Metal Halide questions

[soco]

What are the differences between one ended and two ended mh lights? I have a duel 250w mh light with t8 actinics. It is old and has very big and heavy ballasts. the light i currently have has one sided mh bulbs. I am looking into upgrading to a newer nicer unit with either pc actinics 48" 760W Metal Halide Aquarium Light HQIi PL 4x65 2X250 Marine Reef LEDs Actinic | eBay

or t5's 48" 716W HQI Aquarium Light Metal Halide T5 Reef Fish LED 2x250W 4x54W Saltwater | eBay

Both new fixtures have double sided mh lights and i am unsure what the difference is between the one and two sided mh's

They seem to be nice lights to me. If anyone could help me figure this out it'd be great. I know those fixtures are on eBay, but they are just a basis of what i am looking for in a new light. I like the lights i have now but they are old school and bulky and i do not get the spectrum of blue i want. So i am trying to upgrade a less bulky fixture that i cant use multiple blue spectrum with

 

[BLADEYAMAHA]

Double ended are better, T5's are better, if these are Odyssea lights, Stay Away!

 

[soco]

Idk who the manufacturer is i just email the sellers to find out.
Like i said im not really set on buy from ebay those are just something to show what i am looking for.

So what makes the double ended ones better?

 

[BLADEYAMAHA]

Better electricity flow, I believe.

 

[degibson84]

ever thought of LED lighting? it is expensive but you dont ahve to replace bulbs every6-9 months

 

[Willie McDaries]

Double ended are better, T5's are better, if these are Odyssea lights, Stay Away!

Odyssea fixtures are well made,their bulbs lack a lot as far as their color goes...their 250w MH ballasts are under powered but work fine,I think I read somewhere that they only put out about 220w,the PC ballasts in 'em are junk....

I still have 2 sets of the MH/PC fixtures which,really,have been fine for the money...I'd put the fixture itself up against any other light like it but all the electronics would have to be upgraded

I had to replace 2 of the PC ballasts in 1 fixture within a years time,I replaced 'em with quality ballasts instead of the odyssea junk,and after I added the Lumatek MH ballasts and the Phoenix bulbs,it was a great light.....

I looked at several combo lights similar to the Odyssea,even if you purchased it and went ahead and replaced all the electronics and bulbs with high quality parts,it is still less expensive that any other fixture like it...Corallife made a fixture that is identical to these,only it had 150w MH instead of the 250w and it only had 2x96w PCs,the Odyssea has 4x65w PCs....much more light for less than a 3rd of the price

if you want to buy a brand new Odyssea light and within a year or so,replace some,if not all the electronics,the Odyssea housing and the reflectors are of high quality,otherwise,I agree with you blade

 

[Willie McDaries]

What are the differences between one ended and two ended mh lights? I have a duel 250w mh light with t8 actinics. It is old and has very big and heavy ballasts. the light i currently have has one sided mh bulbs. I am looking into upgrading to a newer nicer unit with either pc actinics 48" 760W Metal Halide Aquarium Light HQIi PL 4x65 2X250 Marine Reef LEDs Actinic | eBay

or t5's 48" 716W HQI Aquarium Light Metal Halide T5 Reef Fish LED 2x250W 4x54W Saltwater | eBay

Both new fixtures have double sided mh lights and i am unsure what the difference is between the one and two sided mh's

They seem to be nice lights to me. If anyone could help me figure this out it'd be great. I know those fixtures are on eBay, but they are just a basis of what i am looking for in a new light. I like the lights i have now but they are old school and bulky and i do not get the spectrum of blue i want. So i am trying to upgrade a less bulky fixture that i cant use multiple blue spectrum with

those are both Odyssea lights,the 1 with the PCs is identical to my old ones...if you go with either of those,go with the T5s,the PC ballasts are junk in mine,the MH ballasts work fine but are not up to par with better brand ballasts and the 15000k MH bulbs look more like 10,000k,they are extremely white....keep in mind,those fixtures are far from the best lights you can get,but for the price,they're not too bad,though you may have to replace some of the electronics in a year or so....

I replaced both sets of mine with Lumenbright pendants and retro fit T5s and am much more satisfied

 

[Doogle]

Current outer orbit 2x250w+4x54w t5+blue&white led moonlights
The great thing about the 250w outer orbit is it has external hqi ballasts so you can run a m80 ballast and they are awesome. Plus you have 4 t5 bulbs for color supplementing the hqi. I got one used for a great price.( 24" 150w hqi+ 4x24w t5 + blue/white led and 4 t5 bulbs & a 10k + 15k hqi bulbs for $100 )

 

[soco]

Those lights are just the basis of what i am looking for i have been looking at actual retailers as well, im aware that you get what you pay for and those are very cheap. I have considered led's but i have been very please with my results from mh and am just exploring the options and trying to get opinions. Everyone on here has a lot of experience with different things that i know nothing about. That's why i love it here.

