odyssea MH fixture review... new electronic version

[King Nine]

Originally posted by carlso63
King:

Not to change the subject but are the one who put the Pheonix 14K bulbs in your fixture?

If so, did you say you felt that - although much brighter with the new ballasts - they were actually "bluer" with the stock ballast?

Just curious; as I am thinking about which bulbs to replace my stock ones with at the end of the year... I am leaning towards the Pheonix as I like that blue look... my (stock) 15Ks are almost pure white, just a tiny hint of blue... I am starting to feel that they are almost too "bright" or maybe "harsh" is a better word... plus, I get very little flourescing out of my anenomes or corals - I am missng that "pop" a bit, too...

I am toying with going to Pheonix 14Ks and swapping out PCs for VHO actinics...

Carlos,

I got the actinic pop I needed with the VHO mod. I also got some from switching to the 14k Phoenix bulbs. When they go out I'll probably replace them with a higher "K" rated bulb. Now that I have the new ballast I don't like the color anymore. I've grown very accustomed to the pretty soft blue they were on the old crappy ballast. They are definately whiter now. If you do your ballast first and like the blue look you might go for a different bulb.

I used to run my VHO's with them to help with the actinic pop. But now I don't as you can't really tell the VHO's are on. The VHOs do make a subtle difference but not enough to justify my electric bill. So now I run them for a few hours, turn on the halides for about 6 hours, then run them again for a few more hours at night.

I hope this helps and LOVE that new avatar!!!

[carlso63]

Originally posted by King Nine
Carlos,

I got the actinic pop I needed with the VHO mod. I also got some from switching to the 14k Phoenix bulbs. When they go out I'll probably replace them with a higher "K" rated bulb. Now that I have the new ballast I don't like the color anymore. I've grown very accustomed to the pretty soft blue they were on the old crappy ballast. They are definately whiter now. If you do your ballast first and like the blue look you might go for a different bulb.

I used to run my VHO's with them to help with the actinic pop. But now I don't as you can't really tell the VHO's are on. The VHOs do make a subtle difference but not enough to justify my electric bill. So now I run them for a few hours, turn on the halides for about 6 hours, then run them again for a few more hours at night.

I hope this helps and LOVE that new avatar!!!

King:

Thanks for the info - it saved me scouring over 110+ pages of thread...


This past weekend I rasied my fixture so that the lights are now approx. 12" off the water instead of just the 5" or so that those plastic legs give you... I have noticed more "shimmer" (not less) from the MHs at this height. The PCs are less effective, though. The "moonlights" effect seems unchanged.

I am thinking I will keep this 12" distance for awhile to see how the corals and clams react - if at all. I still am definitely going "bluer" when I change out the bulbs. It seems I have basically 2 different routes to consider:

- replacing ballasts and opting for 20K bulbs

- stock ballasts w/ Pheonix 14K bulbs

In either case I am thinking the VHO mod needs to be done as well.

I was also looking at getting some reflector material and covering the "black" parts in the underside of the fixture with it (like a Guisemann unit) to increase reflectivity. I may even do this to the inside of my wood canopy (at least the inside "walls" below the fixture level) to try to reflect all the available light into the tank.

If my corals do not show any issues with the higher light placement, I think I will do the VHO mod first, the reflective materials mod next, then have to make a decision on which MH bulbs (and ballasts) to go with...

When I saw that avatar pic I just couldn't pass it up... I may be married but I'm not dead

[OG SHARK BAIT]

I have the 72" and I am now for sure going to swap out the ballast and think about just running the HQIs as the PCS make very little change in the tank. I only have a carpet but I want this ready to go when I start shopping. Are any of you just using the MH and no PC in the 72" unit? and if so why or why not. This will beter help me in my choice. I also only plan to keep easyer corals as time is limited and I do not what to do a ton os spot feeds. fyi MY TANK IS 36" DEEP.

[King Nine]

Carlos,

I raised mine up as well when I built my own canopy. Here is a pic of the way I did it:


And with it closed you can barely see it. I tried my best to get it to match the base from AllGlass:

[King Nine]

The above pics are early with the PC's. I know I've posted these recently but here is the stock ballast and VHO mod pic:


And with the new ballast:


Both with the Phoenix 14ks of course.

