modding 150W aqualight pro to 250W

[kwirky]

My MH bulb will have to be replaced in about 6-8 months or so from now and I'm thinking of stepping up my aqualight pro from 150W to 250W. Doing some research so I can create a proper $$ budget for the upgrade. I know I would have to get new bulb clips and a new ballast but the process of the modification seems a little daunting because I would have to cut into the reflector to allow for the larger bulb.

Anyone out there who's done this modification? Would I be better off to sell the fixture and get a new 250W light when the time comes to replace the bulb? I'm also considering cost. If I can modify the fixture I save $100-170, plus I still have actinic supplementation. Don't know how much $$ I'd get for the fixture with bulbs that need replacing.

[Okguy]

I've thought about trying this upgrade as well.

Another upgrade you might be interested in is replacing the 22 inch pc's with 36 inch T5's. I asked this question about it a couple of months ago

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=33260

but life got busy and I haven't gotten around to trying it.

Let us know how you make out!

[Chin_Lee]

My MH bulb will have to be replaced in about 6-8 months or so from now and I'm thinking of stepping up my aqualight pro from 150W to 250W. Doing some research so I can create a proper $$ budget for the upgrade. I know I would have to get new bulb clips and a new ballast but the process of the modification seems a little daunting because I would have to cut into the reflector to allow for the larger bulb.

Anyone out there who's done this modification? Would I be better off to sell the fixture and get a new 250W light when the time comes to replace the bulb? I'm also considering cost. If I can modify the fixture I save $100-170, plus I still have actinic supplementation. Don't know how much $$ I'd get for the fixture with bulbs that need replacing.

I upgraded my middle 150 to 250W. Got the e ballast and clips from Hellolights for 90/10 bucks. Follow this thread once you've opened it up to make some sense of it:http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=31318good (http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=31318) luck.chin

[Aquattro]

cool thread. I'm doing the same thing. J&L can get the proper ballasts at a good price, and stock the sockets. It doesn't look like a tough job. I hope...

[Chin_Lee]

I bought this:
http://www.hellolights.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=166

and this:

http://www.hellolights.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=462&HS=1

The rest is piece of cake.

The hardest part is deciding whether to cut up the MH plugs between ballast and fixture. The ballast doesn't fit inside the ballast box so I used another ballast box. But I removed that nifty three prong plug from the original ballast box and installed it into the new ballast box so I didn't have to cut any MH wires coming from the fixture.
My best advice is to open up your fixture, look at how the lights are wired to the ignitor, and how the same wires are connected to the fans. Then read the above thread and it will all make sense (assuming you know the difference between neutral, hot, and ground)

[Matt]

I thought that hellolights no longer shipped to Canada... did you have any difficulty there?

[Chin_Lee]

i pick all my stuff up in the US. either in blaine or point roberts... i guess that would be difficult for you Matt.

[Aquattro]

The Coralife ballasts from J&L weren't much more than that, so I'll just order those. More "plug & play" than the others

[kwirky]

Another upgrade you might be interested in is replacing the 22 inch pc's with 36 inch T5's. I asked this question about it a couple of months ago

The fixture's 24" (24" tank too) so it'd be 24" T5's.

That's the easiest I think and only like $120 for a retro kit (plus bulbs). The light spread wouldn't be even but it'd give intense light at the back (higher) area of the tank for high demand corals, and it'd help give a little more punch at the lower regions of the front too.

It could also allow me to swap the 14K bulb for a high PAR 10K and have some real intense blue actinics to help with the yellow light.

What's the difference in PAR between an aquablue and a super-actinic T5 bulb? I could keep with a 14k 150W MH and get 13k T5 bulbs. Nice par from the T5's then.

[albert_dao]

Aquablue is a 11k bulb, lots of PAR. Super Actinic has a very narrow spectrum, almost zero PAR.

[StirCrazy]

don't worry about the amount of PAR in the PCs OR T5s in these fixtures, compared to the MH they are nothing and only used for color.

Steve

[kwirky]

don't worry about the amount of PAR in the PCs OR T5s in these fixtures, compared to the MH they are nothing and only used for color.

Steve

i beg to differ. T5 lighting is definately brighter than 150W MH through personal experience. That's why I'm considering upgrading the 150W light through either a 250W swap, or through supplementing with T5

[Aquattro]

Steve, break out the PAR meter....:)

[StirCrazy]

Steve, break out the PAR meter....:)

I only wish some one in town had T5 lighting so I could put an end to this nonsense once and for all.

considering 150 DE with a good reflector put out higher PAR levels than a 400 (Sanjays test not mine) with a ok reflector, I don't see how anyone could think a florescent tube could put out more.. T5's are nothing new they have been used in industry for a long time. hell a PC is a T4 which means theoretically it should have more intensity than a T5.

but if anyone in Town has a T5 set up and is willing to let me hook up my meter in there tank.. let me know.

