HQI Double Ended Bulbs???

[phonnold]

I am in the process of setting up a new canopy to support MH/VHO and moon lighting for my tank. I was looking at a HQI Doubleded Reflector and was seeing these warnings:

<Quote>
Do not mount "double ended" HQI type bulbs without a UV filtering glass shield!! This bulb will put out UV radiation which can damage your eyes and skin, as well as your animals in the tank. The bulb MUST BE burned behind a protective glass sheet.
</Quote>

That just struck me as odd. Am I right in thinking this is no different than the UV the sun gives out? If I am exposed to the bulb we are talking sunburn and in 20 years of constant exposure a little skin cancer?

Has anybody here used these kinds of bulbs/reflectors before? What did you think of them?

Oh, just for interest I have a 75G tank and am thinking of two reflectors for HM, two VHO bulbs and a moon light LED setup. Still haven't made up my mind if I want to do 250w or 150w. Thinking 250w as a tank upgrade has appeared in the fringes of my mind. Thinking the 250's would work for the bigger tank as well.

Thanks,

[bmwardo]

Philip, the way I understand it is that mogul, Single ended bulbs, already have the UV protection within the glass itself. HQI bulbs do not, hence the protective shield. The shield is also good for any splashing that might occur.

The way I also understand it is that the sheild allows just enough UV rays for the corals, anemones, clams, etc.

I currently use 150watt 14k Pheonix bulbs on my nano and I really like them. It is in an Current sunpod fixture that includes that protective glass sheild.

Hope that helps, and anyone correct me if I am wrong or a bit off on the statements above :)

[scaast]

Philip...that warning sounds an awful lot like the warning on Hellolights.com. If that is where you saw the warning, then I assume you are looking at the reflector they sell. If so, that reflector comes with the glass shield. I ordered their 250w HQI setup and it worked GREAT.

[phonnold]

Thanks for the info Brandon, and scaast, you are correct, that is were I was looking around. I have been buying my VHO bulbs from hellolights so was looking there for the new gear as well. Thanks for the review of their reflector also .

[scchase]

Even with shields UV still gets though with either type of bulb. I was working under my 400 watters one day for about an hour and got a fairly good sunburn from them. Without the shield on the HQIs you will get a burn in minutes instead of hours though.