If you could change, would you?

[glxtrix]

Your lights. What lights do you currently have (include wattage and K rating) and tell me if you'd change them or not. If so, what to? OK, ok, me first

I have 3x175W Iwasaki 15K ran by ARO ballasts. I also have 2x110W VHO super actinics. I love my setup! The bulbs kick amazing PAR and the heat is nothing to be concerned about. I think if I were to ever change lighting, there would have to be a change of tank along with it. I think I'd goto 400W 12K Reeflux. Only reason 400 is because I could raise them higher and not have to worry about heat. One day......one day. Alright, your turn!

 

[kwl1763]

If heat was no issue and electricty was free I would have 5 1000W Reeflux 12ks with no actinic.

Since that isn't the case I'm happy with my current setup. 3x250 XM 10ks and 2x250W DE 14 Phoenix with VHO actinics.

 

[gwhiz]

I've got six 80 watt T5's driven by IC 660 ballasts and one 54 watt T5 driven by an advance ballast. It's a mix of Blue Plus, 6500 GE, ProColor and Aqua Blue Special bulbs with one T5 Actinic.

I'm going to change the T5 Actinic out for a 6' VHO Actinic, but otherwise I'm pretty happy with my lighting....

 

[darren24]

Solaris.

 

[krb]

Darren24;171900 wrote: Solaris.

I second that

 

[glxtrix]

Come on Darren, play by the rules....what kind of lighting do you have now? If anything I want this thread to be informative, I want people to know what you have on your tank so if they have any questions about that particular setup, they can ask Peace, love and hippyness...uhh I mean happiness. Alright, I'm going to hug a tree now.

 

[raisingtwo2006]

I have 8 65w 10K power compacts on my 90.. I like it just fine.. It grows everything in there perfectly..

However, I would love to upgrade to MHs, I don't know size, output,but anything that would give my tank that beautiful shimmer would be wonderful.

 

[triga22]

Darren24;171900 wrote: Solaris.

:up:

 

[glxtrix]

Whats your current setup Tyler? And why do you want the Solaris?

 

[derek_s]

Solaris! I think this can/will be the future.

I have a Solara! Just 2 letters off. My setup is the stock 150W Solara pendant with Current USA 14k. So far it seems quite adequate for all my SPS, which is near the top. I will probably switch to a phoenix 14k sometime, though for the extra PAR and improved color.

On second though, maybe a house built around my tank with an active reflector system that tracks the sun, always reflecting light through an overhead shaft and into the tank. Then, a nice assortment of actinic and moonlight LEDs for evening and night viewing. Yeeeaahhh.

 

[sprayin70]

I have 8 T-5's. 4 overdriven and 4 regular ballasts. I love my lights. I would add a second icecap to the front 4.

 

[drnecropolis]

I'm running some cheap CA 15k 2x250 and 4x96 420nm bulbs and I am happy with them, the only thing I would change is to 3x250, but since my 180 is acrylic and only has 2 openings I don't think I would swap it, since it would melt the bracing lol

 

[wolfie]

I run Current USA with 2 150MH and 4 TC. Loving it it!!! But if I ever need/want to upgrade I would go with Solaris.

 

[skriz]

I have 4 x 400w mh on lumenmax reflectors. I'm in the process of changing bulbs, so I currently have 2 x xm 20k, 1 reeflux 12k, and 1 ushio 14k.

I'd like to do 8-10 250w SE on hqi ballasts. I would mix the bulbs to get the blue and the par. Sweeet!

 

[sailfish]

I used to run 250 10,000 liked the growth/par and thought I liked the color. Then I switched to 400 20,000k and I feel I will never go back. I want to try different bulbs but nothing above the look of a 14,000k. I run Usio 20,000k right now and will try Radiums or Helios next.

I do look forward to the improvements in the LED lights.

Joe

 

[glxtrix]

The XM's do look good on your tank Tee.

 

[xyzpdq0121]

Ummm... I will play along with this....