 

[soco]

Current outer orbit 2x250w+4x54w t5+blue&white led moonlights
The great thing about the 250w outer orbit is it has external hqi ballasts so you can run a m80 ballast and they are awesome. Plus you have 4 t5 bulbs for color supplementing the hqi. I got one used for a great price.( 24" 150w hqi+ 4x24w t5 + blue/white led and 4 t5 bulbs & a 10k + 15k hqi bulbs for $100 )

That fixture is alot more of what i would want but i am torn because if im going to spend that kind of money i may as well try for led's.

My fixture that i have is still working fine (knock on wood) i really would like to get better blue coloring but idk if i want to spend that kind of money just to chage from 420nm a differnt blue hahaha.

 

[frezel]

Ive used se bulbs and loved my results , some say de is better

 

[Doogle]

Another good combo fixture is sunlight supply's maristar. You can find alot of these fixtures cheap a people are dumping them and going for LEDs instead , so go get yourself a good deal on a used fixture! take your time..
I see these at RC for great prices all the time and if your near a big city try craigslist.
Good luck , I hope you find a deal like I did, couldn't be happier with it.

 

[soco]

Ya ill jsut have to keep looking around for a decent deal. I live kinda far from any cities but the drive is always worth it if the deal is good enough

 

[Doogle]

Ya I had to drive an hour or so to find that fixture. They guy who had it had a tank a bit too small for it. Long drive totally worth it. Another time I went about n hour away to look at at a reef octopus skimmer and the thing's pump wasn't working good.errr
Just ask alot of questions and have them send you current pictures of it running etc. To lessen the chances of a repeat of my experience.

 

[Willie McDaries]

Those lights are just the basis of what i am looking for i have been looking at actual retailers as well, im aware that you get what you pay for and those are very cheap. I have considered led's but i have been very please with my results from mh and am just exploring the options and trying to get opinions. Everyone on here has a lot of experience with different things that i know nothing about. That's why i love it here.

those lights will grow coral and they do work fine for a while,but if you're not comfortable with replacing electronics in them,I'd stay away from 'em,but keep in mind,you will save money buying those even if you have to replace all the electronics,it's just the hassle of doing it....Odyssea had a name for their halide ballasts catching on fire,they've completely redone those to electronic ballasts and are fine now

 

[soco]

Ya i dont really wanna have to replace electronics in them that often. I just really want to get rid if my t8's

What do yall think of trying to retrofit my fixture with t12 or t5's?

Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk 2

 

[foxsavage]

If you want a more blue look you could try some 20k bulbs in the fixture you have now. As far as the difference between fixtures the double ended HQI with electric ballast are more efficient on power. The magnetic ballast puts out more light but is less efficient.

 

[cheeks69]

The Single Ended bulbs have UV protection built into them the Double Ended bulbs do not and must use a UV glass shield also the SE bulbs have a much bigger variety of bulbs to choose from, I'd pick them over the DE bulbs in a heartbeat.

As far as the difference between fixtures the double ended HQI with electric ballast are more efficient on power. The magnetic ballast puts out more light but is less efficient.

The issue would be with the Ballast and not the type of bulb. I'm running an Icecap EB on my SE bulb and it's just as efficient as any DE setup.

 

[soco]

If you want a more blue look you could try some 20k bulbs in the fixture you have now. As far as the difference between fixtures the double ended HQI with electric ballast are more efficient on power. The magnetic ballast puts out more light but is less efficient.

I have 20k bulbs in now. I am talking about the blue in the actinics. I put an fixture i got from a friend up on my tank the other day that has pc blue's at 460nm and the difference in coral color was incredible compared to the actinics i have which are t8 at 420nm. This got me thinking and looking around at what i can do to try and combine the purplish and blue actinincs for the best of both worlds.

 

[Willie McDaries]

The Single Ended bulbs have UV protection built into them the Double Ended bulbs do not and must use a UV glass shield also the SE bulbs have a much bigger variety of bulbs to choose from, I'd pick them over the DE bulbs in a heartbeat.

As far as the difference between fixtures the double ended HQI with electric ballast are more efficient on power. The magnetic ballast puts out more light but is less efficient.

The issue would be with the Ballast and not the type of bulb. I'm running an Icecap EB on my SE bulb and it's just as efficient as any DE setup.

+1.....the lack of efficiency is in the magnetic ballasts,the reflector plays a major roll in how much light gets to the coral too...if 1 manufacturer makes both DE and SE bulbs,1 is just as good as the other IMO so,in that respect,the difference is not in the bulbs

I use the DE bulbs and if you like blue,and I do,the 14k Phoenix is about the best bulb I've been able to find for mine,the SE bulbs have a lot more to choose from,preferable the 20k Radiums...I also use the Lumatek electronic ballasts which are supposed to fire any type of bulb,I've seriously considered changing out the DE sockets to the mogul just so I could get rid of the UV shields and get the bulbs I really want