Help in Choosing New MH's

Reef Aquarium & Tank Building Forum

Help Support Reef Aquarium & Tank Building Forum:

wanareef

wanareef

reefer addict
Joined
Aug 26, 2003
Messages
250
Location
Portland, OR
Been out for a couple of years, but got the bug again. Saved my dual PFO HQI ballast, WorkHorse 7's and some pumps just in case I got back into reefing.

I'm at the design/planning stage, the tank will be out of one sheet of 3/8's acrylic with rear external overflow, about 80gal's, the sump also out of one sheet of 1/4" acrylic about 48gals. CL will be a Sequence 5200 with 4 returns, one in each corner of the tank (lockline?) and two 2" inlets to feed the pump. Tank and sump will be diy.

Skimmer will be a (diy) Beckett recirc pushed by a 55rlt with the Beckett mod

Lights, thinking of these pendants L3 DE Lumen Bright Pendant 250W HQI from Custom Aquatic with the 14,000K Phoenix HQI "Double Ended" - 250W from HelloLights or the Reefflux 12K.

I thought that I could reuse the PFO's but the newer e ballast's would save $$ to run so the question is:

Anyone use these ballast:

ARO e ballast 250W #61003

Lumatek 250W/120V Digital Ballast

IceCap 250 Watt Electronic Metal Halide/HQI Ballast

Bulbs

Phoenix 14k DE

Reefflux 12k DE

I'm leaning toward the ARO or the Lumatek as I've heard good things about them and the price is right. IceCap is IceCap been around for some time and a little more $$. Either bulb , like a bright white with some blue. But you get what you pay for.

TIA
 
Last edited:
check out he dual 250 GALLAXY ballast on Sunlightsupply! only 269 for electronic dual 250 ballasts can run HQI!
And you can get your lumen bright pendants there too!
 
Your dual PFO HQI ballast should be okay. Recently I read about some testing that Sanjay Joshi performed comparing the light output when using magnetic ballasts vs using electronic ballasts. Here is one of his tests comparing various 250W lamps and various 250W ballasts.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/2/aafeature/view?searchterm=None

The Magnetic ballast does use more power, but the ight output is higher as well.


Gary
 
Last edited:
I've used the Icecap E-ballasts for several years with zero issues. One thing to note is that they wont run XM DE bulbs. You need an HQi ballast to run those bulbs. Nah20 here on the board has an ARO ballast and has used it for many years with zero issues that I have heard about.

I was unaware that the Galaxy E ballast would run DE bulbs, but have used Sunlight Supply reflectors and bluewave ballasts for some time as well with very few problems. The problems were resolved by their customer service to my satisfaction. One thing to note is that the Glaxay E ballast is a dula unit. So if one goes bad, you are going to have to send the entire thing off for warranty work. This is what SLS told me over the phone while I was speaking with them and asking them about the ballast. For that reason, if you decide to purchase one of those ballasts, I would hang on to your magnetic ballasts just in case something went wrong.

A friend of mine has the Lumenbright pendants and they look great. I havent seen any studies on them by Sanjay Joshi, but I was impressed by what I saw, and I "know" several people here on the net are using them and like them. I'm using the Lumenmax 2's by SLS. Love em, but would seriously consider using the Lumenbrights in the future based on what I saw with my friend's tank.

The Phenix 14k is a great bulb with high PAR numbers, (right about AB10K numbers) for a blueish bulb. On an HQI ballast, the bulbs will appear more white than blue.

Nick
 
lumatek ballasts are sweet!!
as good as ice cap if not better, better than aro, pfo, & galaxy.

and the iwaki 55rlt is not big enough to drive a beckett...you want 1300-2000gph foer a single injector to really perform
and are you talking about the shortening and extra holes mod on the beckett injector?
 
Thanks guys for the info. I'll use the PFO's for a little while while I decied on another ballast to drive the DE's. Looks like the Phoenix 14k will be the bulb of choice w/the Lumenbrights. I was going to DIY on the LumenArcs, got the pattern all cut and ready to go, but saw the piece on reflectors by Sanjay more light spread but have to be raised higher.

Yes, it's the Beckett mod on RC, close off the big holes and drill many smaller holes at the same area. Many have experiment on going to a small pressure pump instead of a bigger one and gotten better results.
 
maxx said:
I've used the Icecap E-ballasts for several years with zero issues. One thing to note is that they wont run XM DE bulbs. You need an HQi ballast to run those bulbs. Nah20 here on the board has an ARO ballast and has used it for many years with zero issues that I have heard about.

