Reef Brite halide system users.

[Waboss]

I've got the 250W 15" hybrid in my cart on BRS now......just trying to decide on pulling the trigger.....haha

 

[Ztrain]

I've got the 250W 15" hybrid in my cart on BRS now......just trying to decide on pulling the trigger.....haha

Hahahaha I only have one regret. Not waiting a few days to get it for 130 off during the Black Friday sales. Your lucky.

 

[Waboss]

I'm just trying to figure out if I can get away with only one on my tank......decisions, decisions.....hahaha

 

[A. grandis]

Just got 2 Reef Brite 15" pendants and their 250W ballasts with Radium bulbs, besides theirs 2 T5 single retros, to see if they are really cool.
I think this could be already a club(?). ;Wideyed
Now I just need to get everything else for a new system and make room for it...
My decision was based on the cool to touch fixture, the fact that some say they don't need chiller, and the compact size of the fixture.
The Giesemann is hot, as many say.
The Cebu has loud fans.
Having the T5 retros and the pendants in an open set up will be cool and dissipate the heat really well... I'm just thinking of summer time!!!
Grandis

 

[Ztrain]

The pendant gets warm but I could put a cheek to it and not get burned. I'm using the Reefbrite bulb as well so I'm wondering if you need to use their bulb and ballast to get it to stay cool. I'm really curious to see how the Radium bulb does. Let me know what you think of it.

 

[jluspo]

Just got 2 Reef Brite 15" pendants and their 250W ballasts with Radium bulbs, besides theirs 2 T5 single retros, to see if they are really cool.
I think this could be already a club(?). ;Wideyed
Now I just need to get everything else for a new system and make room for it...
My decision was based on the cool to touch fixture, the fact that some say they don't need chiller, and the compact size of the fixture.
The Giesemann is hot, as many say.
The Cebu has loud fans.
Having the T5 retros and the pendants in an open set up will be cool and dissipate the heat really well... I'm just thinking of summer time!!!
Grandis

I'm joining the club! I also bought 2 Reefbrite 15" pendants and their 250W ballasts but in DE variety. I already have the 2 RB 48" actinic blues and they are great! It's going on my 120 gallon (4x2x2) to replace the PFO MH lights using Phoenix 14k DE 250w bulbs. I will continue to use the Phoenix bulbs.

 

[A. grandis]

The pendant gets warm but I could put a cheek to it and not get burned. I'm using the Reefbrite bulb as well so I'm wondering if you need to use their bulb and ballast to get it to stay cool. I'm really curious to see how the Radium bulb does. Let me know what you think of it.

I'm not going to set up a system soon, but will certainly test it when it gets here.
Where did you get their Twin-Arc bulbs? BRS doesn't have them.
Grandis.

 

[A. grandis]

I'm joining the club! I also bought 2 Reefbrite 15" pendants and their 250W ballasts but in DE variety. I already have the 2 RB 48" actinic blues and they are great! It's going on my 120 gallon (4x2x2) to replace the PFO MH lights using Phoenix 14k DE 250w bulbs. I will continue to use the Phoenix bulbs.

I heard good things about the Phoenix bulbs!! Probably the best DE bulbs.
What PFO ballast do you have (what box is checked on the top list)? Double?
They get kinda hot!! Do you have PFO pendants too?
I've had the PFO pendants/ballasts before, now I have only a PFO MH double ballast.
My problem is the lack of space in the house to set up all my tanks. LOL!
Grandis.

 

[Ztrain]

I'm not going to set up a system soon, but will certainly test it when it gets here.
Where did you get their Twin-Arc bulbs? BRS doesn't have them.
Grandis.

Premium aquatics carries them. I got my whole setup from there. They were sold out of the pendants and don't have the bulb that I have on their website. But if you call them they can handle the order for anything Reefbrite. I placed the order with them and my stuff was shipped directly from RB.

 

[A. grandis]

Premium aquatics carries them. I got my whole setup from there. They were sold out of the pendants and don't have the bulb that I have on their website. But if you call them they can handle the order for anything Reefbrite. I placed the order with them and my stuff was shipped directly from RB.

Oh, ok.. You got without the discount.
Perhaps tomorrow the bulbs will be on sale?
I would like to get their 20K-20K 250W bulbs to try out.

Perhaps some time next year I could get a new system running here...
Exciting!!
Thanks!
Grandis.

