MH Lighting Opinion needed...

[ChrisIsBored]

I've got my heart set on using 65k Iwasaki's. I'll also be supplementing with VHO's but the point i'm stuck at right now is the ballast and Wattage.

My tank is a 200G Oceanic RR. I don't particularly plan to keep SPS but who knows in the future. I will try my hand at a few towards the top of the tank.

My thoughts on my MH confirguration are as follows...

4x250W all 4 on most of the day..

or

2x250W on for most of the day
2x400W on for 7-9 hours of the day

Which would suit me better? I'm also planning on using spider reflectors.

Now the 2nd question. Which ballast? Upfront cost isn't much of a problem. If I can save a significant $ amount on monthly energy bills that would make me happy. My only doubts about the blueline e-ballast is the interference caused by it... I'm still undecided though... maybe PFO? I'm... so... undecided... Your opinions are welcomed!!!

[DennisW]

Dont the Iwasaki's run best on a mercury vapor ballast???? Those would be cheaper up front and save money energy wise in the long run. Atleast.....I think.

Dennis

[beach bum]

As far as I know the wattage should be determined by the depth of the tank. I think it's something like 175's up to 18 inches deep, 250's up to 24" (or was it 30?), and 400's beyond that. fwiw

[Minnreefer]

My feeling is that you want to go with 250's, but you may want to change to 400's in the future. We have the PFO eye ballast which work well, I would stay away from the ice cap ballast, I have heard many bad things about them . We have 3 250's on our 135 but we need a lot of actinic support with the iwaski's so we have 4 actinic VHO 6' bulbs on the tank.
HTH

Jon

[bill-e]

I'd go with all 400's so I wouldnt have to replace my ballasts later when I wanted more light. You can always stagger them if you thought you needed to.

One problem with going with intense MH lighting is that if you never plan to have SPS or clams, your tank wil actually look better with VHO or PC's because the colorful coralline growth will be significantly better in the lower lighted tank.

You could also go with 3 or 4 250w double ended Ushio 10kk HQI's and most likely not have to add any actinic supplimentation

Remember that you can keep some SPS under VHO but clams need the MH.

[ChrisIsBored]

Well clams haven't been a big part of making my decision. In the two years i've kept my salt water tanks, i've never bought one. But then again my only reef tank experience has been with nano's. And larger fish only tanks. So this is indeed going to be my biggest project yet...

I like the idea of the 2 400W's but i'm not sure that much light will really be necessary. The 4 250W's will also consume less electricity. I've already purchased the VHO's so it's too late to try it without them...

I'm trying to think longterm electricity costs... if it's worth it at all to go for maybe IceCaps or another E-Ballast over PFO. The heat issue is also part of what gets me to try and avoid the PFO ballast. Ahhh decisions... decisions...

[bill-e]

You will never notice the difference between PO and electronic as far as monthly bills are concerned, and the difference between 2 400's with 2 250's and just 4 400's will be negligable...certainly not a reason for not choosing the 400's.

If you're concerned about economics, then you should concentrate on the cost of the ballasts and bulbs, including replacement bulb frequency and cost, and not worry about ballast energy consumption.

You can probably better afford the extra couple of bux the 400's will cost rather than the extra $300 it will cost to upgrade those bulbs/ballasts later.

Another consideration is the difference in color between the 250 and 400 iwasakis.

Bill

[Brooke]

Originally posted by bill-e
Another consideration is the difference in color between the 250 and 400 iwasakis.

Bill..what is the difference here?

I really like our 250's and don't see a need for 400w. If we ever went with a deeper tank, then maybe 400's would be nice. You will have no problem keeping sps with the 250's. I'm not sure how soft corals do under 400's, but they do fine with the 250's. We keep zoanthids, leathers, star polyps, mushrooms, etc. that are more typical "lower light" corals and they are nice and colorful.

Oh...our PFO ballasts do not run hot. Just slightly warm to the touch. They are not even close to the hood. They sit in a cabinet adjacent to the tank.

HTH-
Brooke

[bill-e]

Brooke,

One of them is more yellow than the other...I think it's the 250's which are yellow, and the 400's more white (although it could be the other way around)

As for softies and 400's, they will do just fine, you may just have to adjust the duration, like wth any mh, until you find the right period for your tank.

Is 250 enough? For a normal person yes, but once you get into SPS or clams, you will not be satisfied with the 250's any you'll want more.

My thinking is that since the 250/400 price is basically a wash, and since your tank will do fine with the 400's, why not get the 400's and save yourself an upgrade later on.....and you know how we are, there will be a later on

[vulkum]

bill its the 400's that are yellower than the 250's. i run 2x250 iwasaki on pfo ballast and i like them alot. i have a 24" deep tank also and i keep clams with know probs and the top of my tank is all sps. i had a magazine that broke down and tested all the differant ballst against each other and the blue line was the best electronic ballast with the pfo the best magnetic ballast. the energy savings is only a few pennies a month so it would take years to offset the original cost of the blueline ballast. the electronic ballast will make your bulb last alittle longer but don't fire as bright. running the PFO eye ballast(mercury vapor) showed only a marginally better output on the iwasaki bulbs VS. the standard PFO metal halide ballast, and i think your better off getting the metal halide ballast unless you absolutlly want to stick with the iwasaki bulbs. i plan on changing to 10k's here shortly to see the differance but i get some great growth out of my montiporas under the iwasakis. what ever you decide 250's should be fine unless your a hard core sps keeper and want to see spectacular growth, then go with 400watters.
aaron
heres a place with great prices on pfo ballasts
http://www.mparkis.50megs.com/mhpricelist.html

[asmith]

Anther thing to consider if you choose the PFO Ballast. Even though you are planning on using the Iwasaki's, you might consider going with the standard PFO ballast instead of the EYE ballast. This will give you the flexability to try different Metal Halide bulbs, such as 10,000K German bulbs, in the future. The EYE ballasts only allow you to use the Iwasaki 6500K bulbs. I chose the standard ballast because I wanted the ability to try different bulbs without buying new ballasts. The price of the standard PFO ballast is not that much mor than the EYE ballast.

Andrew

[Doug1]

Hehehehe on theres always an upgrade
t*f*a*

[ChrisIsBored]

Thanks guys for the help!