Reef Brite halide system users.

[A. grandis]

This is mine on a 32" tank. Not the 36" you're seeking a pic of but maybe it has some value to you:

Oh man!!! I'm happy that I've got that fixture. At least by the picture we can tell it has a nice distribution/coverage.
2 of those will definetely work on a 48" 75gal.
Thanks for the pics!
Grandis.

 

[A. grandis]

I love it. You can see I had sps to the edges of the tank and they were getting plenty of light. I don't know your tank/coral goals but I think you'd be able to grow anything even in a 36" tank.

It is the 250w MH w/ the RB led strips and I really couldn't be happier. I wanted a "set it and forget it" light fixture and that's what I got. You can't go wrong, IMO.

Unfortunately, I can't comment long term on sps growth/health as I mostly had frags for several months until AEFW kind of wiped them out. But, they were doing fantastic up until then for several months. Now, since I'm in the re-building phase regarding corals, I'm upgrading to a 150g 5' tank. I picked up a second 15" fixture from BRS for it and have zero concerns it will be adequate.

That's what I'm talking about.
Thanks again for the pics!! Very nice indeed!!
Grandis.

 

[KJoFan]

For the record the current light has the Reefbrite 250w dimmable ballast and that's a Radium bulb in the pics (first one is probably with leds on, second one not). I went with the same setup for my second fixture. Though had I been thinking I would have ordered the pendant w/out the led strips as my current fixture has 4x strips. I could have just moved two over.

I'm not such a snob I have to have an M80 ballast for my Radium.

 

[A. grandis]

For the record the current light has the Reefbrite 250w dimmable ballast and that's a Radium bulb in the pics (first one is probably with leds on, second one not). I went with the same setup for my second fixture. Though had I been thinking I would have ordered the pendant w/out the led strips as my current fixture has 4x strips. I could have just moved two over.

I'm not such a snob I have to have an M80 ballast for my Radium.

What is the M80 you've got?
Can you please post picture?
Thanks,
Grandis.

 

[KJoFan]

What is the M80 you've got?
Can you please post picture?
Thanks,
Grandis.

No, I think you misread. I have the Reefbrite ballast, not an M80. I was saying I don't feel I need an M80 to "do it right".

 

[A. grandis]

No, I think you misread. I have the Reefbrite ballast, not an M80. I was saying I don't feel I need an M80 to "do it right".

Oh, ok.. sorry.
Yeah, well, good to know that you're happy with the Reef Brite system.
It's the technology we all would like to have and it's reality.
I didn't hear anyone saying anything negative about the system yet.
If anyone here has anything bad to say please do so!!!! This is the thread!!
If I don't like what I get I will say. Gotta be honest!
To me, it's still too good to be truth. I got it and wasn't delivered yet, but will say what I really think.
The pictures and all the reviews in this thread makes me think that is the very best halide system for our tanks to this date.
Specially if it really drives the Radium, considered the best halide bulb, really well.

If anyone used the Reef Brite halide system and others, please post your observations here without any fear!!!!!!!!
Grandis.

 

[Abhishek]

Well if you want to cover end to end with acroporas in a 36 inch tank , sadly you would need 2 in my humble opinion .
I run 2 250 watt radiums in m80 ballasts which replaced the luxcore I had . And before you ask , yes I measured the par and m80s do put out more PAR .
My tank is only 30 in x 30 in but I wanted enough to cover 30 inch sq.
I could have used 1 400 watt radium in a comuzel reflector but I love the idea of switching a halide at 11 , let both run from 1 to 7 and then the other one until 9 .
Now my par is pretty high compared to what you would need by BRS standard . But I run high alk of 10-11 and very high nutrients too of nitrates around 30 and phosphates around 0.2-0.3 . So 500-600 PAR helps for me .

I do not have experience with reefbrite ballasts but seeing the reflector am not convinced a 250 watt would light 36 inch tank .

Here's a crappy pic of my tank about 4 months back . Things have changed and grown a lot ..

