is this light okay mh

[that novice guy]

I decided to go with mh and ox you have any input on what i should change just tell me

+bulb Phoenix 250w 14000k
+ ballast lumatek 250 digital
+reflector coralvue lumen bright

Led
Maybe 2 48' inch stunner to create a dusk to dawn effect and help make my corals pop and supplement their growth

I will have the light hanged 15 to 24 inches off the water due to my tank is 4L 2W 1H and each light will cover a 2x2 area

And when should i have the LED s ramp up and down as well as the mh to make the dusk to dawn effect


And any input would be appreciated

 

[revsgirl]

:bump2:

 

[that novice guy]

:bump2:

Would you know revs?

 

[tinkerman]

Are you using the lumen bright large reflecters? I have a 125 and use lumen bright mini's, m80 ballasts, and radium's and get at least 250 par or higher on the sand with the bottom of the reflecter 16-18" off the water. I would go with the phoenix se not the de bulb, select a watt ballast. I might look into lumen max reflecter something not so concintrated. Halide you should be between 6-8 hrs a day. Led I wouldn't do much more than 12 hrs. I noticed runing moon lighting to long I get cloudy water.

 

[that novice guy]

Are you using the lumen bright large reflecters? I have a 125 and use lumen bright mini's, m80 ballasts, and radium's and get at least 250 par or higher on the sand with the bottom of the reflecter 16-18" off the water. I would go with the phoenix se not the de bulb, select a watt ballast. I might look into lumen max reflecter something not so concintrated. Halide you should be between 6-8 hrs a day. Led I wouldn't do much more than 12 hrs. I noticed runing moon lighting to long I get cloudy water.

I would be using the mini and iwill look into the max lumen and so you think i should change my ballast and bulb but i do like the radium just not the m80 ballast and i like the se bulbs too

 

[tinkerman]

Phoenix makes a se and de bulb in the 250 watt. I have heard that de bulbs in larger reflecters you don't get good par with the combo. the GF has a lumenarc mini and gets around 150 par on the sand in a 40 breeder. The phoenix and radium are both hqi spec bulbs, so if you aren't going to run them on m80 at least get the select a watt ballast to push them closer to spec. Lumatek MULTI-WATTAGE 250W-400W Metal Halide Electronic Ballast - AquaCave.com or the 175/250 model. The only reason for recomending the lumen max is your tank dimensions if i got it right are 48"x24"x12" 12" tall right. You won't loose much punch from the mini's in that 12". In the 125 I go from about 400 at top of rocks to 250 in the corners on sand. I have a few spots on the sand at 500 par.

 

[tinkerman]

If you are interested i took par reading on my tank that you can look at. I run 3x 250 radiums, m80 ballasts, and lumen bright mini's. https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/ge...photosynthetic-active-radiation-readings.html

 

[that novice guy]

Phoenix makes a se and de bulb in the 250 watt. I have heard that de bulbs in larger reflecters you don't get good par with the combo. the GF has a lumenarc mini and gets around 150 par on the sand in a 40 breeder. The phoenix and radium are both hqi spec bulbs, so if you aren't going to run them on m80 at least get the select a watt ballast to push them closer to spec. Lumatek MULTI-WATTAGE 250W-400W Metal Halide Electronic Ballast - AquaCave.com or the 175/250 model. The only reason for recomending the lumen max is your tank dimensions if i got it right are 48"x24"x12" 12" tall right. You won't loose much punch from the mini's in that 12". In the 125 I go from about 400 at top of rocks to 250 in the corners on sand. I have a few spots on the sand at 500 par.

Okay so you think i will be fine with what i have
Lumatek digital selecta watt
Lumen mini or the. Lumen max
Phoenix 14000k se bulb

And whats really the difference between the mini and the max


And wow i kinda cant believe that that the gf tank par was that low with metal halide and yea that is the measurment of my tank the only reason i want metal because they have better longer results than led or t5 ive heard but i also like the look of them

 

[tinkerman]

Lumen bright mini is a very focused reflecter and the lumen max is less focused better spread. The lumen max and lumenarc reflecters have good spread and lumenmax elite and lumen bright mini have less spread but more punch. Think of a maglite flashlite with the manual focus. She is runing a phoenix de bulb in lumenarc reflecter on m80 ballast mounted about 14-16" from bottm of reflecter to top of water. So it is mounted pretty high. It should be about 8-10" off water for that reflecter and lumen bright mini's are suposed to be 14-16" off water I think. Something else you might be interested in. http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2009/1/review

 

[that novice guy]

Okay that makes sense but wont i just have to put the minis up higher to get more spread plus less heat will enter the tank while still have enough to suport my corals?

 

[tinkerman]

Sure you can do that. I don't think you will have a problem with spread from the mini's it will be the problem of being able to keep them high enough not to burn the coral. After you get them 16" off the water their is very little heat added into the aquarium. I would say keep them at least 24" off the water or more. I have had mine 24" off the water and still gotten 200 at the sand. I did add a link to my last post for you.

 

[that novice guy]

Sure you can do that. I don't think you will have a problem with spread from the mini's it will be the problem of being able to keep them high enough not to burn the coral. After you get them 16" off the water their is very little heat added into the aquarium. I would say keep them at least 24" off the water or more. I have had mine 24" off the water and still gotten 200 at the sand. I did add a link to my last post for you.

