Comparison - Radium 250/400 - Cozumel Sun / Lumenbright Large / Lumenmax Elite

[gws3]

Graham/Tony,

How many hours a day do you run your halides?

 

About 6 hours.  When I had reflectors that weren't as high performing I was closer to 8.  I think light intensity and duration needs matched with nutrient levels. If I had high nutrients I'd probably run them closer to 8.

[DuffyGeos]

Graham- what are your tank dim?

Graham?

[ridetheducati]

Graham/Tony,

How many hours a day do you run your halides?

Summer time: 8 hours

Winter time: 9 hours

[ridetheducati]

Graham?

Same as mine. 72x36Wx27H

[DuffyGeos]

Same as mine. 72x36Wx27H

Ok, didn't know you were answering for him,

 

I knew what you tank size was........Awesome!

 

I wanted a 36", but 30" was all that was going to fit at 8' length down the stairs, which was my must have dim.

Edited August 25, 2014 by DuffyGeos

[Orion]

About 6 hours. When I had reflectors that weren't as high performing I was closer to 8. I think light intensity and duration needs matched with nutrient levels. If I had high nutrients I'd probably run them closer to 8.

Interesting point you make there with regards to nutrients and light duration/intensity, Graham.

[DuffyGeos]

Guys- quick input. I have an option on buying a Galaxy 250 single and a Galaxy 250 double ballast which are both electronic.

 

Should I get them?

 

Do I want to run electronic ballast or magnetic?

 

What is the major difference?

 

thanks

[Ryan S]

This has helpful information:  http://www.atlantareefclub.org/forums/showthread.php?t=34194

 

I've always used electronic.

[ridetheducati]

Guys- quick input. I have an option on buying a Galaxy 250 single and a Galaxy 250 double ballast which are both electronic.

 

Should I get them?

 

Do I want to run electronic ballast or magnetic?

 

What is the major difference?

 

thanks

 

Go electronic, but get the selectable (250w/400w) for options.  If you are 100% sure 250w is the ballast for you, get the 250w ballast.

[DuffyGeos]

This has helpful information:  http://www.atlantareefclub.org/forums/showthread.php?t=34194

 

I've always used electronic.

 

 

Go electronic, but get the selectable (250w/400w) for options.  If you are 100% sure 250w is the ballast for you, get the 250w ballast.

Thank you gentlemen, I will probably grab them to add to my not sure about used lighting pile......

[ridetheducati]

My transition back to MH is complete.  I mounted the third light last week and temps are manageable with a 10" fan.  Some corals have changed and some have stayed the same.  More importantly, the corals I wanted to change have changed for the better.  Coralline is going through changes as well.  The system did go through a diatom and dino bloom; I was not expecting dinos.  Luckily it was a small bout; a few mls of H2O2 cleared it up.  

[DuffyGeos]

My transition back to MH is complete.  I mounted the third light last week and temps are manageable with a 10" fan.  Some corals have changed and some have stayed the same.  More importantly, the corals I wanted to change have changed for the better.  Coralline is going through changes as well.  The system did go through a diatom and dino bloom; I was not expecting dinos.  Luckily it was a small bout; a few mls of H2O2 cleared it up.

Tony- What is the final total lighting system (all parts and brands) you are now running?

Thanks

[Ryan S]

My transition back to MH is complete.  I mounted the third light last week and temps are manageable with a 10" fan.  Some corals have changed and some have stayed the same.  More importantly, the corals I wanted to change have changed for the better.  Coralline is going through changes as well.  The system did go through a diatom and dino bloom; I was not expecting dinos.  Luckily it was a small bout; a few mls of H2O2 cleared it up.  

 

When you switch from LEDs to MH, and go through a diatom and dino bloom... that says something, for sure.  Looking forward to seeing your tank's response to the MH lighting!

[ridetheducati]

Tony- What is the final total lighting system (all parts and brands) you are now running?

Thanks

 

3 -  Lumenarc III reflectors

3 -  400w Radium

2 -  Luxcore 250/400w ballast (Electronic)

1 -  PFO 400w ballast (Magnetic).  

 

The PFO and Luxcore ballasts are performing nearly identical.

[DuffyGeos]

3 -  Lumenarc III reflectors

3 -  400w Radium

2 -  Luxcore 250/400w ballast (Electronic)

1 -  PFO 400w ballast (Magnetic).  

 

The PFO and Luxcore ballasts are performing nearly identical.

Any reason you used 2 types of ballast? Just what you had on hand?

 

Thanks

[ridetheducati]

Any reason you used 2 types of ballast? Just what you had on hand?