Am just sharing my experience , please take it with a pinch of salt !!!

Am scared nowadays to provide advice on lights as people seem to lash out at everything with all leds and T5s and so many tutorial videos

Regards,
Abhishek

 

[A. grandis]

Well if you want to cover end to end with acroporas in a 36 inch tank , sadly you would need 2 in my humble opinion .
I run 2 250 watt radiums in m80 ballasts which replaced the luxcore I had . And before you ask , yes I measured the par and m80s do put out more PAR .
My tank is only 30 in x 30 in but I wanted enough to cover 30 inch sq.
I could have used 1 400 watt radium in a comuzel reflector but I love the idea of switching a halide at 11 , let both run from 1 to 7 and then the other one until 9 .
Now my par is pretty high compared to what you would need by BRS standard . But I run high alk of 10-11 and very high nutrients too of nitrates around 30 and phosphates around 0.2-0.3 . So 500-600 PAR helps for me .

I do not have experience with reefbrite ballasts but seeing the reflector am not convinced a 250 watt would light 36 inch tank .

Here's a crappy pic of my tank about 4 months back . Things have changed and grown a lot ..

Am just sharing my experience , please take it with a pinch of salt !!!

Am scared nowadays to provide advice on lights as people seem to lash out at everything with all leds and T5s and so many tutorial videos

Regards,
Abhishek

Gulp! Let me take the salt first! Just kidding, man!

Oh no, please don't be afraid of sharing anything. That is a shame when people don't share.
You know... this forum has one of the most respected guys in regards to reef light articles, Mr. Dana Riddle, and I know he must think many times when I post what I guy like me is doing here. LOL!!! Let me tell you: most of this forum is based on opinions and learning the right stuff by observation and articles like the ones Dana writes will complement our knowledge to view it the right way, as an enrichment. I learn every day and relearn every day, again and again. We all do. We are all here to express our experiences and, above all things, this is just a hobby!!!! We are all friends and there is no one actually better in every single aspect of it anyways. One hand washes the other!!! That said, please post!

I am a bit skeptical of the 15" Reef Brite fixture myself, even though I really believe it's very tempting, but I've never seen it nor tested with PAR meter or anything. Is it too good to be truth?
When I actually find room here and be able to set my tank, it will have only zoas anyways, so I'm in another dimension.

Would be great to hear from people that had other great/ proven fixtures/reflectors and jumped to those 15" "match boxes" (that would be a great nick name, with all the respect!). My trust on trying the product is because of the owner of the company. He is one of the most respected guys in the field right now and the one that makes absolutely sense to me in all the aspects on his talks. Also the reviews read here in this forum tells me the product is something worthy to try.
Like I've said, I still have other older halide systems in the house and some amazing old reflectors/ballasts that I love, but this one we can touch and "not be burned"? Something very interesting to say the least!

Would be great if BRS could do a test with this system!!

I aways liked to think of light as a simple thing, like plug and go, and only now I've been interested to learn about the technical part of it. My experiences showed me that halides are the very best and the difference among fixtures are a great deal though (like any light system, I would add)! Specially over systems like yours. Thanks very much for your input!

Please post a shot of how your tank look now so we can see the growth difference after 4 months.

I would love to know where did you get your M80 ballast and please post a picture of it, would you?

Thanks,
Grandis.

 

[Abhishek]

Gulp! Let me take the salt first! Just kidding, man!

Oh no, please don't be afraid of sharing anything. That is a shame when people don't share.
You know... this forum has one of the most respected guys in regards to reef light articles, Mr. Dana Riddle, and I know he must think many times when I post what I guy like me is doing here. LOL!!! Let me tell you: most of this forum is based on opinions and learning the right stuff by observation and articles like the ones Dana writes will complement our knowledge to view it the right way, as an enrichment. I learn every day and relearn every day, again and again. We all do. We are all here to express our experiences and, above all things, this is just a hobby!!!! We are all friends and there is no one actually better in every single aspect of it anyways. One hand washes the other!!! That said, please post!

