Tell me about the AquaStarLight MH fixture

[Brvheart5]

I have an opportunity to get a good price on one of these. I have read all that I can find on them (which is not much; mostly in German). They seem to be good and well regarded on this forum. note: I am referring to the regular Aquastarlight, not the Aquastarlight Future.

click link for picture: Aquastarlight

An employee at my LFS said that they actually put out more light than other higher wattage MH bulbs. For example, a 175 watt would be as bright as a normal 250 watt MH. This was NOT part of a sales pitch. He mentioned it as we were looking at some other equipment. Is there truth to this?

I was also told that there is no fan because it is a sealed enclosure that would be in open air.

The bulbs used are Double-Ended MH bulbs. Are these actually any different from Single-Ended MH bulbs?? I believe the standard bulb used is a 10,000k. It is said to be white-blue in color, and be a stand-alone. My question is, will I need supplement flourescent lighting? This will be for a FO tank with some LR. I don't have any immediate plans of growing any corals. This lighting is really for display. I like the natural look of MH. If I do need to add additional supplement lighting, it may be tricky to do without a canopy.

Below are some technical and DIY aspects I am concerned with. Feel free to comment on the Fixture itself, or on any info below as well.

Here are my concerns: My tank is a 55g TruVu Plexi. I am obviously going to need to elevate this fixture. But I will not be hanging it from the ceiling.

Maybe someone can educate me on the [8" from MH bulb to glass] rule of thumb. It would make things very simple for me if that distance between the fixture would be more like half that; 4". The fixture will be completely in open air, staying cool.

In order to maintain 8", I will have to build (or have built) some type of legs. I figure that using acrylic as material for the legs would be the easiest. I was thinking of 2 possible designs: the first being an "A" shaped structure on each end. The apex would attatch to the mounting hole on the top end of the fixture. The issue here would be to make sure that the acrylic material does not cover the vents on the end (see picture in link). The second idea is a "V" shaped acrylic structure with the flat, level side down on the top of the tank, and the angled arms coming from the rear of the tank forward at an upward angle. At the top of the arms, there could be wire attatched to allow the fixture to actually "hang". If you can imagine what I am describing, congratulations, you are as imaginative as I am!

Sorry about the long post. I thank you for your time.

 

[reefsRcool]

when i was looking into lights i origionally fell in love with the aquaSPACElights. they are a bit different but very much the same. i ended up going with giesemann pendents instead which are also very similar but better in that by being seperate i could control them independently and the reflector is a bit better. you can check them out on inland reefs page if you arn't familiar. fundamentally they are all the same- double ended HQI 10000k. great lights!!!! the more light per watt thing is not BS it is very true. the 10000k bulbs are actually closer to 12s and IMO actinics are not needed. as far as heat they do run hotter but are designed to do so, i have been told not to try and cool the fixture or the bulbs would color shift. I'm sure somewhere some engineer worked all that out when designing the fixture so i am just going along with it. mounting hieght as you said is "rule of thumb" and should be experimented with. why do you not want to hang it? in summation it's a darn fine somewhat cosmetically challenged fixture. for a swinging deal you can live with some ugly and it will rock over a fish only but i give it three weeks and you'll start looking into corals if you don't mind my asking what do you think a good deal is?

 

[Brvheart5]

You're gonna hate me for this one, but a good deal in my case is $75. You know, one of those "friend" rates.

I live in an apartment, and I don't know about hanging it. Maybe with a bit of coaching I may be convinced. I just don't really know how far above the sheetrock the studs are, or even where they are. I guess that's where a studfinder might come in. Plus there's asbestos up there and stuff.

Hey what if the studs are not in line with the tank? And the fixture is hanging down well-off center?

I don't know. Maybe you guys could help me out with some advice. It's just really simple with a hood just sittin' on top right now. But I'm willing to experiment.

 

[chrixx]

Maybe someone can educate me on the [8" from MH bulb to glass] rule of thumb. It would make things very simple for me if that distance between the fixture would be more like half that; 4". The fixture will be completely in open air, staying cool.

I have read from a post that if you put these type of light fixtures any closer than 9" from the surface the water temperature will raise to an undesired temperature.

Sorry, I can't find the post to link for you. :?

 

[liquid]

FWIW, Richard Durso (aka reefland) is running one of these fixtures over his 180. His website is http://www.rl180reef.com/ .

hth

Shane

 

[Mouse]

It is the holy grail of reef lighting, need i say more. 8)

 

[acecool]

I have the 3x250W Spacelight over my 180G and it's the BEST looking light fixture, no fans needed therefore no noise, and it's made well...unfortunately NOT in US I also thought about not hanging it but it's a very heavy light and I like their hanging mounting system Mine right now is broken and in for repair with a defective ballast.

