JAG107's lighting upgrade

[JAG107]

So, I had a chinese ballast blow up 3 weeks ago, and decided it was time to upgrade my halides! I bought a Sunlight Supply Blue Wave 7 dual 250w HQI ballast, which is WAYYYYYYYYY bigger and heavier than I imagined! The chinese one weighs less than a pound, and the Blue Wave over 22! Pics of that later.
After realizing this ballast is only compatible with the Reef Optix fixtures, I had no choice but to buy 2 new fixtures. The German reflectors make such a major difference than the cheapo ebay fixture I had before. As of now, I only have one fixture set up, and the second will come tomorrow. I put in new 15,000k Oddyssey bulbs.

I had to run some cables to hang the new fixtures from my 12' ceiling.



Here's a before/after pic:





I'll update with more pics when it's all done! :Cheers:

 

[Tristan]

your aquarium is awesome!

 

[fastrd400]

Tank still looks great Joe. Congrats on the new light.

 

[JAG107]

OK so I'm all done now, the new Reef Optix 3 fixture finally came!
MAN it's super bright, I think you can see my dining room from space now. When I take tank shots now without flash, they come out way better and less blurry. These reflectors made all the difference in the world.
Here's the Sunlight Supply Blue Wave 7 dual 250w ballast, it weighs nearly 25 lbs! My previous ballast was under a pound, by comparison. Nothing like good old American steel housing to make for a high quality unit.


Here's the new FTS:


Side view:


And here's a couple shots under both new lights.

 

[JAG107]

 

[ccCapt]

Looks good. You should cut down the time the lights are on if these new 1's are alot brighter than your old setup. Too much light too fast can do some damage.

The reason the new ballast weighs so much is because it's a magnetic pulse start M80 HQI ballast. Your old 1's were electronic if they were real lite.

 

[JAG107]

I set the timer to 5 hrs on per day, I know that it'll be a big shock.

 

[dcantucson]

Joe you've got some good light going on now. Looks bright and right! :)