Reef Brite halide system users.

[jporter17]

If you have them hanging with room to raise or lower I would do 400w and raise them up. I do not think 400w is over kill for a 27” deep tank.

I have the same 36" hybrid fixture over my 47" long reef tank. I use the 250W single ended 14K bulbs from Hamilton. I have the XHO's and T5's on for most of the lighting cycle and like the color blending better with the 14K than either the 20K Radium or 20K Hamilton. If you like blue, try the Hamilton 20K. It's designed for an electronic ballast. JP

 

[Reefinny Verified Sponsor]

So happy I stumbled on this thread. I just switched from a ATI 6 bulb 48" with 2 48in reefbrites to the 250w 36" fixture with the 10/20 bulbs.

 

[Marksreef]

How long is everybody getting out of there bulbs ?
I have the Reefbrite Ballast and 250W Radium.

 

[sghera64]

How long is everybody getting out of there bulbs ?
I have the Reefbrite Ballast and 250W Radium.

I’ve had mine in place about 18 months now. But I don’t know if overdue for a change. I bought a new Radium 250W from Black Friday, but I have not installed it.

My par is still pretty good (Apogee 520) and corals growing well.

I will change out over Christmas and remeasure PAR.

 

[DSC reef]

So happy I stumbled on this thread. I just switched from a ATI 6 bulb 48" with 2 48in reefbrites to the 250w 36" fixture with the 10/20 bulbs.

This is making me second guess the kessils man.

 

[A. grandis]

I’ve had mine in place about 18 months now. But I don’t know if overdue for a change. I bought a new Radium 250W from Black Friday, but I have not installed it.

My par is still pretty good (Apogee 520) and corals growing well.

I will change out over Christmas and remeasure PAR.

Would be very interesting to have PAR measurements of the Radium and their ReefBrite bulb to compare.

 

[KJoFan]

I need to stop reading this thread. It's making me want to go back to my 2x 250w Reef Brite fixtures!

 

[sghera64]

This is making me second guess the kessils man.

If you have the cash (to buy and to run), I think the best lighting I’ve seen was in the Modern Aquatix store. It was a 250w Radium with blue LED strips on the side over a 90 gallon with a starfire front pane. Everything in that tank “popped” - - even the sand.

I still keep a 250w Radium over my frag bins with T5 supplement. But not as neat looking as Modern Aquatix. Kinda miss the three MHs I had over my 135gal and the light shimmer they made - - but pretty happy with the SBox over it now. I think you will get that with the Kessels. You just won’t have as full of a spectrum. But you will get that shimmer from their compact form factor.

 

[DSC reef]

If you have the cash (to buy and to run), I think the best lighting I’ve seen was in the Modern Aquatix store. It was a 250w Radium with blue LED strips on the side over a 90 gallon with a starfire front pane. Everything in that tank “popped” - - even the sand.

I still keep a 250w Radium over my frag bins with T5 supplement. But not as neat looking as Modern Aquatix. Kinda miss the three MHs I had over my 135gal and the light shimmer they made - - but pretty happy with the SBox over it now. I think you will get that with the Kessels. You just won’t have as full of a spectrum. But you will get that shimmer from their compact form factor.

We ran halides and T5 for a long time and I thought kessil would give me that halide look and great color blending. Its mixed emotions since I know halides work great but I know led does good as well but I have no experience with led lighting. Tridacna will always be in our tanks, I'm absolutely intrigued by them and halides are full proof. The heat and electricity where we live is no joke. We saw the reef brite halide pendants at a reefapalooza and talked a bit with tulio. That fixture was literally cool to the touch. It something my wife and I are seriously thinking about.

 

[Reefinny Verified Sponsor]

We ran halides and T5 for a long time and I thought kessil would give me that halide look and great color blending. Its mixed emotions since I know halides work great but I know led does good as well but I have no experience with led lighting. Tridacna will always be in our tanks, I'm absolutely intrigued by them and halides are full proof. The heat and electricity where we live is no joke. We saw the reef brite halide pendants at a reefapalooza and talked a bit with tulio. That fixture was literally cool to the touch. It something my wife and I are seriously thinking about.

Go big or go home! Just kidding - I have to tell you I was immediately impressed with the color and the shimmer. I am running the 10/20 bulb and after reading this thread, I programmed them so they run 3 hours on one then off 5 minutes and then 3 hours on the other. I also staggered the left and right by 5 minutes just to avoid any surges. I am running the XHO for 8 hours.

I lent out my par meter but am really curious to see where my par is in that tank now. I had the ATI (which I am a fan of and LOVE) for over 2 years. I got rid of my Kessils a long time ago. Personal preference. I liked the shimmer but my tank seemed to stall. This by no means is a dig to kessil just my experience.

