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Aquarius Marinus

Lighting for my new tank

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5 Comments
by
Aquarius Marinus
, 04-06-2010 at 10:47 PM (4175 Views)
I'm planning on using 3 250W Radiums...which apparently makes my choices of ballast very confusing.
As far as reflectors (pendants, in my case) I was initially looking at the LumenBrights, but I was told yesterday by Aquarium Specialty that these do not come with glass shields, and thats a must for me.
So I am now looking at the LumenMax 2s. Does anyone have recommendations here?

As for ballasts, I know that the 250W Radium is only "correctly" driven by an M80 ballast. I was planning on using a Blue Wave 7, but these were VERY recently discontinued, and now don't seem to be available. So I am looking at the new Lumatek/Galaxy Select-a-watt ballasts. These have an "HQI" setting, so it seems as though they may run the radiums at the correct "wattage" but what about correct starting parameters as far as pulse voltage and duration? Isn't the method of starting a big factor in the life of the bulb?

Thanks in advance for the help!

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‎ Electrical , ‎ Lighting

Comments

  1. melev's Avatar
    First of all, Aquarium Specialty sells Lumenbright Reflectors and Lumenbright Pendants. The pendants come with glass, and a black outer shell. That is what I have over my tank. I'm using three Large Pendants.

    I've been running 400w Radium bulbs for years. I used a DIY magnetic ballast, and currently the Coralvue 400w e-ballast.
  2. Aquarius Marinus's Avatar
    Thanks for the reply, Marc. Maybe they thought I was asking about the reflectors. Thats great if they have glass shields. They have the LumenMax 2s on sale though, and I guess they recently changed the reflector design of the LumenMax 2 and I haven't been able to find much information on it. I think it will have more of a wider spread than the Lumenbrights?
    I am going to be lighting a 72 by 24 by 25H tank with three 250W, whats the consensus on the best LumenBright for the job? (wide, mini, large)

    Did you see a noticeable difference in color or brightness between the magnetic and the e-ballast?
  3. melev's Avatar
    No, I didn't see the difference at all. Radiums have a nice blue hue to them. The only way to really compare would be a PAR meter or maybe a LUX / Lumen meter. Blue isn't really part of the spectrum a PAR meter measures, since they are calibrated to sunlight or electric light which usually is in the 4000K to 7000K range. A Radium bulb is 20,000K - way off the spectrum for such a meter so the readings may not be all that reliable.

    I have an article talking about MH lighting here: http://www.melevsreef.com/mh_lighting.html
  4. Aquarius Marinus's Avatar
    Good intro to MH!
    So do you like the Radium you have now better than the XM you were running then?
    Also do you have any experience with the LumenBright minis or mini wides? Is there a significant difference between these and the large?
  5. melev's Avatar
    The Radium bulb is in the center of my tank. At one point, I got a bunch of Radiums so I didn't need to by XM any longer. I still run 10000K bulbs on either end, and VHO actinics.

    I have a Mini Wide which is quite a bit smaller than the Large, and are designed to be installed a little closer to the water for those canopies that aren't tall enough.