Lighting Website Updates

[Robert Patterso]

Hahn or anybody else that might be able to answer this question.
Setting up a 140 gal. It's 29" tall. Have been running 400 watt. Aquaconnect bulbs but man they make alot of heat. So was thinking about going to 250 watt Aquaconnect or Radium 20k bulbs. The tank is 99.99% acro/sps so I'm wondering if the 250's will put enough light to the bottom of the tank. Your opinion or opinions will be appreciated.

Thanks,
Robert

[hahnmeister]

How many 100watters? One?

[Robert Patterso]

Originally posted by hahnmeister
How many 100watters? One?

100 watters?

[hahnmeister]

Typ0, change that to 400 watters? How many do you have... just the one?

[bubbletip2]

Originally posted by Robert Patterso
Hahn or anybody else that might be able to answer this question.
Setting up a 140 gal. It's 29" tall. Have been running 400 watt. Aquaconnect bulbs but man they make alot of heat. So was thinking about going to 250 watt Aquaconnect or Radium 20k bulbs. The tank is 99.99% acro/sps so I'm wondering if the 250's will put enough light to the bottom of the tank. Your opinion or opinions will be appreciated.

Thanks,
Robert

Hey Robert.

I have been using two 400w 12K Reeflux bulbs over my 156g and have not had any problems with heat especially since I switched to LumenBright reflectors. Just to point out, I have tested PAR readings between 200-400 on the bottom of a 30" deep tank with these reflectors whch is enough to grow most SPS on the bottom if you wish. My tank stays between 78.5 and 79.5 through out the day and sometimes only fluctuates within a half degree. I do not run a chiller. I use fans for evaporative cooling. Since I got my LumenBrights and was able to raise the bulbs 16" off the water, my fans don't come on until 1.5 hours to 2 hours after the lights come on. I have 4 fans and my other 2 have not run at all and my 400watters are on for 8-10 hours now depending if I am acclimating a new coral or not. With my old LumenArcs the fans would come on after 5-15 minutes because the bulbs had to be much lower.

Not sure if it is possible for you to raise your lights. How high off the water are your bulbs? What reflectors do you use? What ballast are you using? And like Hahn said, how many bulbs do you have?

Jim

[Robert Patterso]

Over the 70g tank I have 1 400 watt with the Lumenarc lll. I use a PFO HQI ballast. The bulb is 11" above the water. Over the 140 I plan to use 2 400s or 2 250s in a canopy that is 20" tall. It will be fan cooled of course. The wife doesn't like the look of reflectors hanging from the ceiling.

[bubbletip2]

I am sorry Robert. I should have asked the dimensions of the 140g.


I have lately been using a Reefkeeper 2 as my aquarium controller and the beauty of this controller is in the heater and fan controls. Heaters stick on and fans are usually run only when the lights come on without an RK2. What I can do with this controller is make sure the heater only comes on when I want it as well as the fans. For the fans, I set the controller to come on at 79 and turn off at 78.5. The second set of fans are to come on at 80 and turn off at 79.5. The second set have yet to come on since the switch to LumenBrights.

You will probably be fine with the LAIII's but if you are interested in light reaching the bottom of your tank for growing clams or SPS for instance, take a look at the LumenBrights. I love 'em My canopy is 20 inches as well and my reflectors peak out the top by two inches granted the bulb is 16" from the water and I have the large one's which are a little taller than the minis. If you have a 4ft long tank you should be fine with keeping them at 14 inches from the water to be enclosed in your canopy. Hopefully that helps.

I can't speak highly enough about the RK2 for temp control. I have made a believer out of some that could not believe I woudl not need a chiller.

[Robert Patterso]

Bubbletip2,
The tank is a Deep Sea Aquatics (same people that use to work for Oceanic), very nice workmanship and very reasonable price. It's 48L x 24dp x 29 tall. 2 corner overflows. Lumen Brite uh? What are the deminsions of those reflectors? Why do they put out less heat? I know I've seen them somewhere just not sure where. Do they actually put more light into the tank than the Lumenarc? Can you tell me who carries them please?