I am a bit skeptical of the 15" Reef Brite fixture myself, even though I really believe it's very tempting, but I've never seen it nor tested with PAR meter or anything. Is it too good to be truth?
When I actually find room here and be able to set my tank, it will have only zoas anyways, so I'm in another dimension.

Would be great to hear from people that had other great/ proven fixtures/reflectors and jumped to those 15" "match boxes" (that would be a great nick name, with all the respect!). My trust on trying the product is because of the owner of the company. He is one of the most respected guys in the field right now and the one that makes absolutely sense to me in all the aspects on his talks. Also the reviews read here in this forum tells me the product is something worthy to try.
Like I've said, I still have other older halide systems in the house and some amazing old reflectors/ballasts that I love, but this one we can touch and "not be burned"? Something very interesting to say the least!

Would be great if BRS could do a test with this system!!

I aways liked to think of light as a simple thing, like plug and go, and only now I've been interested to learn about the technical part of it. My experiences showed me that halides are the very best and the difference among fixtures are a great deal though (like any light system, I would add)! Specially over systems like yours. Thanks very much for your input!

Please post a shot of how your tank look now so we can see the growth difference after 4 months.

I would love to know where did you get your M80 ballast and please post a picture of it, would you?

Thanks,
Grandis.

Thanks Grandis for the vote of confidence. Well truth be told, I had the sunlight supplu bluewave dual M80 ballast for now 8-9 years. Fired it up after 7 years and it still runs like new.
If you want a M80, new will be available only through hamilton technology . However I would post a WTB thread as there are so many M80 lying in people's garage after moving to leds.
Honestly M80s and magnetic ballasts can just run for ages as they are built like tanks.
I shall try and post a pic of my recent changes as am moving to a different bulb - geissemann megachrome 17.5K 250 - I love white tanks with a little to no blue and the bulbs seem perfect . They do not mutate colors like blues and purples as radiums sometimes do .
But it needs time for eyes to get used to after seeing a radium tank.
They are also very costly but claimed to have 3 year lifespan ! Even if they run for 2 years thats a big win !

On reflectors, I use lumenarc minis but have a 20 in x 20 in hamilton comuzel reflector and yes I do run reefbrite leds - the tech ones just for fluorescence at the end of 1 hour every day. Wife loves to see corals glow unlike me lol !

If it were me and wanted to go with reefbrites , I would do 2 15 inch reefbrite MH and their bulbs to start with as I am unfamiliar how their ballasts will run other halide bulbs.

Regards,
Abhishek

 

[A. grandis]

Thanks Grandis for the vote of confidence. Well truth be told, I had the sunlight supplu bluewave dual M80 ballast for now 8-9 years. Fired it up after 7 years and it still runs like new.
If you want a M80, new will be available only through hamilton technology . However I would post a WTB thread as there are so many M80 lying in people's garage after moving to leds.
Honestly M80s and magnetic ballasts can just run for ages as they are built like tanks.
I shall try and post a pic of my recent changes as am moving to a different bulb - geissemann megachrome 17.5K 250 - I love white tanks with a little to no blue and the bulbs seem perfect . They do not mutate colors like blues and purples as radiums sometimes do .
But it needs time for eyes to get used to after seeing a radium tank.
They are also very costly but claimed to have 3 year lifespan ! Even if they run for 2 years thats a big win !

On reflectors, I use lumenarc minis but have a 20 in x 20 in hamilton comuzel reflector and yes I do run reefbrite leds - the tech ones just for fluorescence at the end of 1 hour every day. Wife loves to see corals glow unlike me lol !

If it were me and wanted to go with reefbrites , I would do 2 15 inch reefbrite MH and their bulbs to start with as I am unfamiliar how their ballasts will run other halide bulbs.

