Should I go with 250 or 400 MH? (2 Viewers)

[aqua-nut]

I need some advice. Which lamp system should I go with? I heard from a MARSH member that 250's are nearly as bright as 400's, or something to that regard. The cost of the systems is very little, but the bulb costs over time between the two may be sizeable.

My tank: 150 gallon reef ready that is 24 x 24 x 60

Here are my questions, nice and plain for those of you who have MH and are happy with your set up and can make recommendations. Please answer as many as possible in your replies so I can get as much input as possible. Thank you!!!

1. Should I go with a 3 lamp or two lamp setup?

2. Should the lamps be 400 or 250?

3. Should I pay the extra $80 to get electronic ballasts?

4. Will electronic ballasts let me fire pulse and probe style bulbs and widen my choices for lamps?

5. Should I keep part of my Actinic PC setup for light balance, or change to VHO?

 

[RR-MAN]

That is a very tall tank...hahaha
You meant to say 60X24X24....right
1-definitely 3-lamps. I have a 48" long tank and I have 2-250 lamp.
2-the 250 should be fine. I used to run a single 400/W on a 65/g tank and it gets very hot.
3-I use magnetic ballast. If you have the extra $ sure go ahead with electronic ballast. You'll also save $$$ on electricity.
4-I don't know
5-I never owned PC...always VHO

 

[aqua-nut]

thanks! Anyone else?

 

[Guest]

3x250's would be plenty for a 24" tall tank. That's what i run. But slap some VHO's on there as well.

 

[aqua-nut]

Boosted, what kind of lamps do you use? Are your ballasts pulse or probe or electronic?

 

[tvu]

Another good question is what kind of water temps do you have and do you have a chiller. MHs get HOT!

 

[spham]

I would go with 250w HQI magnetic ballast. Yes they use more energy, but they're brighter.

 

[jamesw]

To get good light levels at teh bottom of the tank use 400w x 2 or 3 lamps.

Have a look at Sanjay Joshi's articles in Advanced Aquarist Online Magazine to see the light level differences.

www.advancedaquarist.com

Cheers
James

 

[aqua-nut]

Got a chiller... no problem there.

James, I'll read the article you've suggested

 

[djreef]

I'd weigh cost factor. If there isn't that much difference, and you can justify the xtra scratch for 400watt HQI, then I'd do 3 across like JW suggests. Do you have a middle brace? That will make a difference in your decision, as well. You definitely don't want to hang a 400watt MH fixture over a brace.

DJ
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[aqua-nut]

Nope. European bracing.

Wondering though if anyone has HQI bulbs and would be willing to tell me what they had to do to glass-filter them. How does that work in a retrofit situation?

 

[djreef]

Pendants, my man, pendants.



DJ

 

[jamesw]

I didn't say HQI. I am using a 400w "German" lamp on a "regular old" M59 ballast myself, and it works great. E-ballasts are nice, but I dont' think they justify the cost - as shown by Sanjay's articles.

Cheers
James

 

[Guest]

i agree with James.

 

[cparka23]

you could always go with a combination of 400W and a 250W. it would depend on how you want to position everything. they say that the spread for MH is 2 feet. your tank is 5 feet, so it's kind of a borderline 2 or 3 lamp setup. tough call. Sorry, I know i'm not really helping here.

I'd switch over to VHO's or T5s for certain. and if you get an e-ballast for the MH, you'd have to check the description to find out if it will fire probe and/or pulse, i think...

one thing is for certain. most ballasts do not hit their labelled wattage, often overdriving the bulbs. i'd read up and do a little research here. it's Sanjay Joshi's page of his published works. and his lamp&ballast tests are compiled into a big database. very nice to go through if you're still in the planning phase. why pay for a ballast-bulb combination that uses 500W when you can get more PAR from something that uses less electricity?

 

[Guest]

Boosted, what kind of lamps do you use? Are your ballasts pulse or probe or electronic?

Sry, i use EYE magnetic ballasts w/ 10k Ushios. Water temp stays at a nice 80*F

 

[djreef]

Yea, I guess if cost is an issue - when is it not. I dunno, though, I just picked up a 250 watt PFO pendant w/ 20000K HQI bulb & elec. ballast for $225. Should be here Mon.

DJ
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[RR-MAN]

djreef,
That is a good price, including the bulb and electronic ballast. where on-line?

 

[djreef]

http://www.oceanencounter.com/


DJ
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