Need advice on halide fixture.

kchristensen8064

kchristensen8064

Sting ray
M.A.S.C Club Member
#1
#1
Ok so I just acquired this Currant 72" 3x150w halide 4x96w actinic fixture with moonlights.

View attachment 13841

My questions are :

1. Would a 3x150w halide be powerful enough for a 72"x24"x25" 180 gallon mixed reef?

2. After tear down and inspection it has one bad halide ballast. Some moon light LED's need replaced, and I have no way of testing the actinic ballasts due to all the bulbs it came with being toast. Is this fixture worth salvaging?

3. Does anyone have a 96w bulb I can borrow for a minute to test the ballasts on these ones?

View attachment 13842
 
Andrew_bram

Andrew_bram

Tiger Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#3
#3
Are you positive that is a 150 ballast and not a 250 that someone ran 150 in. That may be worth looking into.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
 
J

jda123

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#5
#5
150w HQI Halide on m81 ballasts have more output than Radon XR30, AP700 or Hydra 52. They are a lot of light for everything except maybe the most light demanding tank. That being said, those ballasts do not look like they are m81 and will likely have less output.

If you get those running correctly, they are great mixed reef lights where you can put the higher light stuff nearer to the bulbs (clams and some acros).

Lots of people have bought a workhorse 7 and wired up a pair of 5' T5 in those PC slots.
 
J

jda123

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#7
#7
BTW - I have a couple 6' 150w lights if you want to borrow one for output comparison. You can borrow my PAR meter too. Mine are AquaMedic (back when they made some of the best lights on the planet) with m81 ballasts.
 
kchristensen8064

kchristensen8064

Sting ray
M.A.S.C Club Member
#8
#8
jda123 said:
150w HQI Halide on m81 ballasts have more output than Radon XR30, AP700 or Hydra 52. They are a lot of light for everything except maybe the most light demanding tank. That being said, those ballasts do not look like they are m81 and will likely have less output.

If you get those running correctly, they are great mixed reef lights where you can put the higher light stuff nearer to the bulbs (clams and some acros).

Lots of people have bought a workhorse 7 and wired up a pair of 5' T5 in those PC slots.
Click to expand...
It has m81 on it... Does this mean it's m81?
View attachment 13844
 
Last edited by a moderator:
kchristensen8064

kchristensen8064

Sting ray
M.A.S.C Club Member
#12
#12
I also wanted to ask what recommendations would be for halide bulb brand. I've seen some for $12 and I've seen some for $75. I want what would be best for the corals not my wallet, but at the same time I can't imagine there being a terribly big difference between them. I'm thinking 14000k.
 
J

jda123

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#15
#15
14k Phoenix all the way... Best bulb for 150w HQI. They are high output and look good.

Hook a ballast up to a kill-a-watt and see what kind of wattage that it pulls. It it pulls 185-190 watts, then it might be real m81. If it is right at 150, then it is a Chinese Knockoff or an electronic. All DE bulbs can be fired up on any ballast that are probe start, but they are not all the same wattage and will have different output.
 
TheRealChrisBrown

TheRealChrisBrown

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
ex-officio
#16
#16
kchristensen8064 said:
I also wanted to ask what recommendations would be for halide bulb brand. I've seen some for $12 and I've seen some for $75. I want what would be best for the corals not my wallet, but at the same time I can't imagine there being a terribly big difference between them. I'm thinking 14000k.
Click to expand...
Check into the Phoenix 14k Double ended bulbs. Doug recommended them to me. I got them for $55 ea with free shipping.
 
kchristensen8064

kchristensen8064

Sting ray
M.A.S.C Club Member
#17
#17
jda123 said:
14k Phoenix all the way... Best bulb for 150w HQI. They are high output and look good.

Hook a ballast up to a kill-a-watt and see what kind of wattage that it pulls. It it pulls 185-190 watts, then it might be real m81. If it is right at 150, then it is a Chinese Knockoff or an electronic. All DE bulbs can be fired up on any ballast that are probe start, but they are not all the same wattage and will have different output.
Click to expand...
Okay so all three ballasts are chained together to one plug on the end of the fixture. Will plugging into a kill a watt still work?
 
Andrew_bram

Andrew_bram

Tiger Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#18
#18
The t5 kit Chris brown posted. The brand is let the reflectors are amazing. I would either go ati atinic or blue plus. Depending how bright you want it to be. For what it's worth I ran 6 of those bulbs on a 220 and grew sps on the sand bed. So 2 or 4 bulbs and those 150 halides should rock.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
 
kchristensen8064

kchristensen8064

Sting ray
M.A.S.C Club Member
#19
#19
On that t5 retrofit kit would you all do 2 of the 5ft kits or 4 of the 3 ft kits over a 6ft tank? It looks like I would get more wattage going with the 5ft but just thought I'd ask...
 
TheRealChrisBrown

TheRealChrisBrown

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
ex-officio
#20
#20
kchristensen8064 said:
On that t5 retrofit kit would you all do 2 of the 5ft kits or 4 of the 3 ft kits over a 6ft tank? It looks like I would get more wattage going with the 5ft but just thought I'd ask...
Click to expand...
I did the 80w five foot ones. I think the spread is good, maybe just a little dimmer on the edges.


Sent from my iPhone using MASC - Marine Aquarium Society of Colorado
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top