Regards,
Abhishek

Thanks very much for the info. Feel free to post the picture of your ballast and system later when you can, please.
I'll try search for that ballast then.
You're lucky your wife likes the corals. I guess zoas are boring, cause it's hard to convince my wife to set up a tank in the living room, specially when I said I got some halides to use? Hehe!
Yes, I've heard so many people talking good things about those Giesemann 17.5Ks!! I like the white with the "blue shade" also!!
Thanks again for being here. Feel free to participate more and more. There are those who try to scratch around but at the end they realize it's just a hobby and we should all be friends here...
I like the way the thread is going. I guess Reef Brite isn't showing up because of the Thanksgiving holiday, but we are having fun anyways!!
Aloha,
Grandis.

 

[sghera64]

Just some relevant information here. I took some surface temperatures with an IR gun of my Cozumel Sun hood which houses a 20K Radium 250W bulb powered by a LuxCore electronic ballast on the HQI setting (~270V).

Top of hood: 105-107 (F)
Side of hood: 100-104 (F)
Side of ballast 100(F)
Top of ballast 104-105(F)

They both feel just warm to the touch.

 

[A. grandis]

Just some relevant information here. I took some surface temperatures with an IR gun of my Cozumel Sun hood which houses a 20K Radium 250W bulb powered by a LuxCore electronic ballast on the HQI setting (~270V).

Top of hood: 105-107 (F)
Side of hood: 100-104 (F)
Side of ballast 100(F)
Top of ballast 104-105(F)

They both feel just warm to the touch.

Thanks very much for the info.
I hope someone could do the same with the Reef Brite system, so we can have an idea of what the comparison is.
"Warm to the touch" could be the same description for both, by many.
The only difference here would be when we talk about the Reef Brite fixture/pendant not adding heat to the room (?). Or touching the fixture with the cheek? ;Wideyed
I guess I'll have to wait until the system gets here to check that out.

What is the IR gun that you have, please?

Grandis.

 

[wattson]

does HQI setting on your luxcore ballast the same as the Super Lumen setting ? Im getting ready to get a halide light very soon but have some doubts as to the luxcore electronic ballast running a radium bulb

 

[sghera64]

Thanks very much for the info.
I hope someone could do the same with the Reef Brite system, so we can have an idea of what the comparison is.
"Warm to the touch" could be the same description for both, by many.
The only difference here would be when we talk about the Reef Brite fixture/pendant not adding heat to the room (?). Or touching the fixture with the cheek? ;Wideyed
I guess I'll have to wait until the system gets here to check that out.

What is the IR gun that you have, please?

Grandis.

The IR gun is a CVS patient thermometer capable of reading the air temperature (which was 71(F) at the time of my readings). I set the IR gun to read surface temperature (which is a different setting than reading skin temperature).

Keep in mind that the surface area of the Cozumel Sun is huge. So while 250+ Watts is being liberated from the bulb, spreading it out over more area will make the surface temperature lower while still putting 250 Watts of heat into the room.

On my LuxCore is the 150-250 selectable. I have it set to Super Lumens (that’s what is printed in the dial).

 

[sghera64]

does HQI setting on your luxcore ballast the same as the Super Lumen setting ? Im getting ready to get a halide light very soon but have some doubts as to the luxcore electronic ballast running a radium bulb

I had read on the Premium Aquatics web site that electronic ballasts like LuxCore with an “HQI” or Super Lumens setting would fire the Radiums. I can say for sure that on the Super Lumens setting this LuxCore ballast fires the Radium 20K 250W bulb every time and it does so rapidly.

If I get another MH, I would consider LuxCore again, but I might get the 250-400 switchable ballast which also has a 250 Super Lumens setting. That way I could run either a 250W or a 400W Radium.

Im following this thread closely as the ReefBright ballast is very inviting too.

I recently switched to LED/T5 over my display. But kept MH/T5 over my frag system. I like both. I will re-evaluate the LED in 5 yrs when it’s time to replace (? so I am told) and might go back to MH if the energy efficiency is there.

 

[wattson]

I had read on the Premium Aquatics web site that electronic ballasts like LuxCore with an “HQI” or Super Lumens setting would fire the Radiums. I can say for sure that on the Super Lumens setting this LuxCore ballast fires the Radium 20K 250W bulb every time and it does so rapidly.

