What about this lighting??

[surfn]

yeah, you'll just have to figure out a way to mount the VHO's. and if i remember correctly.....your canopy is pretty small.

i know there is a problem if you mount the lumenarcs too close to the water.....the light won't have enough room to spread out, and you'll have dark spots on the sides....which looks kinda strange. full sized lumenarcs might be a better way to go.

 

[turbois300]

I agree with the SE / icecap / lumenarc. I just got one from a friend and It is killer. I had 4 x 55watt PC so i just put them all to Actinic and have a 12K XM and the colors on my corals are amazing. I don't have the rare or super colorfull palys like rev but it makes even my normal stuff look amazing. Just my .02

 

[Hypertek99]

What SE bulbs do you guys recommend with a PFO magnetic ballast??? I tried Radiums but it seems like the magnetic ballast had problems firing them up. Then i tried the coralvue 14K and they were great but switched over to the Reefoptics and wow they are awesome for the price. Much much brighter too. I'm thinking about trying the Reeflux 12K next as i hear good stuff from them.

 

[surfn]

I agree with the SE / icecap / lumenarc. I just got one from a friend and It is killer. I had 4 x 55watt PC so i just put them all to Actinic and have a 12K XM and the colors on my corals are amazing. I don't have the rare or super colorfull palys like rev but it makes even my normal stuff look amazing. Just my .02

no such thing as an XM 12k.... they only come in 10k, 15k, and 20k (15k is by far the worst)

What SE bulbs do you guys recommend with a PFO magnetic ballast??? I tried Radiums but it seems like the magnetic ballast had problems firing them up. Then i tried the coralvue 14K and they were great but switched over to the Reefoptics and wow they are awesome for the price. Much much brighter too. I'm thinking about trying the Reeflux 12K next as i hear good stuff from them.

only good thing that runs on magnetics w/ a blue spectrum is the XM20k. magnetics are going out of style IMO as cheap/efficient ballasts. XM20k has the highest par rating of a blue bulb on a magnetic ballast.

radiums won't run on magnetic.....and are meant to be run on HQI or electronic.

reeflux 12k will work on other ballasts, but should only be run on electronic IMO.

 

[revhtree]

Sorry to have to break this out on you Surf....

This was my XM 15k tank I tore down. The growth was slower but I had decent growth and great color...

 

[revhtree]

BTW I ordered the rest of my lighting today and I went with the Hamilton 14k's and electronic ballast. Plus I got a couple of the URI Super actinic VHO's.

Saved $31 too with the black Friday coupon at Hellolights.

 

[Pitcom]

Rev, that tank is sick man.

 

[surfn]

back when i ran my nano tank, i used the XM 15k 2 times, and then once again on a 20g last year. i ran this on a magnetic ballast.

IMO.....i liked it at first on the nano.......as it did have good color IMO.....and nominal growth. then my g/f went with the XM20k on her nano tank, and it was just soooooo much brighter (on the same ballast). so then i also went with the XM 20k, and got great color....and great growth. although the XM20k was a little too blue for my tastes.....it also kinda washed out the pink sps corals.

so i went back to XM 15k (same ballast), this is the point where i learned i didnt like the XM 15k....it was only half as bright as the 20k, and my colors weren't as good as under the 20k, and i didnt get nearly as good of growth as the 20k.

thus....i feel XM10k > XM20k > XM15k (as far as PAR goes).

no idea what XM15k on electronics will do. i felt they only lasted on magnetics for about 6months before they shifted their spectrum.

 

[turbois300]

Hmm? Well since I got it from a member on RC that doesn't suprise me. It says 12000K on the bulb itself and the other bulb he gave me was an XM10K still in the box??? SO I just figured they were the same manufacturer? I'll have to check that again. Think I'll go with a 15K like Rev's picture above. I really like the blue and it seems bright enough. Any other SE bulbs you all recomend? I have an Icecap balast... again not sure of the model number there either. But its a 250W