I was unaware that the Galaxy E ballast would run DE bulbs, but have used Sunlight Supply reflectors and bluewave ballasts for some time as well with very few problems. The problems were resolved by their customer service to my satisfaction. One thing to note is that the Glaxay E ballast is a dula unit. So if one goes bad, you are going to have to send the entire thing off for warranty work. This is what SLS told me over the phone while I was speaking with them and asking them about the ballast. For that reason, if you decide to purchase one of those ballasts, I would hang on to your magnetic ballasts just in case something went wrong.

A friend of mine has the Lumenbright pendants and they look great. I havent seen any studies on them by Sanjay Joshi, but I was impressed by what I saw, and I "know" several people here on the net are using them and like them. I'm using the Lumenmax 2's by SLS. Love em, but would seriously consider using the Lumenbrights in the future based on what I saw with my friend's tank.

The Phenix 14k is a great bulb with high PAR numbers, (right about AB10K numbers) for a blueish bulb. On an HQI ballast, the bulbs will appear more white than blue.

Nick
Click to expand...
there is a thread on reef central about the lumenbrights seemed interesting i am picking up 3 and i will post some before and after pics
 
wanareef said:
Yes, it's the Beckett mod on RC, close off the big holes and drill many smaller holes at the same area. Many have experiment on going to a small pressure pump instead of a bigger one and gotten better results.
Click to expand...

imo, not as powerful as if you were overdriving the injector with say 2000gph...

also, you said this skimmer will be a DIY, as in it's not made yet???
if that's the case bail on the beckett injector all together...
your much better off using different mesh modded pump and a bubble plate, ie, sicce psk 2500, or askoll/laguna 1500, less watts, same power, better dwell, and stinkier skimmate. :)

and i would bag on the large pump closed loop for an 80g too...
a waste of energy and more potential places for plumbing failure. not to mention the finger sized outlets with high flow are unnatural. i would suggest tunze/koralia style wide flow low watt pumps, or vortec pump w/ external motor, vastly more appropriate flow for corals, much less watts.
 
FWIW, the reflector makes a world of differencein light output and dispersion, but color spectrum is what you will likely spend the most time/anguish on..... look at as many systems as you can & compare the look of the animals YOU want to keep under the lighting they have. Good luck :) D
 
Lumenarc minis are great and phoenix 14K on an HQI ballast look great! I like the sunlight supply blue wave ballasts.
 
Hay SkimerWisperer,

if that's the case bail on the beckett injector all together...
your much better off using different mesh modded pump and a bubble plate, ie, sicce psk 2500, or askoll/laguna 1500, less watts, same power, better dwell, and stinkier skimmate

Got any pictures or links? I've been out of the hobby I guess a little too long. I guess I could build me one of these for myself , still have the 10" tube but need the pumps. Copy of a Deltic that is still going strong. Forgot what kind of pumps I used - old age :confused:

Thanks for the ideas :D


loonhunter - I'd be interested as well pls post lots of pictures :rolleyes:
 
Last edited:
wanareef said:
Hay SkimerWisperer,

if that's the case bail on the beckett injector all together...
your much better off using different mesh modded pump and a bubble plate, ie, sicce psk 2500, or askoll/laguna 1500, less watts, same power, better dwell, and stinkier skimmate

Got any pictures or links? I've been out of the hobby I guess a little too long. I guess I could build me one of these for myself , still have the 10" tube but need the pumps. Copy of a Deltic that is still going strong. Forgot what kind of pumps I used - old age :confused:

Thanks for the ideas :D

loonhunter - I'd be interested as well pls post lots of pictures :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

the modded sicce pumps are available to purchase seperately, and they get 50scfh of air @ 25 watts, which is more than a beckett, without all that extra gph of water going through the skimmer, so much more dwell time, waaay smaller bubbles (which means more surface area to pick up nutrients), and about 1/4 the watt consumption if not less

http://saltwaterconnection.com/inde..._id=55&zenid=eff2c86e3df26e76edf383e23eb01964

and then the askoll/laguna 1500 pond pump (which is prolly overkill for your system unless you were going to upgrade later) will get you 80 scfh @ 65watts. you buy the regular pond pump, then buy the modified volute/venturi/needlewheel seperately

http://saltwaterconnection.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=4&products_id=60

and here's a couple skimmers using the sicce pump that would be good to mimic the design of:
http://www.shop.reeffiltration.com/product.sc?categoryId=2&productId=21

http://www.shop.reeffiltration.com/product.sc?categoryId=2&productId=16
 
I've heard of the 20K's working just fine, but the 10k DE's are problematic.

Mark,
Intersting website....didnt see any rating for the skimmers though?

Nick
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

mattseattle
Lighting design help for my new tank
2 3 4
Replies
63
Views
2K
mattseattle
mattseattle
F
The Beginning: Jeff's 60 Gallon
Replies
16
Views
2K
Krish
Krish
mojoreef
Reeftank Lighting Research
Replies
0
Views
6K
mojoreef
mojoreef
Back
Top