175w halide decision help

[phi delt reefer]

a little background info - my tank is 36"x24x12" (shallow 45 gallon). I have a 6 bulb teklight but it will only light 15-17" of the tank so I have put it up for sale to purchase a 4x39w t5ho retro (running 2 blue plus, purple plus and aquablue special) along with two 175 halide units. This will all go up in a hood so that is 11" tall but floats 6" above the tank. heres a pic to help you visualize



Questions for all you halide pro's...

1. 175w should be enough for such a shallow tank right? (want to keep my electrical bill within reason)
2. what would be the optimal setup for a true 14k look from the halides alone? (ex. single end Iwasaki 14k on eballast -would like ballast and bulb recommendations)
3. will this add alot of heat to such a small tank?
4. do i need uv glass?
5. reflector choices? I have about 20" of width to work with in the hood, 4 t5s will take up 10" give or take (based on 2.5" reflector width)
6. will this setup add too much heat (i dont have a chiller but my house temps are as follows - winter days 20 degrees, nights 17 degree, summer days 22 degrees nights 20 degrees) - tank will be in my living room where the thermostat is located.
7. should i scrape the halides and instead go with a 8-10 bulb t5ho combo?

random but related question - can those Lumatek dimmable ballasts be dimmed by a controller (ie Reefkeeper with ALC module) or is it just a manual knob you turn?

also - if you have any of the equipment i need for sale feel free to PM me. I am in Ontario but am willing to pay for shipping if the price is right.


thank you all in advance for you help.

Happy Reefing -Vince

[phi delt reefer]

bump so this doesnt get lost

[wickedfrags]

WIth regard to your questions below I have added my comments in bold.

Originally Posted by phi delt reefer

a little background info - my tank is 36"x24x12" (shallow 45 gallon). I have a 6 bulb teklight but it will only light 15-17" of the tank so I have put it up for sale to purchase a 4x39w t5ho retro (running 2 blue plus, purple plus and aquablue special) along with two 175 halide units. This will all go up in a hood so that is 11" tall but floats 6" above the tank. heres a pic to help you visualize



Questions for all you halide pro's...
[list=1][*]175w should be enough for such a shallow tank right? (want to keep my electrical bill within reason)It will be enough, however if you ever get a deeper tank this wattage will be inadequate. Also, your bulb selection is limited, should you decide to sell the fixture in the future, you will have less buyers oposed to a 250W set-up. If you are concerned about electricity......bad hobby to be in[*]what would be the optimal setup for a true 14k look from the halides alone? (ex. single end Iwasaki 14k on eballast -would like ballast and bulb recommendations) not familiar with 175W set-ups, I have never considered them[*]will this add alot of heat to such a small tank?potentially, if this is the case move the light a hair higher, or change your lighting schedule in the summer[*]do i need uv glass? NO[*]reflector choices? I have about 20" of width to work with in the hood, 4 t5s will take up 10" give or take (based on 2.5" reflector width) tough one....personal preference I would say based on personal tastes[*]will this setup add too much heat (i dont have a chiller but my house temps are as follows - winter days 20 degrees, nights 17 degree, summer days 22 degrees nights 20 degrees) - tank will be in my living room where the thermostat is located.Tank should be fine. mosts reef tanks in Canada do not require a chiller[*]should i scrape the halides and instead go with a 8-10 bulb t5ho combo?
really depends on your preference...........tough to argue with the reflection those halides create........but T5 work also, I had a 8 bulb unit on my frag tank. Personally I would never have a reef display tank without halides, 250W minimum

random but related question - can those Lumatek dimmable ballasts be dimmed by a controller (ie Reefkeeper with ALC module) or is it just a manual knob you turn?

also - if you have any of the equipment i need for sale feel free to PM me. I am in Ontario but am willing to pay for shipping if the price is right.
I have a ton of used equipment..........if you are looking for something specific let me know.

thank you all in advance for you help.

Happy Reefing -Vince

[phi delt reefer]

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[Delphinus]

On my 40g carpet tank which is 24x24x12 I run 175w with Iwasaki 14k. It's a good combo, great colour, slams out the PAR second to none and no heat issues as it's a fairly small wattage all things considered.