[carlso63]

Originally posted by King Nine
[B]Carlos,

I raised mine up as well when I built my own canopy. Here is a pic of the way I did it:

Thats pretty much what I am looking to do. The only things I would do different are I would "notch out" spaces in the inside of the outer panels for the legs to fit in between the inner and outer panels, so all the weight of the fixture is not resting on the tips of the legs (the 72" fixture is fairly heavy); and I would have gone up maybe another inch or 2 on the outside so you cannot see the fixture unless you are looking from above. I would put on a solid back panel (with cutouts for tubing, filters, etc.) Then I would install some of that shiny aluminum reflector material over all the interior wood and even the underside of the fixture itself - all to redirect every bit of light downward into the tank...

I am also going to install 2 handles on the top of the fixture so I can just lift up and remove the fixture for cleaning, checking bulbs, etc.

Only other thing is I don't use the glass canopies... worried about heat retention and loss of PAR through another layer of glass.

Is there a reason you are using the glass?

If your worried about evap, I can tell you on my 125g I am only replacing about 2 gal / day for evap...and that's with my 60" X 12" sump / refugium also totally open and exposed...

[King Nine]

I don't use the glass. I was just testing it out for evaporation and still had the left glass on when I took the pic. I evaporate about 1 gallon a day with the set up the way it is. I lost a couple of fish without the glass and now have the egg crate along the back. I didn't want to close in the back because of heat. Also, my original plan was to have the whole fixture sit inside the canopy but I did not account for the wires coming off the side. If you notice the clamps holding on the second 1x3 so that the fixture would fit. OOPS!

I was in a hury to add the extra wood and it is not notched as the first one was to fit the feet tips. I have since notched them a little so that they will not move but I'm afraid to chisel too much of the wood and loose integrity. I have noticed no strain on the fixture feet so far.

[carlso63]

Interesting thing I noticed today:


It has only been 3 days since I raised my light fixture from 5" above the water to approx 12" above. Haven't done anything else (didn't change ballasts, bulbs or anything like that)...

As I noted before it seems to have produced more "shimmer" lines and reduced the "harshness" of the lights.

Noticed today my Xenia has now split and my 2-head Candycane frag is definitely splitting on 1 head and possibly the other...

When I last looked (Sunday) there were no noticeable splits in either coral.


Interesting coincidence or not???

Hmmmmm

[King Nine]

Originally posted by carlso63
Interesting thing I noticed today:


It has only been 3 days since I raised my light fixture from 5" above the water to approx 12" above. Haven't done anything else (didn't change ballasts, bulbs or anything like that)...

As I noted before it seems to have produced more "shimmer" lines and reduced the "harshness" of the lights.

Noticed today my Xenia has now split and my 2-head Candycane frag is definitely splitting on 1 head and possibly the other...

When I last looked (Sunday) there were no noticeable splits in either coral.


Interesting coincidence or not???

Hmmmmm

I'm guessing coincidence on this. This is prime growing season according to my LFS guy. I was just telling him how all of my shrooms are splitting and that all the coral is growing great. He said that it sounded just about right for this time of year and that they will slow down in winter. He doesn't know why but they do seem to know when it is winter and don't grow as much during those months he said.

From the little I know I can't imagine that the change in light distance only affecting them so quickly.

[carlso63]

Originally posted by King Nine
I'm guessing coincidence on this. This is prime growing season according to my LFS guy. I was just telling him how all of my shrooms are splitting and that all the coral is growing great. He said that it sounded just about right for this time of year and that they will slow down in winter. He doesn't know why but they do seem to know when it is winter and don't grow as much during those months he said.

From the little I know I can't imagine that the change in light distance only affecting them so quickly.

Yeah, that's what I figured, too...

I will say one thing, though. I have a couple of small mushroom rocks that have maybe 3 or 4 mushrooms each on them. The rocks are on the sandbed and have been for awhile.

In the (now) 4 days since I raised the lights the shrooms have "ballooned" up from dime-sized heads to bigger than a 50 cent piece and have stayed bigger... haven't seen any splits there, though

[carlso63]

Here is a recent pic of my 125 with the lights moved up higher:



In addition to raising the lights I removed those plastic PC bulb covers, since salt spray is basically a non - issue that far off the water surface.

Here's another w/o the flash:



If the rock in the middle area looks "whiter" it's not your imagination... I just added about 90 lbs. of LBTR (Lake Bonneville Tufa Rock) to the tank.
Here in Utah we have access to FREE real calcareous base rock and oolitic sand, located in deposits in various areas around the Great Salt Lake.

Here's a couple of pics of us "collecting" rock and sand last weekend:



The LBTR is in outcroppings that basically stick out of the ground... you just hammer away and get all you want - FREE



Here's the sand site we went to: (you can see part of the GSL in the backround)




I just washed the sand out and put a fresh 1" layer in my tank today... I'll have to take a pic and show it.