Steve

[StirCrazy]

C,mon Steve, thats a pretty broad statement. Guess those of us having good success with them are not doing it correct then.


nope not saying that you can't grow under them at all. Who was it that 5 years ago used to grow acro's under NO bulbs. All I am saying here is that when your using a mixed fixture (MH and PC/VHO/T5 actinic) there is no need to go with a broad spectrum PC/VHO/T5 actinic over true actinic as you will get all the PAR you need from the MH and the add on actinics should be used just for color. now if you don't want a lot of blue get a broader spectrum, if you like the blue and the POP of the coral get the true actinic.

it is the same with my HQI 250's I used them for the corals and my VHO's for color. when I used a marine blue light you could hardly notice it when it was on, the 03 actinics actualy make my white MH look light blue.

here is an example. In my tests on my tank for PAR output. My MH put out 680 Units of PAR, my 96 watt VHO super actinics put out 91 units. you think that 91 units realy did anything? remember light is not added togeather when we are talking about intensity and thoes numbers were ate 14" (6 air 8 water) so on the bottom of the tank the VHO dropped offf to 27 where the MH was still about 480. so the coral benifited from the intensity of the MH's PAR output and the VHO was basicly nothing because of the MH's intensity. now if you are only using VHO/PC/T5 then yes you need to have some broader spectrum lights to get the PAR levels and have the blue tinge.

hope I didn't give you the wrong impression with the last post. if he would have said I am using a "all floressent" fixture I would have agreeded.

I guess one other thing I would look at is cost.. how much do you want to pay for color... and how much more color would the T5's throw out over VHO... so there is other factors as well.

Steve

[StirCrazy]

http://216.187.96.54/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=37072&highlight=T-5


Just one of our resent threads. I dont disagree with the intensity, growth & colour from halides but its not the end all of lighting. Certainly in many cases its the only way to go, but in others, T-5 or even vho, serve the purpose fine.


I agree and disagree (arn't you glad I am back :mrgreen: ) I red that and didn't see anyone say T5's were better than MH, but if you remember a year or so ago.. "T5s are the best thng on earth and blow away MH set ups"

I woudl still like to do some measurments on them to see the intensity drop off on T5's compared to MH as all the tests I have see are done at 6" from the bulb through air type of thing. I have seen T5's in the fancy MH-T5 light set ups and when they are turned on you can hardly notice them.. I sat there thinking... "It looks like the water got more blue but I am not sure" now maybe they were a broad spectrum T5 but I realy wasn't impressed. Mind you I am looking at them for an option for my fresh water tank, and yes I think I would use them for actinic over PC and VHO just because they are popular so they are cheaper to replace now.

Steve

[kwirky]

T5's do not compare to PC's because I've owned both. I couldn't even look at T5's without hurting my head. I wasn't aiming to turn this into a MH vs. T5 thread, that monster doesn't need to be raised from the dead. What I meant was that upgrading my PC bulbs to T5's would be a great compromise with changing out the MH bulb for a 250W. Much less work and much less $$ for results that would still be great.

and adding the T5's probably wouldn't be as supplemental actinic. Instead I'd run some 13k T5 bulbs to increase PAR because the 14k bulb is already nice and blue. I want just a little more PAR.

Oh and I have read some MH vs. T5 PAR measurements. They're hard to dig up on RC (they're out there) but the T5 6700/13k (50/50) measurements were across the board more intense than 250W 10k MH lighting when within 16" from the fixture. After 16" you lost light considerably. This is a 16" tall tank so T5's would be very intense in it.

This is a single tank scenario that I'm trying to solve that has a $$ budget. I'm not trying to solve the debate between T5 and MH :)

[Canadian]

Is this for real? The T5 PAR measurements have been replicated numerous times on RC. Take a look at this thread - first page has a pic of PAR measurements IN THE TANK with a POS Tek fixture that isn't actively cooled (the increase in intensity with active cooling and quality reflectors has been shown to double the effective output of T5s): http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=1230776&highlight=par

I'd have to spend some time fishing for the other threads with PAR measurements of better quality T5 fixtures. Attempting to draw a comparison of VHO to a quality T5 is insane. The application of a quality reflector coupled with active cooling has repeatedly been shown to produce sufficient lighting to enable the highest light demanding SPS to thrive. As mentioned above, the effective output is nearly double that of a non-cooled lamp without individual reflectors.

If you need to measure it for yourself to feel comfortable, go nuts. I've also got an umbrella handy just in case you want to make sure that you can't jump from a roof in a magically contolled fall like Mary Poppins ;)

[Canadian]

Just in case there was any doubt:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=1252186

I saw this thread when it was first posted and just saw there were some new responses.

[StirCrazy]

Just in case there was any doubt:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=1252186

I saw this thread when it was first posted and just saw there were some new responses.