Tank 1) 55 gal with 2 XM 10K 175W bulbs and 2 48" T-%s (1 Pure Actinic and one Actinic plus)

I love this set up because the 10Ks have an OK par but without the T-5 make my tank look like someone peed in it.. But the T-5s do such a great job that it makes a great 14K look without a loss in PAR. I am fixing to try the Iwasaki 15K bulbs and see if I like the color still with the T-5. I do not know that I am going to get that much of a PAR jump from the 10K but I am interested because I hear that the Iwasaki 15K's last A LOT longer then the XMs. I would also like a few moon lights, I think it would help with all the spawning that I have going on in my tank and I miss being able to view the tank at night that I had with my old fixture.


Tank 2): On my 40 gal I have 4 36" T-5s driven by a workhorse 7 Ballast. Now that I am using the Icecap Reflectors, I am getting great Par. One bulb is a 10K 2 are Actinic plus and 1 is a True Actinic. It make a great blue color in the tank. I do miss my shimmer of the 55gal and it's halides though. The par is just as good, if not better then my 55gal tank though. I do not know if I would change anything about this lighting set up though. Maybe do some Cor-Ray-Zee Cameron idea and add some LEDs to try to get some shimmer back.

 

[sagent3000]

with heat not being an issue yes i would i would go with 3 DE 400w MH's but i am kind of happy with the t5's

 

[glxtrix]

I'm not so sure about them lasting longer Brandon. I've seen the color degrade quicker than other halides. I'd have to do a PAR test to see exactly how long they will last. My new ones are coming up on 5 months old, I'll do a PAR test soon and report my numbers. But you will see a PAR increase, I guarantee you that. Here are the PPFD comparisons.

EVC ballast XM - 72 Iwasaki - 87
Icecap ballast XM - 70 Iwasaki - 86
ARO ballast XM - 69 Iwasaki - 86
Advance M57 ballast XM - 62 Iwasaki - 71

 

[mojo]

I currently have two 1000w Hamilton 14Kk's. Quoting myself from another post:

Advantages of the 1000w lights:
<ul>
<li>More PAR than you can imagine... I could get ~1200 PAR at the corals (9" in the water) with 10kK lights (IIRC), and around 5-700 PAR at the corals with 14kK lights. At the bottom of the 26" tank, I'd get 250-300 PAR</li>
<li>Simpler lighting configuration. Some people may not see this as an advantage, but I've come to the conclusion that simpler is better, and the fewer lights and light types I have to have, the better. I'd rather have two large lights rather than 4 MH's + VHO. That's less bulbs to keep around, fewer types of bulbs, etc.</li>
<li>And who am I kidding, 1000w lights give bragging rights. Nothing quite says "I'm serious" in the same way... </li>
</ul>Disadvantages:
<ul>
<li>While the up-front cost is about the same as any other lighting system (around $250-300/light, although the bulbs are ~$120 each), each light is like running a small microwave. All day long... 2000watts or 18 amps takes up an entire circuit. My electric bill from the lights alone (at only 9hrs/day) is $50/mo.</li>
<li>They're freakin hot. People who have normal 250-400w lights and think they know just haven't experienced the full power of the 1000w-ers. I mean HOT - enough that my PVC within the hood had to be covered in aluminum foil b/c it was distorting and melting... and it was a foot away.</li>
<li>That heat goes somewhere, and I had to add active ventilation for the room, multiple fans everywhere, and a chiller. While this is all normal, a chiller runs almost all day in the summer. Add in another 9 amps for 9 hrs/day (we're up to $75/month in electricity for lights and chiller alone).</li>
<li>The latest research shows that there's a limit to how much corals can absorb, so it can be argued that there's no need for much over ~300 PAR.</li>
<li>My soft corals never did well, and I never had coraline algae due to the intense light</li>
</ul>I'd like to make the move to four 400w Reeflux 12k bulbs in LB mini reflectors + PFO or Coralvue ballasts, but that's a lot of money to pony up to swap out lights that are currently working fine...