 

[Ztrain]

Oh, ok.. You got without the discount.
Perhaps tomorrow the bulbs will be on sale?
I would like to get their 20K-20K 250W bulbs to try out.

It'd be interesting. I've heard that Radium is the all time best bulb for the blue side. Iwasaki for 6500k. But that article that I linked a few posts back RB says that their 20k spectrally is identical to the Radium spectrum except for an additional large spike at 420 which sounds like a good thing to me. And the RB 20k is available in 175.

 

[A. grandis]

It'd be interesting. I've heard that Radium is the all time best bulb for the blue side. Iwasaki for 6500k. But that article that I linked a few posts back RB says that their 20k spectrally is identical to the Radium spectrum except for an additional large spike at 420 which sounds like a good thing to me. And the RB 20k is available in 175.

I've got the 250W ballast because of the Radium I want to use. I could go with 2X 175W easy for zoas, but the Radium was a priority. Besides, a 75gal. tank is the least I would get.
Perhaps a year from now on black friday I could have a new system running and get 2 extra 175W RB ballasts, if I decide to go for less wattage. If no heat, no problem!
Good to know about the article. I'll look for the link..
Yeah those Iwasaki 6500K were so great. I had them back in the day!! But I want to get it bluer now. I also have some 10K bulbs around... Will probably set up the new system with actinic blue Giesemann bulbs on the retros.
Feeling like a kid again! LOL!
Grandis.

 

[Velcro]

I'm just trying to figure out if I can get away with only one on my tank......decisions, decisions.....hahaha

I really don't think it would cover 36" at all. I wouldn't even rely on a good parabolic reflector to cover that (thinking cozumel sun). Maybe a 20" reflector with a 400 watt would cover it hung high, but I don't know.

 

[Ztrain]

I've got the 250W ballast because of the Radium I want to use. I could go with 2X 175W easy for zoas, but the Radium was a priority. Besides, a 75gal. tank is the least I would get.
Perhaps a year from now on black friday I could have a new system running and get 2 extra 175W RB ballasts, if I decide to go for less wattage. If no heat, no problem!
Good to know about the article. I'll look for the link..
Yeah those Iwasaki 6500K were so great. I had them back in the day!! But I want to get it bluer now. I also have some 10K bulbs around... Will probably set up the new system with actinic blue Giesemann bulbs on the retros.
Feeling like a kid again! LOL!
Grandis.

Yeah I want the growth of the 6500k I've heard about. But I don't really like the 10k but honestly it's starting to grow on me a bit...... We'll see. But there's a much bigger selection of bulbs in the 250 watt range. BUT........... Do you really need that. There's one part of me that says collect them all! I need to have a 6500k, a Radium, 10k/20k, and a 20k20k twin arcs..... But I just can't see doing 6500k. So the only thing I'd really be going for in a 250 bulb would be the Radium. But I've heard that for the radium to be perfect you have to have an old m80 ballast etc. So if the RB article is true which I have no reason to believe it's not, the RB 20k is the Radium bulb with more blue and compatible with the ballast I have. Oh and it's available in 175 watt. But I'm really looking forward to hearing your experience with it.

 

[A. grandis]

Yeah I want the growth of the 6500k I've heard about. But I don't really like the 10k but honestly it's starting to grow on me a bit...... We'll see. But there's a much bigger selection of bulbs in the 250 watt range. BUT........... Do you really need that. There's one part of me that says collect them all! I need to have a 6500k, a Radium, 10k/20k, and a 20k20k twin arcs..... But I just can't see doing 6500k. So the only thing I'd really be going for in a 250 bulb would be the Radium. But I've heard that for the radium to be perfect you have to have an old m80 ballast etc. So if the RB article is true which I have no reason to believe it's not, the RB 20k is the Radium bulb with more blue and compatible with the ballast I have. Oh and it's available in 175 watt. But I'm really looking forward to hearing your experience with it.

Yes, those 6500K grow everything fast and healthy!!!! I remember it looked like tide pools though. Very yellowish.
I'm not using the 6500K anymore.
The 10Ks are yellowish/greenish to me and the 14K - 20K bluish. That will depend on the bulbs and ballast too!
You are right. If you want to get the Twin-Arc because of the Radium color, and the article said it's like the Radium, you can use those 175W without a problem. I though about that too. BUT... the problem is that with the 175W ballasts you will be stuck to a very limited choices of bulbs. And no Radiums at all. I want the Radiums.
Reef Brite say their ballast "reads" the bulbs giving it the right color and performance and Reef Brite (probably Mr. Tullio himself (?)) came here to tell us that. So... I'll use it for only 4 to 6 hours a day, I think.