Yea i couldnt really see the picture as well. Im on a tablet. So you think i should hange it at 24inch or more but other people where telling me around 16inches but 24 makes more sense. Because i only have to go threw 12 inches of water. Okay so about how long do you think i should have them burn? And thanks for all the help by the way

 

[tinkerman]

I don't see you having a problem with spread, but to much puch from the light. I have had mine 24" off water and still get 200 par on the sand. I would keep them at least 24" off the water or higher. After you get them over 16" off water you don't notice much heat added to tank. I edited my last post with a link for you.

 

[that novice guy]

I don't see you having a problem with spread, but to much puch from the light. I have had mine 24" off water and still get 200 par on the sand. I would keep them at least 24" off the water or higher. After you get them over 16" off water you don't notice much heat added to tank. I edited my last post with a link for you.

Okay thanks thats better the par is really good.

So how long do you have them on because ive read from people that they only turn on their lights for 3 hours to 5 hours and i dont understand why for not longer?

 

[tinkerman]

Sorry bout the double post looked and thought I forgot to push the send button and didn't notice the second page started lol. Coral vue recomends the 16" asif you mount them closer you start seeing shadows at the top of the tank cause the light hasn't spread out enough yet like running a 24" t5ho light on a 36" tank kind of thing. I run my lights for 6 hrs a day. Not sure I can explain this very well but here goes. With the high end reflecters its like running for 4 hrs straight and walking for all day with cfl lights. The coral will only use so much light per day with their metabalizum. Brighter light higher metabilizum less light slower and can handle longer lighting. Sorry that might not be the best way to explain it and you may want to find a better thread to read about it. 5-8 hrs is the norm for running halides.

 

[that novice guy]

Sorry bout the double post looked and thought I forgot to push the send button and didn't notice the second page started lol. Coral vue recomends the 16" asif you mount them closer you start seeing shadows at the top of the tank cause the light hasn't spread out enough yet like running a 24" t5ho light on a 36" tank kind of thing. I run my lights for 6 hrs a day. Not sure I can explain this very well but here goes. With the high end reflecters its like running for 4 hrs straight and walking for all day with cfl lights. The coral will only use so much light per day with their metabalizum. Brighter light higher metabilizum less light slower and can handle longer lighting. Sorry that might not be the best way to explain it and you may want to find a better thread to read about it. 5-8 hrs is the norm for running halides.

Okay thanks for the help and yea it makes sense, they can only take up so much before it overloads and they start to not be happy first i will start at 5 hours then work from but how will i know if i need To run them longer? And i think i will hange them at 24" due to the weaird measurements of my tank and what kind of corals do you have in your tank and do you have anyother suplementing light like t5 or led,vho on your tank

 

[tinkerman]

The only other lights I run are some leds. They are for cars. I have 6 of them, each strip has 9 blue leds and I think they are 1/3 watt or 1/2 watt leds. i run them for 12 hrs I think. Just so I can veiw tank a little more. They don't mess with or you can't tell they are on with the halides. I have mostly sps, I have a wall frog spawn, favia, duncans, trumpets, and a galaxia coral and a clam, oh and a war paint scolly. I'm not sure if its the light intensity or the low nutrients that gives me problems with keepig lps. I can't keep blasto's, chalices, and nems. I finally got a nem to stay alive for over 2 weeks now and have been tring to up my trates. Not sure what to tell you about how to tell how long to run them or to know what is too long or not long enough. I know coral colors are one thing to look for.

 

[that novice guy]

The only other lights I run are some leds. They are for cars. I have 6 of them, each strip has 9 blue leds and I think they are 1/3 watt or 1/2 watt leds. i run them for 12 hrs I think. Just so I can veiw tank a little more. They don't mess with or you can't tell they are on with the halides. I have mostly sps, I have a wall frog spawn, favia, duncans, trumpets, and a galaxia coral and a clam, oh and a war paint scolly. I'm not sure if its the light intensity or the low nutrients that gives me problems with keepig lps. I can't keep blasto's, chalices, and nems. I finally got a nem to stay alive for over 2 weeks now and have been tring to up my trates. Not sure what to tell you about how to tell how long to run them or to know what is too long or not long enough. I know coral colors are one thing to look for.

Okay thanks for all of your help it helped me out alot i ithought no one was going to responed but thanks

 

[Singlefin]

Not trying to screw you up, but I would suggest researching LEDs a little more. A lot of benefits in the long run. Less energy consumption. Less heat. No need to change bulbs. Can tweak the colors to your preference. A lot of people are proving you can get great growth from LEDs. Some Hardcore MH guys don't believe you can get growth from LEDs. Good luck.

 

[that novice guy]

Not trying to screw you up, but I would suggest researching LEDs a little more. A lot of benefits in the long run. Less energy consumption. Less heat. No need to change bulbs. Can tweak the colors to your preference. A lot of people are proving you can get great growth from LEDs. Some Hardcore MH guys don't believe you can get growth from LEDs. Good luck.

Yea i know leds can give great growth but ive seen that their is no longterm growth and that metal halide is proven and i do plan to keep sps soon.