 

Thanks

 

I have several ballasts on hand.  PFO, Blueline, and Luxcore.  I could swap out the PFO for Luxcore, but I dont feel like splicing and soldering the plug. 

[pizzaguy]

Updates anyone

[ReeferMadness]

great feedback, thanks!

[Der ABT]

BE VERY CAREFUL with yuor choice of anything sunlight supply (Galaxy Ballasts) ....while i currently run a dual 250 galaxy i will be switching when it dies

 

i bought one a while back new....at just over 2 years old, like 26 months...less than 3 years (the warranty period) it died on me, sent it into Sunlight on my dime....they told me nothing they could do, i asked about warranty and they said its not covered....told me they could give me 30 dollar credit...yeh..

the warranty is FULL REPLACEMENT for 3 years>......yeh right....there was no misuse, no water damage nothing, just a failed component inside and Sunlight supply has shut down their aquatics side.... google found a few other stories very similar..

 

i bought this while i lived in blacksburg online..the online vendor didnt do much of anything....after repeated calls back i ended up with an offer for a POS magnetic single ballast to replace my dual.....more phone calls and emails over the rediculousness i htink i ended up only getting about 60% of my money back and will never shop at that "(water) Cave" online store again (replaced "aqua" with "water" to not use names..)

 

 

 

 

back on point of ballasts

 

Graham....any chance you have a 250w PFO m80 laying around....slap that thing up next to the blue wave....i found a large difference despite both being m80.....that PFO was the best ballast color and par wise i ever saw on my 250 radiums......just wish i could find them again...to the naked eye the color was less blue than the bluewave...par was a bit better...granted i was on spider reflectors in a hood.

 

 

Funny to see everyone going back to the radiums or t5s....i have the LEDS on my frag tanks and will keep them there, they can keep the color just fine for the most part.....but my main will always have MH i think...that radium is just too nice..

ive seen severl tanks now with radiums and a strip or two of LEDs instead of a T5....tanks looked good an to my suprise the leds really made the Fish colors pop more...something i dont ever really hear talked about.....

especially with anthias and more of the orangy/pink fish...or could just be me.

[DCReefer1964]

Graham update please !!!!

[Tink]

Funny thing is that I find the Bluwave ballast drives my 250 Radium whiter then the 250SL setting on my Lumatek.

 

 

Love that you took the time to throw this together too.

 

 

 

Thank you

[gws3]

Sorry for the slow response... thought I was following this thread.

 

I don't have any M80 PFOs, and I have never tried them.  I've always used the bluewaves.  Almost all the ones I have ever owned were made in 2007 according to the sticker.  In that time I have only had one stop working... it had a bad igniter.  Any other issue with firing the bulb usually relates to the cord between the ballast and bulb being too long.  

 

I'll keep that in mind if one shows up for cheap I'll pick it up and do a side by side comparison.

 

I'll try to get a pic of the 300 up soon as well.  It's mostly stocked with fish now, rocks are starting to grow coralline, and I have been gradually moving SPS over. 

 

I have quite a few days off during Christmas so I plan to get caught up with the reef tanks now that I will finally have some free time.

[GraffitiSpotCorals]

Yes please post some shots of the new tank when you get time, looking forward to it.

[gws3]

ive seen severl tanks now with radiums and a strip or two of LEDs instead of a T5....tanks looked good an to my suprise the leds really made the Fish colors pop more...something i dont ever really hear talked about.....

especially with anthias and more of the orangy/pink fish...or could just be me.

 

All my tanks except the 300 have 250w radiums with reefbrite blue strips.  I'll add one to the 300 eventually, have just been trying to moderate my reef spending.

 

They add a nice pop of color on top of the radiums.  Also, I run the radiums for about 7 hours, so I have a few hours of just actinic led on either end which is nice to have an extended viewing period despite being the pure acitinic look. 

[DuffyGeos]

All my tanks except the 300 have 250w radiums with reefbrite blue strips.  I'll add one to the 300 eventually, have just been trying to moderate my reef spending.

 

They add a nice pop of color on top of the radiums.  Also, I run the radiums for about 7 hours, so I have a few hours of just actinic led on either end which is nice to have an extended viewing period despite being the pure acitinic look. 

 

This is a timely post! I was just building my frame for my 4 Lumenarcs that I plan on running 250w 20K radiums. I was looking at the small space in between them and trying to figure out if I should add LED strips (what kind- reefbrite it sounds like) or T5 strips with LEDs. Is the t5 really just more of the same light, or would it help? I was looking at the VHO option as well.  I plan on having a lot of fish (50+/-) so the fish color and motion are very important to me.  thx