium on M81 with a Cayman Sun reflector to the exact same reflector with 250 SE Radium on M80. Tank is 18"x18"16" with no other lighting.

To much light for a 16" deep tank hung 9.5" off water?

I want to switch because the growth is almost nil and I want to keep some more light loving sticks. The ones that REALLY like getting blasted with light. I just worry about my red dragon and a few montis. The few acans I have are already on the bottom.

I have an Mp10 and may add another just to randomize it a bit more.

Parameters are stable within a small range

Alk: 8-9 dkh
Cal: 440-480
Mg: 1320-1400
NO3: 0-2ppm
PO4: when I measure which isn't very often---20-30ppb on Hanna
4 gallon WC every week with ESV salt.
I dose KZ Zeostart, spongepower and Zeobak.
5mL of ESV Alk per day and 3 mL of Cal per day keeps me in my range.

Colors are fine, everything is healthy, very little algae as I only clean a light film off the glass 2 times a week and my 2 turbos and a dozen small stomatellos work hard to find food. Coralline is booming.


Livestock:

2 Clowns, 1 Freidmani orchid dottyback,1 peppermint shrimp all get feed often. I feed them once a day with a few small chunks of Larrys Reef Frenzy. I also feed them 7-8 pellets every day so they eat pretty well.


Everything is pretty good just growth isn't real fast. I've got a stylo frag thats only grown about an inch in 5 months. I've got a zoanthid colony on the bottom that has only produced 4 additional polyps in the same time frame. Some pieces seem to grow ok just not great. I've thought about more random flow but I don't really see how that will help as the flow now is enough to shake the polyps around pretty good.

I think I just need a little more light and it may be something along the lines of a 20% gain that get me where I want to be without blowing everything out.

Here is a comparison of my lamp now and what I may go with. The 250 Radium on M80 might be to much so I'm thinking maybe a 250 Hamilton 14k or XM 20k on an eballast like the Lumatek or Coralvue selectable.

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How old is your tanks/frags? If the frags are new they will encrust before they grow up and out. It may take a few months before the start going. With 150's on a 16" deep tank you should be getting some growth if they have been in long enough.

The 250's would not be too much. It will be a good bit more light and heat. Make sure to reduce your duration a lot and slowly bring it up or you will fry what you have. I think the 250 radiums would be fine.
 
The tank has been running since January 10, 2014. Ive had the JF bug out stylo since about mid February and its grown maybe an inch and the color is not what it was when I got it. It still has just a hint of blue and I know stylo's love light thus the main reason I feel like I need 20-30% more punch. The other acro's that I really want need more light like mille's etc.

I have some zoa frags on the bottom of the tank that have only produced a few polyps in 5 months.

I only measured par with the 150 Radium to be about 200 at the top of my rocks and about 90-95 on bottom. This is with the light hung 9" from top of tank to bottom of fixture and then maybe another 2" inside the fixture to the bulb.

So from the bulb to the bottom of my tank is 26" and to the top of my rock work is 15-16".


One more note. I'm running the 150 for 9 hours a day.
 
Last edited:
1 inch in four months is not bad. Especially consider it probably spent some of that time encrusting and acclimating to your tank. Branching stonies grow between 2 and 4 inches per year in the wild, IIRC.
 
I had a 150 DE HQI Radium over my 16" deep frag tank on an M81 Hamilton ballast. I measured par mid way down in the tank right under the bulb at less than 200. I was not getting good growth or color from my SPS frags. I ended up switching to 5 24" T5 bulbs and the par is now over 200 uniformly throughout the tank. I would have gone with a 250w radium on an electronic ballast, which I use in my display, but the frag tank room is getting too hot this summer. I'll likely switch to a 250 W radium in the winter.
 
What reflector were e you using?

I'm thinking about the 250 W Hamilton 14 k bulb and a eballast that should give me about 20% more with not much more heat than I have now on the M81.

I'm just not sure the Radium would work properly on an eballast.
 
I see lots of people running 250 Radiums on 40 breeders which is only 2" taller than my tank. Lots of folks running 2 of them on 24" deep tanks. Even more people running 400's on 24" tanks with great results.

I think I'm going to 250 in a few months when it gets close to a bulb change. I think running the 250's on eballast would be less heat than a 150 HQI which is really closer to 180 W compared to the 240-250 W on eballast so I'm really on gaining about 30 % more. Plus eballasts are naturally cooler by design than an M80 or M81.

I also think that even if the 250 Radium bulb is to much I can run an XM 20k or something like a Ushio 14 k or similar that isn't the beast the Radium is.

Anyone agree/disagree with my thoughts? Does this seem logical?
 
According to Sanjay's lighting guide...

The 250 watt Radium on the Icecap electronic ballast puts out 66 PPFD
The 250 watt Hamilton 14k on the Icecap electronic ballast puts out 69 PPFD
The 250 watt XM 20k on the Icecap electronic ballast is at 53 PPFD

so...based on his tests...the Hamilton 14k would actually be a more powerful bulb than a radium when run on the same ballast (he doesnt have numbers for the coralvue ballast unfortunately, just the PFO m80, or icecap). The XM bulb would be slightly weaker than the Radium.

Having ONLY seen Radiums under M80 ballasts, and Plusrite 20k bulbs on Coralvue ballasts, my experience in judging halide colors is quite poor. Been in the hobby only a couple years now and literally everyone's tank I've gotten the chance to see in person (probably 5-10) total, not include public aquaria, were running leds or T5. Nobody around my area that I've met is big on MH.

My vote goes for the Radium bulb on the M80 ballast. It's alot of watts for your tank size, but if you use a tight reflector like a Lumenbright mini, it'll focus most of it straight down and you shouldnt have too much spill. Even still...the Radium bulb is not a par monster. People seem to love it for it's "magical" color rendering. I've just not seen a tank in pics or in person that quite has that...certain undefinable quality a radium on an m80 provides. If you want a par monster of a bulb, look into the XM 10k or Ushio 14k bulbs. Those are par monsters. Radium...not so much.
 
I have played the metal halide game for years and have only witnessed the 250w radium on one ballast that actually made me say WOW. PFO m80. The icecap just did not do it.The new electronics may but the tried and true end all is the m80. Good luck finding one.
 
MisterP said:
What reflector were e you using?



I'm thinking about the 250 W Hamilton 14 k bulb and a eballast that should give me about 20% more with not much more heat than I have now on the M81.



I'm just not sure the Radium would work properly on an eballast.
Click to expand...


I was using the small Hamilton ballast that I purchased from you!

The 250w radiums work great on the 250w HQI setting of the Galaxy select-a-watt. It produces a very bright white light with a hint of blue. Sanjay did not test this combo so I can't give you a ppf number. I supplement with actinic LED strips and love the look.
 
I'm running a 250 radium in a caymen sun over my 30 gallon. I think it's 16" deep. Only issue at first was the heat, but I have a fan that runs across the surface that controls the temp. No chiller.
 
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