[bubbletip2]

They don't necessarily put out less heat. The closer your bulb is to the water, obviously the more heat will be generated at the surface. Actually more heat, more UV, more evaporation, and more salt creep on your reflectors and bulbs. All in all it is always better to raise your lights if you can generate enough light by doing so.

My experience has been as I have owned both LumenArcs and LumenBrights is if you raise LumenArcs above 12 inches, the amount of light is significantly reduced due to the diffuse spread they provide. Not only does the intensity become reduced but the light spills into your living room even more if you keep your canopy open or on your back wall. The LumenBrights are designed to keep the light within the tank and raising them is showing some pretty impressive numbers to say the least. Like I said before - 200-400 on the bottom of a 30 inch deep tank. At 14-16 inches, this just would not be possible with a LumenArc with the bulbs we have tested so far.

You can investigate and decide for yourself here:

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...&pagenumber=10

And you can purchase these from several places:

I bought mine from here: Mike is a great guy and will spend as much time as necessary to help you in any way.

http://www.reefspecialty.com/

Here is another place you can find them:

http://www.reefexotics.com/

The debate on dimensions is pretty interesting - I have seen many different dimensions listed - I know my large one's measure 19.5x19.5x8.5 tall. The minis should measure 16x16x6.5 tall - a little bigger than the LAIII minis.

Hopefully that helps.

[KenStanley]

I'm not sure if I'll get yelled at for posting in the wrong forum or not but I'm gonna chance it.

I'm thinking I want to get rid of my traditional wood hood and go with so kind of more modern fixture. My theory is that the hood is just holding in way my more heat than an open top would. I run a chiller but......... I think it would run less with an open system.

I'm looking of some suggestions currently I'm running 2 -250W MH 10,000K and 4- 48"VHOs. If anyone has any thoughts or experience I'd love to read it.

[KenStanley]

I'm not sure if I'll get yelled at for posting in the wrong forum or not but I'm gonna chance it.

I'm thinking I want to get rid of my traditional wood hood and go with so kind of more modern fixture. My theory is that the hood is just holding in way my more heat than an open top would. I run a chiller but......... I think it would run less with an open system.

I'm looking of some suggestions currently I'm running 2 -250W MH 10,000K and 4- 48"VHOs. If anyone has any thoughts or experience I'd love to read it.

[KenStanley]

I'm not sure if I'll get yelled at for posting in the wrong forum or not but I'm gonna chance it.

I'm thinking I want to get rid of my traditional wood hood and go with so kind of more modern fixture. My theory is that the hood is just holding in way my more heat than an open top would. I run a chiller but......... I think it would run less with an open system.

I'm looking of some suggestions currently I'm running 2 -250W MH 10,000K and 4- 48"VHOs. If anyone has any thoughts or experience I'd love to read it.

[fishdoc11]

Originally posted by KenStanley
I'm not sure if I'll get yelled at for posting in the wrong forum or not but I'm gonna chance it.

I'm thinking I want to get rid of my traditional wood hood and go with so kind of more modern fixture. My theory is that the hood is just holding in way my more heat than an open top would. I run a chiller but......... I think it would run less with an open system.

I'm looking of some suggestions currently I'm running 2 -250W MH 10,000K and 4- 48"VHOs. If anyone has any thoughts or experience I'd love to read it.

Yes open topped tanks typically retain less heat from the lighting.

[hahnmeister]

Originally posted by KenStanley
I'm not sure if I'll get yelled at for posting in the wrong forum or not but I'm gonna chance it.

I'm thinking I want to get rid of my traditional wood hood and go with so kind of more modern fixture. My theory is that the hood is just holding in way my more heat than an open top would. I run a chiller but......... I think it would run less with an open system.

I'm looking of some suggestions currently I'm running 2 -250W MH 10,000K and 4- 48"VHOs. If anyone has any thoughts or experience I'd love to read it.

You wont get yelled at for posting here, but posting 3x in a row... now you're gonna get it.

A hood CAN trap heat in, or with proper ducting and airflow, it can help direct airflow better across the surface of the water and lights to help cool it better than an open-top aquarium. Its all relative. You can have a hood which cools better than an open top, and the other way around.

What do you have in the way of fans on the tank right now?

