Lighting Upgrade Journal - Finally taking the plunge!

[Stixbaraca]

I just ordered 2 150/175 ARO Electronic ballasts and 2 175Watt SE Ushio 10,000K bulbs! I am going from 2 96W pc tubes to the 2 175 watt Ushios, and 1 96W Actinic PC tube! I was wavering for a long time on bulb wattage and SE or DE! I was going to go with 1 250 watt bulb, but the outskirts of the tank would be dark...so I figured on 2 lesser wattage bulbs. I went with SE bulbs and electronic ballasts because of heat. Finally I chose the 10,000K bulb because I wanted to use an actinic bulb for dawn/dusk...and anything above the 10,000K would have been just as blue as the actinic. I an going to jouranl the crossover from PC to MH/PC with pictures

 

[jessiesgrrl]

Wooohooo! That's awesome!! I bet it feels good to be off the pot... Takes me forever to make a decision with lights.

Laurie

 

[cardgenius]

That will be cool to see. I plan on doing the same thing in the next couple months. Im soo glad to be getting rid of these dang PC's!!

 

[Stixbaraca]

Tell me about it guys...I have been pondering this forever! I feel like the PCs are really handcuffing the tank though...so hopefully this will take it to the next level!

 

[gflat65]

I hope the PC's add enough blue for you. Ushio 10K's aren;t as yellow as lot of 10K's, but they aren't very blue at all. My favorite 175W combo was 2 VHO actinic 03's and the 175W Ushio. My ballasts don't run Ushios very well, though (I get about 6 months before they quit firing), so it is off to find another non German bulb (with more blue, too, as decree'd by the wife ).

 

[Stixbaraca]

I have read that the Ushios are "crisp white"...so the actinic should set it off pretty well! I just ordered 2 Orion fans last night for the hood!

www.Arcade-Electronics.Com


Hopefully in the next week or so we (MinibowMatt) and myself can start getting the wood together!

 

[Chris2222000]

Ha Welcome to the Dark side (in this case *light* side)!
The progression shots will be interesting, cant wait to see the changes in a few weeks or months.
-Chris

 

[MarvinsReef]

congrats Steve.. I remember that time when I switched from PC to MH and don't ever want to go back..

Marvin

 

[fishes2889]

Never have done MH yet. I have done PC's and T5's. I am really impressed with T5 though. But in the next coming months i am planning on settting up a 75g and my plans for lighting are my T5's, (i have 4x 54 fixture), make 3 of them actincs and the other 10k daylight and have 2 175 watt MH's or 2 250watt MH's...........

Steve

 

[Stixbaraca]

I am goging to take some serious before and after pics of some of my favorites...and some full tnak shots also!

 

[fishes2889]

That would be great. I am very tenative to go to MH's just because the fact that they are expensive and they over heat tanks. And i really dont want to wast money on a 300$ chiller(who does?). I know growth rates are astounding with MH's but isnt there another way like T5's ?? I mena that could be my setup. I could take my T5 fixture that i have now and combine it with a Tek fixture. I could have single reflectors to get the optimum out of the T5's or i could do a combo of T5 and MH. Opinions are welcome.......

Steve

 

[Stixbaraca]

Fishes...you should start a thread to get people's opinions on the topic!!

 

[fishes2889]

sorry i didnt mean to hijack your thread. lol.


Steve

 

[jessiesgrrl]

Fishes...you should start a thread to get people's opinions on the topic!!

LOL

I thought I was the resident thread pirate...Harr harr harr...


Do you think your before and after pics will have more color, or more growth faster?

Laurie

 

[Stixbaraca]

I am hoping a little more of both...but most likely growth over color because of the bulbs I chose. I really really love the look of the 14K bulbs...with morph zoas into awesome colors but restrict the growth a little. I chose to go with 10,000K because I could get growth and color...and still use my Actinic PC for dawn/dusk...which would have been hard with a 14K light which is already very blue!