 

[reefsRcool]

i hope at that price you just went ahead and bought it without waiting for our say so. that is a freakin steal!!! wish i had friends like that. you are going to be very very happy with it.

 

[Carpentersreef]

75 BUCKS!!!???.....

...I feel faint....... 8O

(good score!)
(up here the spacelight's ((similar to the starlight)) go for around 3 grand)

Mitch

 

[Brvheart5]

I know, I know. I really didn't want to say anything about my cost. I'm always the guy reading about somebody else getting some ridiculous deal, and it usually makes me mad. Like "why isn't that me?!"

 

[nollem]

Brvheart5 -

I've got a 2x150w AquaSpaceLight w/2x24w PCs over an AGA 55. It's an excellent light! Perfectly quiet, and _very_ bright. I was concened about how to hold mine up as well at first, but I wound up using the included hanging kit, which is actually pretty good. You can easily adjust the height once it has been hung with it. I mounted a 2x6" into a stud in the ceiling [because the tank is slightly off center from the stud], mounted the light into the 2x6", and the 2x6" into the stud. Seems to work well [and distributes the load].

Currently, I have mine 11.5" above the tank, and run it about 10 hours/day. I haven't noticed any temp increase; however, the ambient temp in here is about 76, and I run the tank at about 81/82. I also have a large refugarium, and a lot of water flow to drive evap [it drains 1.5 gals or so a day]. These combined probably help keep it cool.

I agree with the other posts, for $75 it's a no brainer.

 

[Brvheart5]

Yeah, you're right about the "no brainer". I got the light and it's unbelievably bright!

But anyways, I think I would actually like to hang it. The problem is that I can't get into the attic because I'm in an apartment. I will try to find the studs, but I'm not sure what to do if I can't find anything centered above the tank. If there just happens to be a stud running parallel directly above the tank, I'll be all set. But I doubt it because the center of the tank is only about 10-11 inches from the wall, and I doubt there will be a stud that close. And finding 2 perpindicular studs centered above the tank would be very lucky.

I don't know. Do you guys know of any tricks to hanging a fixture without getting into the attic?

Thanks.

 

[nollem]

I don't know. Do you guys know of any tricks to hanging a fixture without getting into the attic?

I live in an apartment, and didn't get into the attic to hang mine. I have a stud running parallel about 3-4" away from the center of the tank. Like I mentioned, I bolted a 2x6" into the stud, and then mounted the light into the 2x6". I used an array of screws to distrubite the load across the 2x6" and the stud. I used a studfinder to find the stud, and tested the results with some small nails to be sure it found something. I found some similar posts with people mounting these things which gave me this idea.

I'm assuming you got the 48" light as well, which weighs around 30lbs. From what I could tell, that isn't all that much weight for a standard ceiling, especially if you distribute the load and hit the stud(s). Converting the 2 x 15lb point loads caused by the light mounts into a series of 2-3lb loads with an array of screws is probably a good idea.

 

[Brvheart5]

Thanks for the info! So you mounted a 2x6 right onto the ceiling right?
That's interesting. I'll consider that.

Also, I have another question; do the ends of the fixture get hot after several hours of use? When I say the ends, I mean the very end where the vents are. And also, please mention if your ballast is enclosed. Some aren't. Thanks.

 

[nollem]

Thanks for the info! So you mounted a 2x6 right onto the ceiling right?
That's interesting. I'll consider that.

Also, I have another question; do the ends of the fixture get hot after several hours of use? When I say the ends, I mean the very end where the vents are. And also, please mention if your ballast is enclosed. Some aren't. Thanks.

Yeah, I mounted the 2x6 to the ceiling. Root around with the search on here.... you'll find some other threads with people that did similar things.

The whole thing gets pretty warm [including the mounting clips which attach it to the cables]. Not hot enough to burn you instantly, but it certainly uncomfortable to have your hand against it for more than a few seconds [160deg F maybe?]. The ends are a little cooler because they are slotted, and some air flows through them. It's still hot enough that you wouldn't want to hold it there with your hand for long. Although the whole thing gets warm, it doesn't seem to radiate much heat into the room though.

Everything is contained within the main light [ballasts and all]. The only things coming out are the hanging cables, and the power cords. It's a very nice package.