Andrew.. what exactly does that thread have to do with T5's being better than MH or not :question:

Steve

[StirCrazy]

Is this for real? The T5 PAR measurements have been replicated numerous times on RC.

yes there were, and there were also IceCap claims that turned out to be false... problem is it is so easy to fuge readings with these sensors.. hell I can make a 100 watt light bulb put out more PAR than a 400 watt MH by only moving the sensor 1/2" there has also been a lot of debate about the way people were taking T5 readings... so no I don't put any faith in RC anymore.

Steve

[Canadian]

Andrew.. what exactly does that thread have to do with T5's being better than MH or not :question:

Steve

The threads I linked to were in response to your quotes:

don't worry about the amount of PAR in the PCs OR T5s in these fixtures, compared to the MH they are nothing and only used for color.

and

My MH put out 680 Units of PAR, my 96 watt VHO super actinics put out 91 units. you think that 91 units realy did anything? remember light is not added togeather when we are talking about intensity and thoes numbers were ate 14" (6 air 8 water) so on the bottom of the tank the VHO dropped offf to 27 where the MH was still about 480. so the coral benifited from the intensity of the MH's PAR output and the VHO was basicly nothing because of the MH's intensity. now if you are only using VHO/PC/T5 then yes you need to have some broader spectrum lights to get the PAR levels and have the blue tinge

Additionally, in reference to the variability in methodology of measuring intensity: keep in mind that T5 reflectors essentially direct the light from the lamp in a wide band whereas the majority of MH reflectors concentrate the light at some point to such an extent that "surfing" for a point of higher intensity will undoubtedly lead to discovery of an extremely brightly lit point. T5 lighting is relatively uniform (with the exception of one end often being brighter due to fixture design and active cooling at the endcap) and may not produce a single point as intense as the MH but averaging the intensity by plotting it in a grid throughout the tank demonstrates that T5 certainly does more than just contribute color when combined with MH.

[StirCrazy]

may not produce a single point as intense as the MH but averaging the intensity by plotting it in a grid throughout the tank demonstrates that T5 certainly does more than just contribute color when combined with MH.

exactly! when you measure average the T5's will come up higher. But in the central areas they will not be near as intense as the MH.

On of the other problems is a lot of people are taking the measument for granted.. the standards for the MH everyone is comparing them against is a black box with no reflector. All I am saying is that I would like to do a real world measurment to see how they are. Do you have T5's for your tank you are setting up? we could test them out.

Steve

[Canadian]

Steve,

Part of my rationale for posting that last link is because you can see that 8x80W T5 produced a point in the center of tank with a PAR in excess of 600. This level of PAR is generally regarded as being photoinhibitory and certainly rivals a hot spot produced by many different MH at the same depth in the tank.

I wanted to run a 6x24W T5 ATI Powermodule over my new tank but Proline isn't supporting the distribution of them in Canada anymore so there aren't any Canadian retailers. Consequently, I contacted Reef Geek and inquired about getting one from the US and it was going to take more than 4 months to get one. I looked at getting a FaunaMarin Ultra Solaris but Fauna Marin was having heat issues with the 24" model. So essentially I was screwed and I just caved and went with a Giesemann 230 Plus (150W 13,000K HQI and 2x24W T5 AquaBlue +). Unfortunately the T5 ballast is DOA and now I'm having to wait for Giesemann to send me a replacement that I'll have to swap in.

[Okguy]

Kwirky, I'm sorry your thread got hijacked off topic. But since a lot of people have Aqualights I'm curious if you've tried to switch the PC's to T5's. I'm thinking of trying it if I get a some spare time over Christmas (and can find the parts locally) and would like to know how your upgrade went?

Thanks,

Kevin

[Chin_Lee]

Kevin
I am going to look into doing this mod (pc to T5) in the near future. I'll let you know how it goes.

[calkrog]

taggin along.. i have the 36" and i want t5's as well. i

[kwirky]

unfortunately my tank sprung a leak and I had to swap it out in an emergency. Now it's a 3' long tank and the 24" fixture won't be enough no matter how I mod it. So the upgrade won't be happening because I'm going to upgrade the fixture to a 3' long one when I have the $$.

[mseepman]

Bump...anything happening with these mods?

[kwirky]

not worth the time and effort because most of the reflector would end up being hashed up. I'm keeping the 150W because it seems to be ok for the time being for my corals.

[mseepman]

On RC there is a thread on the Odyssea light copy of the Coralife. It is a huge thread that has taken me the last 2 days to read. One member there did a PC to T5HO conversion and showed off what he did...but now I can't find it as the thread is so large that it's been split 4 times after 40 pages each.

I believe that what they did there would work just fine in the Coralife too. All it cost them were the new bulbs and the endcaps. Since it's shielded behind acrylic, they didn't even need to be waterproof end-caps. It's the pin-out that I'm unsure of.

[mseepman]

bump...

[mseepman]

bump again...any other thoughts?