Hey, I did have a "thread relevant" question, though...

Has anybody seen those new UV Lighting (formerly URI Lighting) PC bulbs with internal reflectors?

They have a full page ad in the November issue of Aquarium Fish mag (I have a subscription that's why I got Nov.'s already)

Ad says internal reflectors make these PCs deliver 60% more light per watt than a conventional PC.

And they have them in 'blue' 460 nm actinic, (purple) 420 nm Actinic, and a 50 / 50 bulb of 420 / 460 - as well as "white" bulbs (10K & 12K, I think)...

Anyone seen / heard of these yet?

(I might just wait on that VHO mod to check these babies out...)

[snulma1]

I haven't heard about those bulbs, but will keep an eye out for them now! Thanks!

[jmc74]

Originally posted by carlso63
Here is a recent pic of my 125 with the lights moved up higher:

let me guess... you have the 14k Odyssea bulbs? they look GREEN


you should change the ballast and get either Phoenix 14k's or Hamilton 14k Blue (just make sure if you get hamilton, that reads "250w 14k BLUE") they have 14k Hamiltons that are ultra white, but the 14k blue is almost like the Phoenix 14k

[carlso63]

Yeah - since their VHO bulbs are generally considered the best in the industry, one can only hope that their moving into PC bulb production means we may finally get some PCs that rival VHOs in terms of brightness per watt and spectrum of output...


May make a BIG difference in the overall coloration of a tank - especially for those w/ 10K bulbs and a stock ballast. Maybe it will finally mean an end to the whole "pee yellow" issue for those guys

[carlso63]

Originally posted by jmc74
let me guess... you have the 14k Odyssea bulbs? they look GREEN


you should change the ballast and get either Phoenix 14k's or Hamilton 14k Blue (just make sure if you get hamilton, that reads "250w 14k BLUE") they have 14k Hamiltons that are ultra white, but the 14k blue is almost like the Phoenix 14k

Actually, it's my crappy photo skills to blame... not the lights.

Every picture I take looks either way washed out, like this:




Or, if I lower the white balance, too 'dark' like this:




In person, everything looks very white (and on video, too... just not when I take a still pic )

I just need to learn how to properly operate the camera

[dhnguyen]

I know this thread is for the electronic version of the Odyssea MH fixtures but here's a little vid of my tank running the old magnetic ballast Odyssea fixture. Oh yeah the bulbs are original Odyssea 15K too which I haven't changed in about a year and a half.

[carlso63]

I think I'm gonna post a vid, too... my tank looks very different on video compared to my camera skills.

I'm also going to try my daughters Fuji camera instead of mine.

I have a Kodak Z650 6.0 meg which takes great shots of pretty much everything else but my stupid tank!

[dhnguyen]

while I tend to agree that video cams are usually much better at capturing the the true colours of a tank than regular digital cameras, I think it also depends on the camera used as well.

Here's a shot of the same tank from a nikon camera and the clors are pretty much dead on. I found Kodak cameras some of the worse for taking pictures of tanks.

[sherm71tank]

Anyone who replaced the ballasts with a PFO HQI ballast know if the regular connectors from the fixture plug into the PFO ballast?

[vader88]

I know I've read it somewhere, but where in this thread does it mention replacing the PC with T5's

[miatawnt2b]

Originally posted by vader88
I know I've read it somewhere, but where in this thread does it mention replacing the PC with T5's

I'm not entirely sure anyone has actually done it. I talked about it when I did my SE bulb mod (second split, page 10-10ish maybe) but I never had to do it since I found a color I really liked with my 14k's without actinics. I only use the pc's now for dusk/dawn 1 hour before and 1 hour after the halides. There has been a vho mod which would be similar (i think it's around the same pages if I remember) I can't remember if he used the stock PC ballasts for it though. The PC ballasts should work fine for a T5 mod.

-J

[carlso63]

Originally posted by jmc74
let me guess... you have the 14k Odyssea bulbs? they look GREEN

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

OK, got a hold of another camera. Its a plastic 3.0 that cost maybe a fifth what my Kodak 6.1 cost... and, guess what?

It takes better pics of my tank:









Still think my lights look GREEN

[carlso63]

Here's a few more:











It even does closeups better

[carlso63]

Photo "bump":

[snulma1]

Damn you Carlso,

I keep staring at your avatar more then your tank!