Help with Halides?

[BMS]

Hello all.
A friend of mine has had this fixture for several years, and last weekend he offered to let me play around with it to see if I could get it working.

After some preliminary "Googling" it appears to be a Current-USA "Outer Orbit" model, 72 inches long w/ three x 250 HQI metal halides, 8 x 36-inch T5s, and four panels of LEDs.

The unit shows some wear and tear, and needs a good cleaning. Unfortunately the LEDs don't work at all. It appears, however, that the halides and the T5s all do work....although the halide on the left fell out of its socket when I turned the fixture upright. I'll dig into that more when time allows.

At any rate, does anyone here have any help, suggestions, or guidance with this unit? Is it, in fact, an "Outer Orbit" fixture?? Any suggestions on bulbs???

Here are some pix of the unit on my new 180-gallon. Please don't mind the 2x4s, but I wanted to lift it a bit off the top without hanging the unit until I figure out if it'll work for my needs.

Thanks in advance!
--Brian

 

[Formulator]

The fixture doesn’t really matter. They are fairly simple and the important things to figure out are what type of bulb and wattage. There are 2 types of bulbs; double ended and single ended screw in type. Wattage is probably printed on there somewhere or on the ballast box if it is not internal to the fixture. Once you figure out which type of bulb and the wattage you can search around here for examples. They are sold with a “k” rating that tells you the color spectrum. Typically the reef bulbs run from 10k to 20k. High k is more blue, while lower k is more natural/yellow like sunlight. With more blue, you sacrifice a little coral growth rate. I run 2x 250w 16k bulbs in my tank here for example. I supplement with 2x coralife blue plus and 2x coralife actinic T5 bulbs to get better fluorescent color pop and extend my light cycle on both sides of my 6.5 hour halide period. Brand does matter with bulbs, but unfortunately many of the good ones have stopped making them. Hamilton is good if you can find them. Phoenix is excellent and please PM me if you find any of those… There is a new manufacturer of phoenix copycat bulbs I tried recently and loved, but I can’t seem to track down the name of them. I will keep looking for you.

Welcome to the metal halide club! You are going to love them. I really don’t understand why they have fallen out of favor. The intensity and sun-like shimmer just can’t be done with LEDs.

 

[xabo]

The ballast appears to be a 250W.

 

[FUNGI]

The ballast appears to be a 250W.

.

 

[oreo54]

Considering you said a bulb "fell out" I'll assume they are DE bulbs?
Pictures of the "outer orbit" look to be mostly double ended MH bulbs.
Yea 250w
If the socket is broke that's an issue. Certainly don't need any scorching hot bulb falling out.
Out of curiosity I did a quick search. sockets aren't that easy to get nor cheap.

LH0549 Fc2 base lamp holder/socket with two hole mounting and 12" lead

LH0549 Fc2 base lamp holder/socket with two hole mounting and 12" leads Brand/Model: Vossloh Schwabe 100111 Fits lamp base(s): Fc2 Ratings: 1000w - 600v Material: Ceramic Certifications: ENEC, VDE Mounting Style: Two hole mount Wiring Method: 12in. leads Overall Height: 1.772" Country of...

gladiatorlighting.com

 

[FUNGI]

dont find the manual.......

Current USA Product Manuals and Downloads

Download instruction manuals, troubleshooting guides, installation instructions, and product care tips for Current USA and Ecoxotic products.

current-usa.com

 

[FUNGI]

I think the LEDs are moonlights only anyway....so no major loss
These would be the type of light bulbls you would need:

20K 250watt Double End Halide - Reef Brite | Premium Aquatics

Aquarium & Fish Supplies Superstore. Guaranteed Low Prices. Free Shipping for qualified orders. Aquarium supply for your aquarium fish, saltwater aquariums, freshwater aquariums and ponds. The best aquarium lighting, protein skimmers, aquarium chillers, calcium reactors, aquarium pumps for fish...

premiumaquatics.com

 

[oreo54]

Or cheap ones.. BTW... No recommendation on either from me.

 

[FUNGI]

I think the LEDs are moonlights only anyway....so no major loss
These would be the type of light bulbls you would need:

20K 250watt Double End Halide - Reef Brite | Premium Aquatics

Aquarium & Fish Supplies Superstore. Guaranteed Low Prices. Free Shipping for qualified orders. Aquarium supply for your aquarium fish, saltwater aquariums, freshwater aquariums and ponds. The best aquarium lighting, protein skimmers, aquarium chillers, calcium reactors, aquarium pumps for fish...

premiumaquatics.com

I should clarify....I meant the type (HQI) and not that certain brand.......

 

[xabo]

.

No need to edit.............No offense taken

 

[FUNGI]

No need to edit.............No offense taken

None meant....sorry....was a little testy and a dickish thing to do.

 

[xabo]

None meant....sorry....was a little testy and a dickish thing to do.