One thing I would suggest is swapping out the VHO's for T5s... that will drop your wattage, and with blue+ bulbs, keep the same if not higher output. 10,000Ks have loads of actinic in their output already... what they need supplimented, if anything, is blue.

[hahnmeister]

Well, guess where Sanjay is this weekend...
The Fish & Reptile Show in Sindelfingen, Germany. I know because I was asked to go and give a lecture as well... but I knew my schedule right about now would be too busy.

There is Sanjay looking like he is getting over jet lag... luckily he has some LED's to keep him awake...


More here:
http://www.korallenriff.de/galerie.php?artikel_id=572

[Sanjay]

I guess electrons travel a lot faster than me :-D

sanjay.

[hahnmeister]

Yes, they sure do. I wonder... how was your trip anyways? Did you take some time off from regular work to get there w/ some time to spare... or did you pull a quick-trip to Germany? I take it you were one of the other 2 Claude was talking about... who was the other?

[Sanjay]

Short trip, was able to have one extra day to do a little bit of sightseeing and checking out a coral farm. These short trips to Europe can be exhausting, but still fun especially after some beer and Caipirinha.


The other guy is in the picture with me looking at the LED. Joe Yauillo from Atlantis Marine World. A great guy to hang out with.

sanjay

[hahnmeister]

Ah, neato. I wish I could have been there. It sounded like a neat show. Claude said that they get a few thousand visitors... almost as large as an Interzoo or something.

So, what was your presentation on? T5s vs MH? Lol.

Yeah, in the end, I would have had to have done a 'redeye' flight on a friday night, and since this place (outside Stuttgart if I remember correctly) isnt on any direct flights. So I would have literally gotten there, hoping I could sleep on the plane (tried that before w/o much success), given a presentation on Saturday (without falling asleep), and then fly back on Sunday afternoon... hoping to keep my CST sleep schedule the whole time (so I would be sleeping in Germany from 7am-2pm or so... prime time to look around. It would have been a mess.

Anything cool you saw besides the LED units?

[KenStanley]

Thanks Hahnmeister but is that all you’ve got? You hardly yelled at all. ( LOL ) Sorry for the triple post. Although in my defense ... the site did it! Yeah that’s it the site did it. (That’s my story and I’m sticking to it)

Any how. I guess I should be more specific about my questions really. I’m looking for a good light set up I can use without a hood. I came across the Sunlight Supply 4ft Maristar with 2-250 MH HQI & 2- 54W T5 HO bulbs and it looks good but as we all know looks can be deceiving.

http://www.specialty-lights.com/250465.html

They offer two ballast Includes Galaxy Dual 250W Remote Ballast or Blue Wave 7 Dual 250W HQI Ballast. The warranty is longer with the Galaxy but that probably isn’t a good reason to choose it. So does anyone know anything about this system and is it worth considering? Maybe someone has some suggestions?

I keep hearing a clamoring that LEDs will be improving greatly in the future anyone have any thoughts on that?

[johns]

KenStanley-

I used a Maristar for a couple-few years. You'll be using double-ended bulbs, which means they are more than likely going to be HQI-rated. So your best bet is the Blue Wave 7 HQI ballast. Running electronic ballasts might save a little on energy costs if that is really important. But you would not be running most DE bulbs to their rated wattage, meaning they may not produce exactly the intended color and maybe wont last quite as long.

[johns]

Does anyone have a handy-dandy reference showing a list of SE and DE bulbs and the wattage and ballast they were intended to be run at/with?

If not, I have a more specific question - what 250W SE bulbs out there are meant to be run on HQI ballasts, besides Radium 250W.

[hahnmeister]

Closest thing would be this:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-03/sj/index.php

Maybe this:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-04/jb/index.php

And this:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-06/jg/index.php

Otherwise, just ask PaulErik

As far as 250wattSE HQI bulbs, the list is short: Radium, Aquaconnect, Aqualine 10,000K, Ushio/BLV nepturion (non-CWA), and Giesemann megachromes.

[Gooli]

hello Sanjay...have you done any testing for PAR on T5 lamps?

[bestreef]

sorry I put my message in the wrong forums.