Upgrading The Coralife Aqualight Pro 2x150 Halide

Why don't you just get a Bluewave 7 ballast (Sunlight Supply)?

 

My original intention was to utilize the existing cords from the old magnetic ballast to the fixture. I planned on cutting the cord immediately adjacent to the old ballast and putting a typical cord cap on it to plug into the new ballast. The AquaMedic I originally ordered was electronic, and had regular female receptacles. This was the plan.

When I called AquaCave, they told me the Aquamedic wasn't available, and they could ship the Galaxy instead (same price). Tatted4ever got this ballast when he did this project and he's very happy with it. Tangster also said the Galaxy is a good ballast.

I'm not that familiar with the BlueWave series. I've heard about it, and read about it extensively on the vendor pages, but haven't really heard anything about them--good or bad.

I'll let everyone know how the Galaxy works.

 

Sorry I missed this question, Powerman. I was using SPS Blue Life 10K 150W bulbs that I got from Tangster.

I've received my new 250W 20K bulbs yesterday. I'm pretty sure I have some before pics on photobucket. I'll check and post them today.

 

Awesome! If you need help with wiring it up, drop me a line.

 

Thanks, Mike. You've been real helpful.



Well, I got my 250W sockets today. As tigermike74 said, they're larger than the 150W ends. Fortunately, the footprint centers nicely over the fixture's pre-drilled hole sets in the steel mounting plate where the old sockets used to be. Unfortunately though, that steel mounting plate is factory tapped at less than 6/32. That's a tiny diameter. The caps came with 4mm screws, which is an odd diameter. Home Depot doesn't sell these tiny screws, nor do they sell a 4mm tap and die. My solution was to purchase quarter inch dia. screws, and a "quarter/20" tap and die. I'll post pics of this little DIY event. The ballasts will be here Monday. I should have everythig ready by then. It should be a drop-in scenario by then.

 

Don't you just hate when they use stupid sized items? I'm sure you will have everything worked out on that end. My offer is open, I have this site up when I'm at work, just drop me a line if you need help.

 

Next on the list was to mount the new DE sockets where the old ones used to be. So here's the fixture's factory plate on which the ends get mounted.



I held the new ends over the holes and they appear to line up fine. So I drilled and tapped the plate for 1/4" screws, which I bought.



Thing is, the holes on the new ends don't line up 100%. One side is fine:



The other side, um, not so much.



For every problem, just waiting is a solution. I bought a piece of sheet metal at Home Depot and cut it to roughly the size of the factory plate. The 2 holes in the middle are how they mount to the fixture. I drilled them first.



Here's the new plate below the reflector:



I then tacked the plate to the reflector.



Next I placed the new ends on the plate.



Check for correct distance by placing the bulb in the slots,



And marked the holes.



Measure twice, cut once, they say.



I used one for the template for the other. Gotta love a template.



Now they're both drilled.



Here's the ends mounted in place.











So the new ballast will be here Monday. So far, it's going well. On Monday, all I anticipate is landing the wires and firing this boy up.

The ease with which this project is going makes me excited to upgrade this fixture again. I'm thinking about replacing the PC actinics with T5's. If I could fit 2 T5's on each side, I'll have a 716W fixture. Now Coralife doesn't make one of those!!

 

Since I have one side done, and the other not yet--I figured I'd take some side-by-side photos. Can't have too many pictures, right?

The side with the bulb is the 150W side. Without the bulb is the 250W side. I've checked for headspace, and it all fits very well. I'll post more pics soon.

Here's the 150W side first.





And the newly done, 250W side:





And one with the bulb in place:

 

Here's a side by side comparison of a 150W HQI and a 250W HQI. I didn't know there was a difference until tigermike74 told me.

 

Here's a full fixture shot with new ends mounted, bulbs installed, and tempered UV plates in place. When the ballasts arrive Monday, I'll have to land those wires, and that will be it!