It's all good my friend.

 

[Reefing102]

Definitely looks like a the Current Outer Orbit Series.

As mentioned above, the LEDs were just used for moonlights back then. My guess is it could likely be DIY’d to replace if you felt the need.

Also as mentioned, any 250W Double Ended will work. It just depends what Kelvin rating you want. The higher the K rating (typically 6500/10000/12000/14000/20000k) the bluer the bulb (though still quite white compared to LED standards).

As for the bulb falling out, the socket has likely gone bag and would need to be replaced. Not something I’ve done but should be relatively simple. It may take a bit to find a socket in stock somewhere.

With all that said, I think you will have a great time with the light. It can be a little hot spotty though due to reflector design but nothing to worry about as long as your corals aren’t right at the surface

 

[BMS]

Thank you to all whom have taken the time to reply so far. I'll have a closer look at all of the replies and do some more work on my end. I did manage to find a Current-USA 14K HQI bulb, new old stock, and it's on its way to me now. I believe the bulbs in the unit now are either 6500K or 10K, and show some serious age and coloring. They are surely in need of replacement I believe.

I'll post more later, but again thank you to all of you.
--Brian

 

[Biff0rz]

Welcome to the metal halide club! You are going to love them. I really don’t understand why they have fallen out of favor. The intensity and sun-like shimmer just can’t be done with LEDs.

Context - I'm a MH fan, love them, but to answer your statement fairly....

heat, evaporation rates, availability, daily running costs, marketing, US political energy policy, lastly and most importantly.. leds grow great corals.

While I love MH, leds have made great strides and improvements that has norrowed the gap significantly. MH does tend to produce slightly faster growth and possibly better colors but that's a little more difficult to justify as so much goes into coloring. Mh also has amazing shimmer, the only thing coming close to it being kessil leds but those too are not as popular anymore.

 

[Formulator]

Context - I'm a MH fan, love them, but to answer your statement fairly....

heat, evaporation rates, availability, daily running costs, marketing, US political energy policy, lastly and most importantly.. leds grow great corals.

While I love MH, leds have made great strides and improvements that has norrowed the gap significantly. MH does tend to produce slightly faster growth and possibly better colors but that's a little more difficult to justify as so much goes into coloring. Mh also has amazing shimmer, the only thing coming close to it being kessil leds but those too are not as popular anymore.

Good points. In practice with my setup, a 15 dollar fan from amazon handles my cooling needs fine. Evaporation is significant though, but water is cheap living on the shores of the Mississippi River

 

[sjfishguy]

I had the smaller version of this fixture back in the day, it was awesome. Aside from the size (length) they made both 150w and 250w models. Put a double ended phoenix 14k bulb in there (if you can still find them) paired with a few ATI B+ and AB specials and you will be growing coral out of the top of that tank. Better light than anything out there today. However, you will be burning a lot of electric and making A LOT of heat too in the process. And as others have said, the LEDs were just moonlights, don’t bother with them

 

[Formulator]

I found them! Aqua Bright Solutions makes excellent halide bulbs for us reefers. The company is somewhat new and it is owned by 2 former Hamilton employees, Dave and Alejandra. I’ve been using them for a few months and absolutely love them. We are lucky to have them making these high quality bulbs while most the rest of the good ones (Hamilton, Ushio, Phoenix) have unfortunately discontinued manufacturing.

I hear Reef Bright might even expand into fixtures and other accessories if the demand supports it. So, buy their bulbs and support their business. You won’t regret it! And long live MH reefing!

https://aquabrightsolutions.com/

Edit: sorry for spreading misinformation. Apparently they don’t actually make the bulbs. But I stand by my opinion that they are great bulbs and the closest I’ve found to the old Phoenix bulbs I can’t find anymore.

 

[oreo54]

I found them! Aqua Bright Solutions makes excellent halide bulbs for us reefers. The company is somewhat new and it is owned by 2 former Hamilton employees, Dave and Alejandra. I’ve been using them for a few months and absolutely love them. We are lucky to have them making these high quality bulbs while most the rest of the good ones (Hamilton, Ushio, Phoenix) have unfortunately discontinued manufacturing.

I hear Reef Bright might even expand into fixtures and other accessories if the demand supports it. So, buy their bulbs and support their business. You won’t regret it! And long live MH reefing!

https://aquabrightsolutions.com/

They don't make bulbs. They are imported from China.
Neither did Hamilton apparently because at one time they stated the bulbs were from the same manufacturer.

 

[Formulator]

They don't make bulbs. They are imported from China.
Neither did Hamilton apparently because at one time they stated the bulbs were from the same manufacturer.

Well I suppose the wool was pulled over on me. I heard they made them from others on here and didn’t think they would have a reason to lie about something like that. Either way, I still love them and will continue buying them. I’ve had other knock-offs that just didn’t compare to the old discontinued ones I mentioned. These are a closer match IMO.