How much light are YOU using?

[Samala]

Alright, I've really wanted to ask this.. so.. my question is... how much light are you using?

I'd like to have responses from those that are doing macroalgae and/or seagrass heavy tanks. Or.. alternatively.. if you have a crazy fuge going with lots of good strong macroalgae growth. I'm curious to see what people are successful with, and what type of lighting they use.. MH or PC.. daylights or 50/50.. and so on. The poll will be for straight wpg.. which I know isnt the best measurement, but its a start. Feel free to post specifics like color temperature and bulb types.

I'm first, right?

Seagrass heavy tank.. good growth under 5wpg, 7wpg and 10wpg. 10wpg was kinda hard to 'control' nutrients but had such incredible explosive growth! 5wpg still great, not as explosive, much more 'sedate' tank. Using PC 6700K bulbs.

Alright.. chime in! Please! ;)
>Sarah

[Seahorsewisprer]

Sarah, can I vote twice? I am planning an upgrade this week. My SH planted tank is very deficient, and my fuge is shaded by mangroves.

So, right now my planted tank is around 1 watt per gallon! It does grow some macros well, but my little frag of turtle grass and manatee grass are not growing.

My fuge does have rapid growth of calerpas, using the Home Depot LOA light. I can't remember how many watts it is! The mangroves are happy, but grow really slow...

[andycook]

2.91 so I voted in the 3-4. It is MH.

[kmk2307]

I have a 75 gallon aquarium and I have two, 250W metal halides and 2 110W VHO actinics so based on those numbers I have 9.6 watts / gallon.

[modemfox]

I have a 55 Gallon with 2 MH 175 watt and 2 PC 96 watt.
9.8545454545454545454545454545455 watts per Gallon.

[piercho]

1 X 250W EYE DL (6500K) plus 1 X 96W Blue PC over a 36 X 18 X 24(D) 65G. Seagrass, sandbed plants, Tridacna, Favids, SPS and others.

There been a lot of bulbs come and go over the last 5 years and I still think the EYE 250W 6500K Color Ace run on a HX-NPF MV ballast is the best for any shallow water marine application in tanks 16-25 inches deep. Renders true colors, high output, reasonable analog of natural light, consistent, dependable and long life.

[bigben]

Originally posted by piercho
I still think the EYE 250W 6500K Color Ace run on a HX-NPF MV ballast is the best for any shallow water marine application in tanks 16-25 inches deep. Renders true colors, high output, reasonable analog of natural light, consistent, dependable and long life.

is this ballast the same as the pfo? i'm planning on using the EYE bulbs on a future tank, and this might be cheaper than going the commecial route.

how does par compare between this setup and the iwasaki/pfo combo? thanks.

[Triterium]

The best macro growth ive ever had was with a 175 watt 4200K MH over a 19 gallon fuge (about 10 gallons water with a DSB)

[piercho]

At one time the ballast used for "Iwasaki 6500K" 250W was an HX-NPF mercury vapor circuit ballast. I don't know what they make now. For the 250W EYE Color Ace bulb, this is the ballast recommended by EYE. EYE does not want you to use a CWA type ballast for this bulb. However, a CWA and/or metal halide ballast will start and run that bulb. The output spectra may shift and bulb life may be reduced.

What you should be aware of is that EYE now makes a 250W metal halide bulb that is also called a "6500K Iwasaki" in our hobby. I have no experience with that bulb but it should have a similar spectra and output intensity to the mercury vapor retrofit bulb.

Mercury vapor retrofit: Clean Ace MT250DL
Ballast: H37 reactor-type only (HX-NPF)

Metal halide: Clean Arc MT250D
Ballast: H58 CWA

Either ballast (H37 or M58) is inexpensive. If you get the M58 ballast, however, you can run other 250W metal halide bulbs like the XM brand on it. You can only run the a mercury vapor bulb on the mercury vapor ballast.

So, in a nutshell, you can get a "standard" 250W metal halide ballast and run either bulb on it. The Clean Arc MT250D is designed to run on it and would be preferred. Or you can get a mercury vapor H37 HX-NPF ballast and ONLY run the Clean Ace MT250DL on it.

[piercho]

I made a mistake above. The metal halide "Iwaski 6500K" ballast recommended by EYE is a M58, not a "H58" as posted above. Must have had mercury vapor retrofit on the brain. Anyway, the full range of EYE bulbs have data sheets on the EYE website. (http://www.eyelighting.com/).

SO SORRY to turn this into a fixture thread. My business is not to sell EYE products, in case you are wondering.

[waterfaller1]

I was told that macro does'nt like actinic lighting...and that was why I was having problems with my chaeto turning to mush.
So I switched from 50/50's to 6700 K ~2 X 65 wt PC's over a 29 gallon refugium{75 gal tank},lots of different macros,but mostly chaeto..30 LBs. of LR and a DSB.
On my other tank I just have a small area in the sump for a fuge,so I use a clip-on light fixture from HD,removed the reflector,and have a 75 wt 38 par bulb,also from HD.I just have chaeto and a piece of LR in there.It is said to be 5100 K I believe...it has it's own reflector,and uses only 19 wts.Both of my refugiums are now doing great!
Here is the bulb from HD.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v223/waterfaller1/new_bulb.jpg

[TurboDeath]

I've got a 90G Tank with 2x250W MH and 4x110 VHO = 940Watts...
10.44 Watts/Gallon. Don't care about Algae because I've got 100 margarita snails mowing down everything!!

[mogurnda]

Finally finished the new canopy for the 30 Xtall. Now there's a 250 watt Iwasaki 6500 K lamp, fired by a Reef Fanatic electronic ballast.

Somewhere around 8 wpg, I guess.

I hope the seagrasses appreciate it.