Red Sea Max S400 Metal Halide Lighting

[VR28man]

I wonder what the light spread is on the 150W version. Anyone know if I'd get away with 2 or would I need 3 on a 5 foot long 30" wide 17" deep tank?

@jda recommended 150w for a ~17” deep tank iirc. (but i leave his real opinions for himself of course. )

I’d get two. i asked Hamilton Technology before and they said:

Thank you for your email. Each Bali Sun will cover 2-3 feet of tank length depending on how high you hang it above the water.

I recommend starting it at around 8” – 12” above the water and lowering or raising it depending on your light needs and the amount of heat
transfer (which should be minimal since it is being suspended above the water). Start there and see how your corals respond, then raise or lower
it. You can go down to 6” above. Most customers I speak with suspend it about 12” above. Much of it will depend on what is in your tank.

Same applies for the Bimini. Bimini gives less of a footprint. It is more concentrated. Bali Sun gives a larger footprint of light.

Also, I wouldn’t bother with mh unless i were going heavy sps. (like i am ). leds should work for softies and lps. i even know one person who has an led lit sps only tank. (he has like 85w of leds per 12”, with a very good spread in each fixture). But MH is supposed to be the best for lots of sps.


eta: previous thread

Help Me Pick a Light Fixture...

So, I'll be hopefully getting a new tank this summer, and am thinking about lighting. Main option will be either a 36x18x20 tank (57gallon) or 48x18x20 (standard 75 gallon). (as an aside, IMO lighting them is just the same, except you need an extra pendant or an addition 12" of T5) So I'm...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[C. Eymann]

I wonder what the light spread is on the 150W version. Anyone know if I'd get away with 2 or would I need 3 on a 5 foot long 30" wide 17" deep tank?

It's all about the reflector used, if the tank you just described is going to be an SPS reef, you will want 3x250w, depending on braces, two would probably work as well 150s just dont do it for bigger tanks, 150/70w are for nanos mostly IMO. Very popular before LEDs people would mod 32g bio cubes with clamp on 150w/70 w Halides

 

[C. Eymann]

I wonder what the light spread is on the 150W version. Anyone know if I'd get away with 2 or would I need 3 on a 5 foot long 30" wide 17" deep tank?

Again, personal opinion, but if you are doing a MH only setup on a 5ft 30" wide and 17" deep tank and it's going to be mostly SPS I'd do 250w instead of 2 will be fine, 3 would be best.

Just my opinion.

 

[JoshH]

Again, personal opinion, but if you are doing a MH only setup on a 5ft 30" wide and 17" deep tank and it's going to be mostly SPS I'd do 250w instead of 2 will be fine, 3 would be best.

Just my opinion.

So the system will actually be mostly softy/LPS with a Nem or two, MAYBE the odd SPS which is why I was looking at the 150s. Really I just love the color MH puts out vs LED which is why I'd like to go that route.

 

[C. Eymann]

So the system will actually be mostly softy/LPS with a Nem or two, MAYBE the odd SPS which is why I was looking at the 150s. Really I just love the color MH puts out vs LED which is why I'd like to go that route.

Gotcha, yeah if its not predominantly SPS you will be fine with 150s, I'd definitely stick with three over a 5ft tank if you are only doing halides and not supp T5s /LEDs.

Just my .02

 

[C. Eymann]

Also, I did see someone here in the equipment Selling thread that was selling 3 fixture cebu sun and ballast combos, think the user was asking really reasonable price, ballasts were electronic and selectable between 175-250 watt fixtures were SE screw type.

Checked and made sure this was allowed

Alabama - Metal Halide Lighting

I have a set of 3 Hamilton Cayman Sun reflectors (without the moonlight LEDs), 3 250w Radium Bulbs used for 6 months, and 3 Luxcore 150-250SL ballasts. All for $450 shipped, $400 local pickup, or best reasonable offer. I had these mounted where the base was 12” off the water surface, and...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[JoshH]

Also, I did see someone here in the equipment Selling thread that was selling 3 fixture cebu sun and ballast combos, think the user was asking really reasonable price, ballasts were electronic and selectable between 175-250 watt fixtures were SE screw type.

Checked and made sure this was allowed

Alabama - Metal Halide Lighting

I have a set of 3 Hamilton Cayman Sun reflectors (without the moonlight LEDs), 3 250w Radium Bulbs used for 6 months, and 3 Luxcore 150-250SL ballasts. All for $450 shipped, $400 local pickup, or best reasonable offer. I had these mounted where the base was 12” off the water surface, and...

www.reef2reef.com

I was planning on supplementing with Orphek Blue plus bars and thanks for posting that I've actually already spoken to the seller and am just debating on whether or not the 250 is overkill for what I'd like to achieve.

 

[C. Eymann]

Here is a picture of my 58 mixed reef I had in highschool, this was taken around 2003 I want to say.

Lighting was a single 175w halide and two 55w power compacts retrofitted into the stock hood, notice the rediculous powerhead setups I was using to keep the few SPS I had happy.
lol

 

[C. Eymann]

I was planning on supplementing with Orphek Blue plus bars and thanks for posting that I've actually already spoken to the seller and am just debating on whether or not the 250 is overkill for what I'd like to achieve.

I thought the ballasts were selectable?

 

[JoshH]

I thought the ballasts were selectable?

Honestly they might be I didn't look too much into that part just that it came with the 250W bulbs

@Gonzo74 sorry for hijacking your thread here