Best supplement for 400w radium

jda · Jan 17, 2018

...or if you are going to add 200W of T5 to a 400W halide, just get a pair of 250W Halides, put them closer together for better coverage and less wattage.

Abhishek · Jan 17, 2018

jda said:
...or if you are going to add 200W of T5 to a 400W halide, just get a pair of 250W Halides, put them closer together for better coverage and less wattage.

Thats exactly what I do for the winter - i.e 8 months of the year . Run 2x250 watts in a lumenarc mini refelctor over a 30 in x 30 in x 18 inch tank.
But mine is only 18 inch deep. When its 31 inches, am not sure if 2x250 watt radium will still provide enough PAR at the bottom of the tank .

Regards,
Abhishek

Biglurr54 · Jan 17, 2018

I thought about 2 halides but the dimensions are hard to get even coverage with two. 3 would be better. But the 250 won't punch 31 inches. I think I will have great growth and decent color with just the 400w Radium but I'm looking to get that extra pop in the colors that you see with all the modern stuff. I feel like this is an area halide just doesn't do as well as led or t5.

jda · Jan 17, 2018

There are reflectors that will definitely go down 31 inches with 250s. The Cozumel Sun is not one of them... it is spreading reflector.

In any case, you choose well. 20K Radium pops better than any T5 or LED without the blacklight look. You might be surprised once you get it going... just pure pop with no tricks.

A. grandis · Jan 18, 2018

Biglurr54 said:
Interesting how everyone thinks t5 is the way to go. Will t5 have the power to punch down in a 31 DEEP TANK. I know I can work with optics on leds to get the depth.

T5s can easily reach 24" at ~7" from water surface.
Don't forget they are only supplemental to your 400W halides.
I'm not sure why you're so worried. Hehe.
That's plenty light and the quality that you won't regret!
Grandis.

A. grandis · Jan 18, 2018

Dana Riddle said:
I prefer LEDs because of their longevity, but with that said, there are some things we don't fully understand about the effects near-monochromatic light such as LEDs. On the other hand, anecdotal reports of increased coloration (such as reds in Seriatopora hystrix) won't go away, leading me to believe that there really is something to it. But I'm just not a big fan of changing lamps every 6 months or so.

Changing the T5s every year is totally acceptable.
I would say that 8 to 10 months would be ok, but I change my bulbs every 12 months.
The halides can go even longer than that..
Grandis.

surgeon1 · Jan 18, 2018

my 700 is 131"x36"x36 inches and is lit by 5 400 watt radiums. it does light it up decently but low par deeper down. I am planning on supplementing the light with leds. but was planning on high cri warm whites 40 watt emitters surrounded by a mix of royal blue, cyan, lime, violet of 3 different nm, and pc amber. haven't yet mocked it up yet, but have all the supplies. my intention is to raise the par while actually shifting the tank away from the blue look while adding a bit of punch with the violets. also it will let me do an actinic sunrise sunset which ive missed since getting rid of vho actinics. I would start the tank with just the radiums and then tune the color with diy leds to taste, but that is just me.

Biglurr54 · Jan 18, 2018

Nice. That seems like quite a build for supplement leds. What reflectors are you using. I was going to use rb and 2 different violet nm in my "actinic supplement" the thought was that I could switch to a 10k xm bulb which will drive par up and the actinic leds will supplement the higher Kelvin.

I'm running a 150w 10k xm on a m81 ballast. I have 12 luxeon rb leds and 4 semi led hyper violet 3.0 leds for supplementation. I love how it looks but my corals seem to loose color over time. Typically the reds and oranges disappear. Greens really pop. Oranges pop well also. I'm looking to get better colors with my next build. The radium might achieve that for me.

Biglurr54 · Jan 26, 2018

Alright I tried the 400w Radium on the dry tank. It was way too Windex blue for my taste. I threw in a pulserite 14k and it's just right. I don't know if it will have enough uv pop like the radium but it's a good crisp white/blue combo.

mtraylor · Jan 27, 2018

https://www.marinedepot.com/Reef_Br...MIiffYl8342AIVxBuBCh2H6gYIEAQYAiABEgJas_D_BwE

Bill Saucier · Jun 29, 2019

Biglurr54 said:
Alright I tried the 400w Radium on the dry tank. It was way too Windex blue for my taste. I threw in a pulserite 14k and it's just right. I don't know if it will have enough uv pop like the radium but it's a good crisp white/blue combo.

I know this and old thread, but I'm wondering which ballast you're using for the 400 watt Radium. It's not really a 20,000 Kelvin color temperature if properly driven, but that can be tough in the US because the precise ballast is not available.

I'm pretty much settled on the 250 watt, but the M80 magnetic ballast for that is available.