A little up front info:
My Kessil A360 WE's are getting old, somewhere between 6 and 8 years or so, depending on the fixture. They have been over multiple tanks over the years and I have been very content with them. Currently, I run the Kessils 11 hours a day, ramping up to 100% color and 100% intensity for 7 hours and then ramp back down.
However, as I said, the Kessils are getting old and now is probably the time to replace them.
In my opinion, Mags look best under natural sunlight, so I've been considering going to a more natural sunlight spectrum for the Mags. Watching Dr. Mac's (PacificEastAquaculture.com) Youtube videos of his Mags under natural sunlight in his greenhouse, along with other videos of them in the wild, has me mesmerized, and I want to try and emulate that as best as possible. So, I started considering going back to lower Kelvin metal halides rather than another LED fixture, most of which today are heavily blue spectrum dominant.
As if the gods were listening, an incredible deal popped up locally this past weekend and I jumped on it.
I just purchased 3, never used, Hamilton Technology, 250 watt, HQI metal halide pendants and ballasts from a local reefer. I've decided to give them a try over the Magnifica reef. Unfortunately, no bulbs came with them so I just ordered 3 Reefbrite 14K bulbs from Premium Aquatics and 3 10K Chinese reef bulbs off ebay. I couldn't find any 6500K bulbs, which I'd like to try as well. I'll keep looking for some of those.
So, here's where I could use some input. It's been a minute since I've used metal halides.
Spread: Tank is 48" long x 24" wide x 16" tall, 80 gallon Deep Blue. Go with 2 of these pendants, mounted horizontally with the tank front? Or, go with all 3 of them, mounted perpendicular to the tank front, spaced evenly? Would 3 be overkill? Mags like a lot of light but if 2 fixtures would cover, I'd like to save the electricity and heat.
Mounting height: How high should I start with? I've read 250 watt halides mounted anywhere from 6" to 14" high depending on PAR demands. The Mags are used to very high intensity from the Kessils, but again, they are old and I'm not sure how much PAR they are currently putting out. What kind of PAR to expect from these bulbs and fixtures? I think the Mags could handle anything the halides put out, but I'd rather play it safe and not burn them.
Photoperiod: I'm also running 2 48" ATI blue plus T5's and 2 48" Quanta Mesa blue/violet LED bars. I'll continue to use them for early morning and late evening dawn/dusk lighting. I'm thinking of starting the halides with a 6 hour photo period and increasing to 8 hours over time. Thoughts?
I'd love to hear your thoughts and recommendations!
Here's a video of the tank I shot a bit ago showing off the size and colors of the Mags under blue LED, full spectrum LED, low flow and high random flow.
Attached are pics of the new halide fixtures and ballasts.
My Kessil A360 WE's are getting old, somewhere between 6 and 8 years or so, depending on the fixture. They have been over multiple tanks over the years and I have been very content with them. Currently, I run the Kessils 11 hours a day, ramping up to 100% color and 100% intensity for 7 hours and then ramp back down.
However, as I said, the Kessils are getting old and now is probably the time to replace them.
In my opinion, Mags look best under natural sunlight, so I've been considering going to a more natural sunlight spectrum for the Mags. Watching Dr. Mac's (PacificEastAquaculture.com) Youtube videos of his Mags under natural sunlight in his greenhouse, along with other videos of them in the wild, has me mesmerized, and I want to try and emulate that as best as possible. So, I started considering going back to lower Kelvin metal halides rather than another LED fixture, most of which today are heavily blue spectrum dominant.
As if the gods were listening, an incredible deal popped up locally this past weekend and I jumped on it.
I just purchased 3, never used, Hamilton Technology, 250 watt, HQI metal halide pendants and ballasts from a local reefer. I've decided to give them a try over the Magnifica reef. Unfortunately, no bulbs came with them so I just ordered 3 Reefbrite 14K bulbs from Premium Aquatics and 3 10K Chinese reef bulbs off ebay. I couldn't find any 6500K bulbs, which I'd like to try as well. I'll keep looking for some of those.
So, here's where I could use some input. It's been a minute since I've used metal halides.
Spread: Tank is 48" long x 24" wide x 16" tall, 80 gallon Deep Blue. Go with 2 of these pendants, mounted horizontally with the tank front? Or, go with all 3 of them, mounted perpendicular to the tank front, spaced evenly? Would 3 be overkill? Mags like a lot of light but if 2 fixtures would cover, I'd like to save the electricity and heat.
Mounting height: How high should I start with? I've read 250 watt halides mounted anywhere from 6" to 14" high depending on PAR demands. The Mags are used to very high intensity from the Kessils, but again, they are old and I'm not sure how much PAR they are currently putting out. What kind of PAR to expect from these bulbs and fixtures? I think the Mags could handle anything the halides put out, but I'd rather play it safe and not burn them.
Photoperiod: I'm also running 2 48" ATI blue plus T5's and 2 48" Quanta Mesa blue/violet LED bars. I'll continue to use them for early morning and late evening dawn/dusk lighting. I'm thinking of starting the halides with a 6 hour photo period and increasing to 8 hours over time. Thoughts?
I'd love to hear your thoughts and recommendations!
Here's a video of the tank I shot a bit ago showing off the size and colors of the Mags under blue LED, full spectrum LED, low flow and high random flow.
Attached are pics of the new halide fixtures and ballasts.
