1000 watt MH on servo

[salt lick]

I need some big tank users opinions please.

thinking Radium 20k, in small reflector (reef optix 1, if it will fit)

check out this thread

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=307994

[dgasmd]

I looked into the 1000 watters about 6 months ago as I was seriously considering using them. After a lot fo searching and talking to tons of the people using them here in RC, I came to the conclusion that they were a waste of money, electricity, and too much unnecessary heat without any clear, real, and significant benefit.
I sounds as if 250 watt MH are good, 400 watt are great, then 1000 watt must be excellent, but in reality it is not. People using them do not grow corals any faster and their colors are not any better either. Plues the added cost of bulbs does not justify anything in my mind. The 1000 watt radiums are dimmer than any 400 watt 10000K and still need to be changed every 5 months or so at $200+ each. Just my opinion.

[salt lick]

Thanks Gas man,
I agree 3 * 1000w vs 3 *400 for a tank like yours would be overkill. Perhaps you dont apreciate the difference between your setup (very nice by the way) and mine. My tank is 30 inches deep, most tanks are 24. I have two Sunpipes (13" dia) at each end of a near square tank. If I go with 2 *400 watt bulbs the reflectors will block the sunpipes. I would like to swing (aprox 8" radius) a single reflector over the middle. in fact, if I do decide to go with dual 400watt then I may put both bulbs side by side in a modified parabolic reflector.

What's holding me back from making the 1000 watt decision has been considering the cost and flexability. With electronic 400watt ballasts I can switch to less expensive or longer lasting 20k bulbs. On a radium to radium comparison (400 vs 1000) I figure the extra annual cost to be about $150.

[dgasmd]

This I was planning and looking for wasn't for my current tank. Even at 36" you'll get more than plenty of light to the bottom with 400 watt MH. I know someone that had the 1000 watt in his 36" tank because of the "depth" and went back to the 400 watt he was using before because he could not justify the expense and heat when he was getting no more light to the bottom than before. His is a 100% SPS/clam tank and there are as many SPS and clams in the bottom of the tank (no sand bed) as there is at the top. All doing equally well.

You have to remember that corals are pretty adaptable to many environments. There is a reason they have been around for thousands of years. We sometimes get caught up in more and more and forget that sometimes enough is more than enough.

This is just my opinion and take it for what it is. Something else to remember is that there is a relationship between intensity and how high you hang your lights. If you cut the distance from the bulb to the surface, you increase your intensity by 2. My 400 watt Ushio bulbs are about 4" from the water and when I lowered them last, I had to remove several pieces from the top that had been there for months because they were getting too much light. Also had to adjust the light cycle. They have adjusted now and I can telly ou my tank looks 3 times as bright as anyone around here with the same intensity lighting, Just something to think about.

[salt lick]

Thank you Dr gas for sharing your thoughts.
Are you still running radiums on your tank?

I respect your opinion, but Im not sure your comments are applicable to my tank, did this other 1000watt person use one 1000watt bulb for every two 400 bulbs, or was the switch 'one to one' for # of bulbs?

I still dont understand your expense and heat issue with one 1000watt bulb (9 amps) versus dual 400 watt bulbs (2 x 4.5 amps), its the same power input ,see Sanjays article:(http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/oct2002/feature.htm), the bulb manufacturers state that 1000 watt puts out abot 30% more than two 400's. So if I mount the single 1000 bulb about 4-6" higher than I would the 400 bulbs the resultant light would be about the same.

[salt lick]

Dr gas,
Thanks for helping me flesh out this trade-off.

[o2manyfish]

I have a friend who is using the Helios 20K 1000w bulb. He has a single bulb mounted about 18" over the surface of a 6'x3'x2' frag tub.

The single bulb lights over 4 feet of tank really well.

He also put a 1000w bulb on a 4'x8'x30" prop tank. This one he put on a motorized rail.

The growth and color from both of these configurations is pretty amazing.

Pucci/Carlos - added a 1000w Helios 20K to his prop tank about a month ago, and he just added one to replace a combination of 400w Radium and Sunburst, and he is amazed and overwhelmed by the response from his corals.

The heat produced by these bulbs is pretty amazing.

But you also have to realize, that the element inside the bulb is about 4x larger than a 400w bulb. The amount of light emitted is fantastic.

I am definitely contemplating using 1 on a track for my new tank and using some 250w DE as supplemental Hilighting over some corals.

Dave B

[dgasmd]

Originally posted by salt lick
Thank you Dr gas for sharing your thoughts.
Are you still running radiums on your tank?


No. Is topped using them because at 4 months the tank looked very dim and at 5 months people coming over were asking me how come I light up the tank with old VHO bulbs? I started with 100% SPS frags and have extremely pathetic growth with them. Colors were great and I still can't find anything else that comes close. Went with Ushio 10000K and things have exploted since.

Originally posted by salt lick
I respect your opinion, but Im not sure your comments are applicable to my tank, did this other 1000watt person use one 1000watt bulb for every two 400 bulbs, or was the switch 'one to one' for # of bulbs?

I am not sure if there applicable to your tank either. I am just telling you about the only other person I have seen with it and my personal opinion about them. He replaced the bulbs at one to one with 400 watt ushio 10000K I think, but I am not 100% sure.

Originally posted by salt lick
I still dont understand your expense and heat issue with one 1000watt bulb (9 amps) versus dual 400 watt bulbs (2 x 4.5 amps), its the same power input ,see Sanjays article:(http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/oct2002/feature.htm), the bulb manufacturers state that 1000 watt puts out abot 30% more than two 400's. So if I mount the single 1000 bulb about 4-6" higher than I would the 400 bulbs the resultant light would be about the same.

The 1000 watter would use 200 watts extra when compared to 400 watt x 2. The cost of each bulb is more than 2x400 watt too. The heat is pretty significant too, so you are going to ahve to spend more electricity and money trying to keep the tank cool. If you are going to raise the lights much higher to prevent the heating, you are loosing the intensity you were after in the first place. Yes, they may be 30% more output, but the truth is that things will do just as well without it.

I agree with o2manyfish in that the spread is great and much more than a single 400 watt bulb. I, however, would get a very efficient reflector like a lumenarc 3 and use a 400 watt instead. Likely you will get pretty close to it. This is just me and my opinion though.

[salt lick]

Thanks again all.
Dave B, what is a Helios 20K 1000w bulb?

[o2manyfish]

Salt Lick,

Helios is an equipment manufacturer. They make T5 lights and hoods, and have been doing PC for along time. The make a line of really nice DE Halide and PC supplemental hoods.

They are in the process of designing some new Halide bulbs the emphasis being on 20K bulbs.

I don't know if they (the bulbs) are being produced for the masses yet.

Dave B