m3fan8ic

I just replaced the bulbs week and half ago (brand new), I bought the bulbs last year on sale and kept them till I needed to replace them. I still have old bulbs which I can put back on to see if that is part of the issue. Ballast were never touched neither the cables/wire all this time unless I unplugged them to remove my hood so wiring etc being lose or mis configured are out of the questions. I should clarify that these are IC blueline ballast like below.

Update: So I swapped the ballast last night after I got home and that seemed to work, however one of the bulb is not as bright as the other one, meaning the bulb that is connected to the ballast that I think have issue is not as bright as the other bulb. I'll check today and see if there is any change in brightness.

Connections to the plug? or bulb connection? I'll double check and swap out ballast this evening..

I'll sure run that test as soon as I get home, hopefully that will eliminate and narrow it down to either ballast or bulb thanks

One of my Ice Cap 250w MH ballast is keep shutting down itself. The symptons are it will turn on for 30 seconds or so and cuts off. I've removed the timer and directly connected to the power source but still get same the result. I've removed the bulb and reseated the bulb again and still get the same issue. Ballast is few years old and I think it's out of warranty. Does anyone have any idea what could be causing this?

ha good luck, I recently took my 144gl system down due to these stupid ##f*98koiiongg mojano that took over my entire setup and killed most of my corals. Ask Evan he'll tell you LOL. I had no other option but to tear it down and start all over. P.S Did someone say car talk?? lol

Hey Travis, appreciate the help buddy, I might take you up on that once I am ready. Regarding breaking the tank down, I had no other option but to do it since I couldn't control Mojanos and they grew like weed which killed most of my corals :(.. but you are right I can't wait to get back in it

Rob, My wife will never let me hang anything off the ceiling so that is out of the question. Bowie, as Travis (Trockafella) stated that I think I'll be safe since I have 12" space above the water surface and my tank is 29" deep. Tony, I had initially thought about similar idea what you suggested, I'll probably be ok with with 2x 24"x12" heatsinks with optics in place to spread the light. I won't need much light towards the back b/c of my two huge overflows and I'll keep front and dead center open from rock works. I won't go heavy on sps, mainly softies. I am not in rush since I still have couple of months before I start the rebuild. Who know there might be new option available with LEDs by the time I am ready. But it's good to get as much info as possible so I can see what my options are. Sid

TonyD, below is the canopy that my tank came with which is little hard to work with when trying to accommodate lights inside. Top of the canopy is open and I had to DIY with my MH light (2x250 icecap pendants + 2x36 T5). I don't think I'll need 72 leds in my tank considering the size/footprint. If I go with Cree G series I was thinking about 48 leds would be enough. But then again I am no expert in this hence my post/asking questions.

So these PAR38 21watts won't cut it for my tank if I decide to go with pendant route as oppost to Cannons 50w?

Yea I think to keep it clean look under the hood I would take DIY route. Where can I find the heatsink in half circular shape? Another thing I want to keep in mind is that I want to keep the cost as low as possible.

nice video and nice tank. really love the rock work.

Dave tank looks beautiful and colors are amazing

Thanks for posting this topic OP, I am on same kinda boat as you are. Since I have my 144gl half circle tank down, I am thinking about switching to LEDs when I set it back up which will be early spring time. I have a similar question as to what's the best route to take when going with LED lights and how many is enough to keep SPS? My tank design is little different when it comes to lighting under the canopy. I was running 2x250 MH and 2x36 T5s (DYI). I am thinking about going with Cree LEDs and DYI kit (heatsink, fan, power supply etc). Rob (zygote2k) you've seen my tank it's 29" deep and about 5' wide half circle what do you think I should go with? I've been basically reading up about the LEDs and haven't really sat down and planned it all out yet. Maybe go with 36 LEDs on the heatsink board which is two 8" long about about 16" wide containing about 18 leds each mix of royal blue and cool white 50/50. any thoughts?

wow Dave, looking real nice, I like this setup too. \Sid

Sure, I think you sent me a PM but I can't seems to find it,can you pls send me PM again with details. I would like one and wanted to see how many I can zap with the tool? my tank is 30" deep so I wanna make sure the cable/device is long enough to reach to the bottom of the tank. Thanks Sid

Paul, where do I stand in the line to get one of this? I desperately need one..:( lol

wow I do have Heniochus and pretty big size too but he's not going near them :( ..

I tried that but didn't work for me, they will come right back :(

Some of you might know I had a huge aiptasia breakout in my tank last year and those suckers were so huge that one of them ate my pepermint shrimp alive as soon as I put him in there. Not a good feeling seeing your $5 being eating up in front of your eyes and you can't do anything about it..lol. Well after few months of introducing about 10 pepermints yesterday I notice that I only have few of aiptasias left. They were growing on the walls, return lines, powerhead cables etc. I am so happy that they are almost gone. Now I have to fight Mojanos. I wish Paulb was around so I can barrow the gadget from him to nuke them :( anyone around her who is willing to help???

depends on the wine

Can somone make me one if I cover the parts and buy case of beer

I have two blue hippos in my tank they are just fine. One is about 4" and 2nd one is 3"

Paul, am I still in line to test it out in my tank?

haha if you are willing to ship I'll cover the shiping charges... I am at the point where I am giving up on my tank and willing to try anything before I take the route of taking everything down. let me know Sid