That said ...

Despite how much I love the Iwasaki lamp, it is a HUGE pet peeve how insanely difficult this lamp is to acquire. It is almost always a special order item and it's one of the most expensive lamps out there to boot. I'm sure any electrical savings are lost against the purchase price of the lamp. They do last longer than your average halide but that's small consolation when you're bugging vendor after vendor to see who's willing to sell you one.

... Ok I just had to check, I just checked a bunch of online vendors and the only one who lists it at all is premiumaquatics.com in the States. A good price at $70..
http://premiumaquatics.com/store/mer...vc?Screen=SRCH
... not sure what shipping or duties will be like (I assume it's subject to duties on import since it's not made in North America and thus NAFTA exempt .. but I'm not sure).

I had hoped that after 4-5 years since this product was introduced to market that it would have caught on by now and with increased demand comes increased supply (or in additional wattages like say 250w or 400w) but no such luck. In the end 175w is obscure enough that it's a victim of it's own obscurity - because 250w is not much more in wattage and there are much more choices available, in the end nobody buys 175w and so people don't realize what a gem of a light this is and thus there's no incentive for the manufacturers/distributors to increase the product line or availability. Bit of a vicious circle.

[phi delt reefer]

Thanks for the info Delphinus - any recommendations on reflectors/ballast?

I only have about 10" of reflector space if put in 4x t5s. The lumenarc mini's are about 14" wide but i hear they are the best. The other option is those narrow 7-8" wide reflector similar to the ones in the t5/MH units giesmann and other manufacturers make or a spider reflector

I am thinking that regardless of the light i use, i should utilize the best possible relflector to ensure optimal efficiency. No point in wasting electricity/ bulbs if i am not getting the most i possibly can out of them. Maybe i should reduce down to a dual t5ho setup with a 14" reflectors?

any thoughts on this ballast? It says its an e-ballast but i wonder if they are as feature packed/effiecient as the lumatek e-ballasts. Lumateks are dimmable but unless i can hook it up to a reef controller the dimmable function is useless to me.
http://www.championlighting.com/prod...at=1277&page=1

[gobytron]

I second the Iwasaki bulbs...
They are commonly known as "par busters" and Sanjay Joshi, who is the par guru in this hobby, has tested these and he himself was suprised they put out a par comparable to many of the 250W bulbs he tested at the same time.


In order to maximize their potential, I think you need an electronic ballast.

If you do a search on this site for "par busters" you should find a link or two to the article itself.

[Delphinus]

Any idea what sort of "look" you're hoping to go for? Over 12" of height the two t5's would be enough for supplemental lighting and dusk/dawn effects but if you're hoping for a more hybrid setup with more t5's then maybe the loss of efficiency in the reflector is a small price to pay for that enhanced versatility overall. I guess the real question is the spread of the spiderlight, at 36" you're probably looking at two lamps for the length, but at 24" wide it might be at the threshold of how far those reflectors can throw lights towards the edges.

I have a bunch of reflectors and 175w ballasts I was thinking of selling (but they are Reef Optix 3 (spider/parabolic type) and cap/coil ballasts so if you're set on electronic and lumenarc style then this of course doesn't help you, but OTOH if you're looking for something more economic to let you mix and match before settling on a final equipment combo .. drop me a line.)

[phi delt reefer]

looking for a 14-15k look. Really crisp white with some subtle blue and lots of pop (hence the t5's)

--so i can got with 4 t5s and two spider/parbolic reflectors and a dual 175w eballast

--go 2 t5s with two lumenarc mini (or similar style) pyramid reflectors and dual 175 eballast.

anyone have experience with blueline e-ballasts or Lumateks?

I like the versatility of having 4 t5's for i can tune the color with some different bulbs as needed.

next question - with the spider reflectors or the reef optix 3 units what kind of spread will i get if its only 8-12" above the water?

I am going to do a two or three island look with the rockwork so i can centre the reflectors respectively or put them on some rails so they have adjust-ability in case i change the rock work. I dont plan on having stuff right up to the edges of the glass, probably have 2-4" of dead space all the way around.

[gobytron]

For your reading pleasure....Sanjays testing of the Iwasakis

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/12/review#h12