switching metal halide styles help decide! need pictures!!!

[Zacktosterone]

guys i'm thinking i'm going to run a DE setup in the near future and i need opinions and bulb and ballast combos. i'm not a fan of the 14k phoenix it's WAAAY too blue for me. heck i found radium 20ks WAY too blue without any supplementation. i'm trying to get almost a sunlight look. i like the color of the bulbs in julien sprung's tank and i love the color of adee's tank

https://cdn.************.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/adees-reef/dsc_0153.jpg

adee's tank is lit by sunlight. or was... not sure what he's doing now. but the only complaint is that it's a touch too yellow for my taste but i prefer it over the too blue lol.

anyway i'm looking for a crisp bright white.

pictures are very much appreciated and bulb and ballast combos with each picture would be great. remember i'm going DE not SE.

 

[ryansreef_26]

Well if you dont like too yellow or too blue the way to go is pheonix 14k i run 2 DE 250W pheonix on 2 dimmable lumatek electronic ballasts set at the HQI setting and i find it to be a little yellow for my liking, I also supplement with 4x 54W t5 ati blue plus, If you plan to keep SPS corals they will grow great under this set up but the color wont be as if it was under a 20K or radium, however double ended MH 250w are much weaker as in give out less par at 20k than they do in the pheonix 14k- i believe you cant beat the par and pleasing color to the eye that you get from a pheonix 14k bub, if you find it to be too blue for you, supplement with daylight or white t5s

 

[ryansreef_26]

here are the pics, this is a little more purple than usual, because I had 2x Fiji purple t5s, and 2x blue+ at t5s with the MH. ( pics taken with a cell phone sorry not the best) just copy and paste into browser.

file:///Users/Ryan/Desktop/FullSizeRender.jpg



file:///Users/Ryan/Desktop/IMG_1691%20(1).jpg

 

[cal3v]

14k DE Phoenix on a hamilton ballast is what I run, pretty crisp white as it comes when ran solo, no blue for me with this ballast. With actinic t5 is perfect for me, just a bit blue.

 

[Zacktosterone]

14k DE Phoenix on a hamilton ballast is what I run, pretty crisp white as it comes when ran solo, no blue for me with this ballast. With actinic t5 is perfect for me, just a bit blue.

How do you find they run on Hamilton ballasts? And how long have they been running on the ballast

 

[tmc1313]

In the past I ran the Hamilton 14k DE bulbs with their ballasts and thought the look was great. Not too blue at all. I also got my fastest growth using that bulb.

 

[Nanook]

Tank dimensions?

I personally like Ushio 10,000 Kelvin double ended bulbs on M80 ballast, with some blue supplements. If your tank is 6 foot or greater, you could put four 250's over it and mix the bulb combos a bit. 10K, 14K, etc.

 

[Zacktosterone]

Tank dimensions?

I personally like Ushio 10,000 Kelvin double ended bulbs on M80 ballast, with some blue supplements. If your tank is 6 foot or greater, you could put four 250's over it and mix the bulb combos a bit. 10K, 14K, etc.

60x24x18. It's pretty shallow. I was going to use 3 bimini sun fixtures. You said m80 ballasts I can get them no problem but I would prefer to use electronic ballasts because they're easier to store and mount. I was going to go with luxcore 250-400 selectable ballasts, i just don't know what wattage to run them on. Do you see that being a problem??

also, i'm trying to replicate this color
http://reefkeeping.com/joomla/index.php/current-issue/article/140-tank-of-the-month

 

[Nanook]

60x24x18. It's pretty shallow. I was going to use 3 bimini sun fixtures. You said m80 ballasts I can get them no problem but I would prefer to use electronic ballasts because they're easier to store and mount. I was going to go with luxcore 250-400 selectable ballasts, i just don't know what wattage to run them on. Do you see that being a problem??

also, i'm trying to replicate this color
http://reefkeeping.com/joomla/index.php/current-issue/article/140-tank-of-the-month

M80 burn the Ushio 10K bulbs to spec, and a bright white. The M80 ballasts can last for 10-20 years as well, not many electronic ballasts will do that either. No doubt the blue background, crystal clear water (ozone and/or carbon), and 3 400 watt 10K bulbs with blue supplements gives that TOTM the beautiful daylight look. I'm not a huge fan of electronic ballasts as I've seen so many fail after a few years, other reefers not myself.

 

[Zacktosterone]

M80 burn the Ushio 10K bulbs to spec, and a bright white. The M80 ballasts can last for 10-20 years as well, not many electronic ballasts will do that either. No doubt the blue background, crystal clear water (ozone and/or carbon), and 3 400 watt 10K bulbs with blue supplements gives that TOTM the beautiful daylight look. I'm not a huge fan of electronic ballasts as I've seen so many fail after a few years, other reefers not myself.