If I get another MH, I would consider LuxCore again, but I might get the 250-400 switchable ballast which also has a 250 Super Lumens setting. That way I could run either a 250W or a 400W Radium.

Im following this thread closely as the ReefBright ballast is very inviting too.

I recently switched to LED/T5 over my display. But kept MH/T5 over my frag system. I like both. I will re-evaluate the LED in 5 yrs when it’s time to replace (? so I am told) and might go back to MH if the energy efficiency is there.

Thank you for your info/time

 

[justingraham]

Here is the par of two 15 inch hybrid pendants 13 inches above the water on a 90 gallon tank

Tulio told me that my par is higher because the par meter doesn’t pick up the xhos completely I beleive. Now I wouldn’t put a clam on the sand but my Corals are growing so I have no complaints about “par”

I had a complaint but Tullio took care of it right away real nice company to do business with

He’s helped me out multiple times as I have I think every light he makes besides t-5s which will be on my next tank

I’m running his twin arc 250watt bulb with his ballast and I have no complaints whatsoever I just watch it grow

I’m getting 260 watts and 2.2 Amps from both of my fixtures


If on the fence about buying these and I was u I would I enjoy the way they make my Corals look in fact I make it that I only have the xhos on by themselves for an hour when I’m home and then when the xhos come on the “pop” is a nice way to end the night

 

[A. grandis]

The IR gun is a CVS patient thermometer capable of reading the air temperature (which was 71(F) at the time of my readings). I set the IR gun to read surface temperature (which is a different setting than reading skin temperature).

Keep in mind that the surface area of the Cozumel Sun is huge. So while 250+ Watts is being liberated from the bulb, spreading it out over more area will make the surface temperature lower while still putting 250 Watts of heat into the room.

On my LuxCore is the 150-250 selectable. I have it set to Super Lumens (that’s what is printed in the dial).

Thanks for the info! I'll try to find that thermometer from CVS.
Yes, the Cozumel is one of the best fixtures out there today! Spread the while thing nicely.
Thanks again!
Grandis.

 

[A. grandis]

I had read on the Premium Aquatics web site that electronic ballasts like LuxCore with an “HQI” or Super Lumens setting would fire the Radiums. I can say for sure that on the Super Lumens setting this LuxCore ballast fires the Radium 20K 250W bulb every time and it does so rapidly.

If I get another MH, I would consider LuxCore again, but I might get the 250-400 switchable ballast which also has a 250 Super Lumens setting. That way I could run either a 250W or a 400W Radium.

Im following this thread closely as the ReefBright ballast is very inviting too.

I recently switched to LED/T5 over my display. But kept MH/T5 over my frag system. I like both. I will re-evaluate the LED in 5 yrs when it’s time to replace (? so I am told) and might go back to MH if the energy efficiency is there.

I am also confused and wondering what is the difference between the terms: "super lumens" and " HQI".
There must be a difference...
Grandis.

 

[A. grandis]

Here is the par of two 15 inch hybrid pendants 13 inches above the water on a 90 gallon tank

Tulio told me that my par is higher because the par meter doesn’t pick up the xhos completely I beleive. Now I wouldn’t put a clam on the sand but my Corals are growing so I have no complaints about “par”

I had a complaint but Tullio took care of it right away real nice company to do business with

He’s helped me out multiple times as I have I think every light he makes besides t-5s which will be on my next tank

I’m running his twin arc 250watt bulb with his ballast and I have no complaints whatsoever I just watch it grow

I’m getting 260 watts and 2.2 Amps from both of my fixtures


If on the fence about buying these and I was u I would I enjoy the way they make my Corals look in fact I make it that I only have the xhos on by themselves for an hour when I’m home and then when the xhos come on the “pop” is a nice way to end the night

Thanks for the info!! I'm sure that will do for any tank I would have. Perhaps another 75gal.
How many Ks are your bulbs?
Nice pic! I like the fish!!
Grandis.