Well, my experience will have to wait... LOL!
I don't have a tank for the fixture right now and I'm not taking my wonderful ATI T5s from my 10+ year current tank. It's too perfect now. LOL! The zoas would hate me!!!
There is no need for 2 X 250W over a 75gal zoa tank at all, but I can use it for less hours and leave the T5s on the rest of the time... Radiums are so great! I had 2X250W Iwasaki bulbs and T5s over a 55gal once. Hehe!

To tell the truth, and to be realistic, there will be almost impossible to find the real old M80 for our Radiums today. If you find any, it would be probably so used out that wouldn't be worthy at all. The ones we have available today aren't the original M80 ballasts. The insides are different, as many say. Besides, they were hot and expensive to run, comparing to electronic ballasts.
I heard many good things about the Luxcore ballasts too and now about this Reef Brite system. I'll give it a try and I don't think I'll regret because of the less heat alone in my house. That was the main reason I went to T5s.

Grandis.

 

[A. grandis]

I just found the Twin-Arc at Marine Depot too:

"The Reef Brite TWIN-ARC™ metal halide lamp is one of the most exciting new developments in aquarium lighting in almost a decade. Developed for the aquarium industry by world renowned lighting specialist and luminaries designer Tullio DellAquila, the Reef Brite TWIN-ARC™ metal halide lamp is not only the most innovative lamp available it is also the most energy efficient and economical.

TWIN-ARC™ offers the benefit of two separate metal halide lamps in one single unit.

Now for the first time ever you can promote maximum growth and color without the need for multiple ballast or lighting systems. When used as directed the patented Reef Brite TWIN-ARC™ tube lamp not only performs better and last longer it maintains peak output and color. The TWIN-ARC™ also helps to eliminate light shock and color shift when replacing your bulbs.

The TWIN-ARC™ tube metal halide lamp is literally two bulbs in one switching arc’s tubes each time the lamp is fired to provide maximum output and color consistency while saving you money with its energy efficient design. Promoting maximum growth and color in corals and other invertebrates the Twin Arch technology performs better, lasts longer and maintains its color(spectral power distribution) better than conventional metal halide bulbs. When replaced annually the TWIN-ARC™ tube metal halide lamp can help eliminate light shock to corals and reduce the occurrence of unwanted nuisance algae caused by degrading aquarium lamps.

*Requires Electronic or Pulse-Start Magnetic Ballast for proper function."

FROM:
https://www.marinedepot.com/Reef_Br...t_Bulbs-Reef_Brite-3M01088-FILTBUMHSE-vi.html

Grandis.

 

[Ztrain]

If you want to get the Twin-Arc because of the Radium color, and the article said it's like the Radium, you can use those 175W without a problem. I though about that too. BUT... the problem is that with the 175W ballasts you will be stuck to a very limited choices of bulbs. And no Radiums at all. I want the Radiums.

Yeah but if the RB 20k will give me everything the Radium will spectrally............... I don't really need them. Worst case scenario I can always get the 250 ballast and then since their dimmable............. Dim them back down to a brightness my tank will be used too.

 

[A. grandis]

Yeah but if the RB 20k will give me everything the Radium will spectrally............... I don't really need them. Worst case scenario I can always get the 250 ballast and then since their dimmable............. Dim them back down to a brightness my tank will be used too.

Yes. That is another wonderful feature!!

Wow! They have only 4 of the 15" pendants left in stock at BRS.
Can't go wrong with the price! Only $137.68!

Grandis.

 

[A. grandis]

I'm joining the club! I also bought 2 Reefbrite 15" pendants and their 250W ballasts but in DE variety. I already have the 2 RB 48" actinic blues and they are great! It's going on my 120 gallon (4x2x2) to replace the PFO MH lights using Phoenix 14k DE 250w bulbs. I will continue to use the Phoenix bulbs.

How do you like the Phoenix oppose to Radiums?
Grandis.

 

[A. grandis]

Halides, halides, halides!

Grandis.