Ok So m80 is the way to go. Isn't that limiting in regards to bulb choices if I use the m80

I understand that their are many factors at play... But what is my best option of I want to replicate that in rgards to bulb choice. I'm trying to achieve as similar a high definition natural sunny look as I can

 

[cal3v]

How do you find they run on Hamilton ballasts? And how long have they been running on the ballast

They run great! Probably over 4 years on the same ballast, different bulbs.


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[Piper27]

I am changing bulbs and ballasts too and want to hear more on this. I have always ran 10k xm and or reflux 12k on lumatek ballasts 400w hqi setting. Is the m80 ballast ok for any bulb?

 

[Nanook]

Hamilton makes a 250 HQI ballast as well. Lighting is personal preference, I'd suggest looking at different tanks running metal halides if you don't want to spend the money up front. IMO, after 16 years in metal halides, the 250 watt Radium/M80 ballast is the gold standard. Supplement with whiter T5 or LED if it's too blue for your tastes.

I typically run the Radiums for 16-18 months.

 

[Zacktosterone]

I am changing bulbs and ballasts too and want to hear more on this. I have always ran 10k xm and or reflux 12k on lumatek ballasts 400w hqi setting. Is the m80 ballast ok for any bulb?

i found this on reefkeeping.com

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-03/sj/index.php

all of these DE 250 watt bulbs are good for an m80 ballast

Aquaconnect 14,000K
Aqualine Buschke 10,000K, 20,000K
BLV Nepturion 10,000K, 14,000K, 20,000K
CoralVue 10,000K, 14,000K, 20,000K
CoralVue ReefLux 10,000K, 12,000K
EVC 10,000K, 14,000K, 20,000K
Giesemann Megachrome Marine 12,500K
Giesemann Megachrome Coral 14,500K
Giesemann Megachrome Blue 22,000K
Hamilton 14,000K
Helios 12,500K, 20,000K
PFO Lighting Krystal Star
Phoenix Electric HexArc 14,000K
Ushio Aqualite 10,000K, 14,000K, 20,000K
XM 10,000K, 15,000K, 20,000K

 

[Piper27]

Thanks Zacktosterone!
Also I am trying to find out which de bulb under 14k has the best part ratings.

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[Zacktosterone]

Thanks Zacktosterone!
Also I am trying to find out which de bulb under 14k has the best part ratings.

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I'm going to assume it's ushio. I will find the article

 

[Esper]

I agree with others here that you want an Ushio 10k metal halide for a bright white sunshine look. It looks like you are at the beach.

Ushio 10k will be a little stark, but it actually has a large peak in the blue spectrum. Our eyes just don't see it as well. Most people back in the day would use 420nm or 450nm actinic VHO supplements (or T5's now). Even then, you will have a nice white look. Your corals will grow like weeds.

Do not use a 14k bulb if you didn't like the Phoenix. It looks like pale windex to me. A lot of people like it, but it is very blue. Almost Turquoise. Ushio 20k looks more purple than blue, but I liked it as a standalone bulb.

 

[dadummy]

man good, thread been a long time coming since the LED craze. This thread needs some pics. I have been at a loss trying to compare bulb choices from older threads and most of the bulbs have been discontinued. Since being a T5 user and jumping on the LED band wagon, on this build I went with halides. 3 x 250w reef optix with blue wave M80 ballasts, supplemented by diy LED panels on a 150g( 72x18). Figured when I bought the used lights could change out the pendants and run Radium. With the tank being 18" and having dual overflows, the reef optix pendants work well, and switching to larger pendants would be wasted light on the overflows.
I was planning on running XM 10k but of course they were discontinued. So I settled for the phoenix. The phoenix to me are not too blue, everything looks washed out however. I ran oddysea 20k which are more blue, look dimmer Hopefully this thread will help make a decision on next bulb purchase. Have been thinking about building a new canopy and putting T5/LED back in. Could do it for around the same price and new halide bulbs, just too lazy.

 

[biecacka]

Zach, why didn't you like the leds?
I run a Hamilton 20k 250watt on my tank and love the color. I use a few led strips to lengthen my viewing period since my work schedule is weird.


Corey

 

[Zacktosterone]

Zach, why didn't you like the leds?
I run a Hamilton 20k 250watt on my tank and love the color. I use a few led strips to lengthen my viewing period since my work schedule is weird.


Corey

Which ones? The g3 pros?

I just find that halide seems to grow the coral evenly and rounded without a sparatic pattern. I also find it easier to deal with. Probably because I don't feel the need to tweak it constantly. The growth and color with the g3 was ok but too much floressence vs true color of the corals... But the growth with the halides is just faster... The biggest reason though for switching back to halides though is I like the look a lot better, more natural. Another major major reason is that the support and customers services I get from dave at Hamilton technolog is 10000% second to none. Guy goes out of his way exponentially every single time.