 

[CNDReef]

I put a 250w reef brite setup over my biocube and absolutely love it. Par is a little on the high side with 360 on the front bottom of the tank lol

 

[KJoFan]

I swapped my 2x 15" 250w Reefbrites w/XHO strips over my 150g for 4x GHL Mitras LX7's back in...May I believe. I have not been unhappy with the Mitras, but something about the ease and surety of the MH keeps calling to me though.

 

[DSC reef]

Go big or go home! Just kidding - I have to tell you I was immediately impressed with the color and the shimmer. I am running the 10/20 bulb and after reading this thread, I programmed them so they run 3 hours on one then off 5 minutes and then 3 hours on the other. I also staggered the left and right by 5 minutes just to avoid any surges. I am running the XHO for 8 hours.

I lent out my par meter but am really curious to see where my par is in that tank now. I had the ATI (which I am a fan of and LOVE) for over 2 years. I got rid of my Kessils a long time ago. Personal preference. I liked the shimmer but my tank seemed to stall. This by no means is a dig to kessil just my experience.

So your running the dual bulbs, you like them so far? We ran the Hamilton 20k and were very happy with those. I'm curious with the 250watt halides on a 750xxl what the heat will be like and if we could get by without a chiller.

 

[Jay Norris]

I swapped my 2x 15" 250w Reefbrites w/XHO strips over my 150g for 4x GHL Mitras LX7's back in...May I believe. I have not been unhappy with the Mitras, but something about the ease and surety of the MH keeps calling to me though.

I t will go away, a I am new to the Mitra crowd, and I will never go back to the M/H crowd, as where I live their is to much heat in the Spring, Summer, and Fall for my fish room and the chiller runs a lot , along with my fish room A/C. Now the fish room is totally cool, as both the A/C and Chiller runs a lot less, so the A/C bill is cheaper, and the wife loves it. How do you like the Dawn/ Dusk effect, and the ability to change the color spectrum with out changing bulbs, and no more yearly bulb replacements.

 

[KJoFan]

I t will go away, a I am new to the Mitra crowd, and I will never go back to the M/H crowd, as where I live their is to much heat in the Spring, Summer, and Fall for my fish room and the chiller runs a lot , along with my fish room A/C. Now the fish room is totally cool, as both the A/C and Chiller runs a lot less, so the A/C bill is cheaper, and the wife loves it. How do you like the Dawn/ Dusk effect, and the ability to change the color spectrum with out changing bulbs, and no more yearly bulb replacements.

Heat isn't an issue for me as far as running MH goes. Being in a colder climate along with my tank being on the lower level of my split level house it's just not a factor. Cost to run overall as far as electricity isn't really a factor that I noticed either. I don't know wattage wise what the 2 MH fixtures put out compared to my 4x Mitras, but I would imagine they aren't actually that far off all told. But, I get it on your other points. I did switch for a reason, but at the end of the day, what we all seek are healthy, colorful, happy corals to look at and try to provide the equipment that will achieve that best.

Now, I'm not saying I am or am not switching back, I haven't decided, but what it really comes down to for me is preference and success whichever way I go. Though, I have to say the ability to change spectrum you mentioned I find to be a detriment when it comes to LEDs. Too many options and too easy to be changing it constantly. I found a profile I was satisfied with and have stuck with it, no messing. At the end of the day it might simply come down to putting in the effort to switch back or not.

As I said, I really have no complaints about the Mitras fixtures but the results of MH, especially when it comes to sps can't be denied or ignored either. I hope you have success with your Mitras!

 

[justingraham]

How long is everybody getting out of there bulbs ?
I have the Reefbrite Ballast and 250W Radium.

The ballast doesn’t maximize the usefulness of this bulb ur better off with a Hamilton or Phenix 250 watt bulbs

U are losing about 100 par

 

[justingraham]

Would be very interesting to have PAR measurements of the Radium and their ReefBrite bulb to compare.

The radium is about 100 par lower then the Reefbrite bulbs

And it’s a difference you can see with your eyes

 

[Reefinny Verified Sponsor]

So your running the dual bulbs, you like them so far? We ran the Hamilton 20k and were very happy with those. I'm curious with the 250watt halides on a 750xxl what the heat will be like and if we could get by without a chiller.

yes so far so good except I came home today to my GFCI tripped! UGH I am only drawing 11 amps on this line. It is running through a EB832 and no issues with the EB832 or fuse in the Ballast?

 

[DSC reef]

yes so far so good except I came home today to my GFCI tripped! UGH I am only drawing 11 amps on this line. It is running through a EB832 and no issues with the EB832 or fuse in the Ballast?

I believe I read in another thread someone's fixture was doing the same thing.

 

[A. grandis]

The radium is about 100 par lower then the Reefbrite bulbs

And it’s a difference you can see with your eyes

The Radium has lower PAR than the ReefBright bulb?
Are both bulbs 20K?
The ReefBrite bulbs looks brighter to our eyes?
What ballast is that, again? ReefBrite ballast, right?
Very interesting indeed!!