Halide Q & A
- Thread starter BlueCorn
- Start date
this is true, i personally keep my sps kinda centrally located at present and my lps and finally softies as you move away from center. i also have anemones which i thought liked brighter light and they hang out on the outskirts and are quite happy. works really well for a mixed reef i think.
I am sure that some light will be reflected back into the aquarium by the glass sides, most of it must escape otherwise i dont think we would be able to see inside the tank. As for the black back i dont think it would make much difference if it was painted on the outside of the glass as the photons would interact with the glass before the paint. If the back was colored with acrylic i am sure it would absorb more light than if it were clear. thats my 2cents
I changed my light configuration from 2x150W MH 14000k plus 2xt5 antics
. to 2x150w MH10000k plus 4t5s (2x antic and 2x11000k)
The color is crap but the corals LOVED IT, and started growing like crazy (SPS dominated tank)
and from what i read so far 10k is the most natural temp........... and then i read that:
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2008/12/aafeature1#h1
What do you think???
I am back to where i started although my tank seems to disagree...
What do you think??
. to 2x150w MH10000k plus 4t5s (2x antic and 2x11000k)
The color is crap but the corals LOVED IT, and started growing like crazy (SPS dominated tank)
and from what i read so far 10k is the most natural temp........... and then i read that:
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2008/12/aafeature1#h1
What do you think???
I am back to where i started although my tank seems to disagree...
What do you think??
Mike de Leon
New member
What is the difference between a 250 watt DE halide and 400 watt mogul. What is better..
from what i have seen, de are more efficient than mogul. however you kinda have to compare apples to apples, a 250 mogul to a 250 DE. Also one difference is the DE also need a uv glass sheild the moguls do not(it is built in). Other things to consider are electronic or magnetic ballasts, overdriving or not, reflectors, etc. Lighting is one of those things that is really hard to get a handle on for a lot of people including myself.
Mike de Leon
New member
Thanks for the effort in helping here, really appreciated!
I am just wondering if performance wise do I actually get better par with DE.
I am just wondering if performance wise do I actually get better par with DE.
PAR is "photosynthetically available radiation", a lot goes into the Available part of that acronym. your par readings could be high closer to the bulb ie higher in the tank with a de, but the lower you go in the tank the par will fall off. 400 watt SE will probably place more PAR lower in the tank IMO i think it would have better penetration through the water collumn. on the other hand depending on the depth of the tank, it could be hard to acclimate corals to the 400 watts in a shallower tank.
Mike de Leon
New member
Thanks again. I wanted to go with the 400 watt SE just because there are a lot more bulb choices out there. I already have the 250 and I am looking to upgrade.
I have seen a lot of tanks with 400W set ups and most of them look wonderful.
I also want to go with pendants without any fluorescent supplements keeping the look clean.
I have seen a lot of tanks with 400W set ups and most of them look wonderful.
I also want to go with pendants without any fluorescent supplements keeping the look clean.
i don't think you will be disappointed. as you said your options are definitely open with the se bulbs. also you should be able to place sps at various depths without too much trouble. as i said do be careful acclimating corals to the increased intensity. i occasionally have problems with bleaching on new peices and the only thing i can attribute it too is acclimation.
Mike de Leon
New member
THANKS!
Madfronter
New member
I am throwing around the idea of upgrading my lighting for my 55 gallon tank. My current set up is a 4 x 55 watt PC set up. I was thinking about getting this set up:
• 1x 250W 15000K double ended MH bulb
• 2x 96W straight pins Actinic 460nm bulbs
• 8x Lunar LED bulbs.
Does anyone have this configuration? And if so what do you think about it after having it on the tank for some time?
• 1x 250W 15000K double ended MH bulb
• 2x 96W straight pins Actinic 460nm bulbs
• 8x Lunar LED bulbs.
Does anyone have this configuration? And if so what do you think about it after having it on the tank for some time?
Mike de Leon
New member
What I just found out switching to 400 watt SE bulb is that it produces less heat than 250 DE. But the intensity is a lot more. Corals are happier. I have already noticed more growth and coloration in the two weeks i have had it. This is without any flourescent supplementation. Very simple set up. Just two 400 watt bulbs over a six foot long tank.
If you intend to keep SPS forget 250 watts. Go straight to 400 watts. You will not regret it. Double ended fixtures seem to cast more shadows due to design. SE reflectors are large and tend to have more coverage.
I had DE for a couple of years. They have hot spots and shadows.
Good luck!
If you intend to keep SPS forget 250 watts. Go straight to 400 watts. You will not regret it. Double ended fixtures seem to cast more shadows due to design. SE reflectors are large and tend to have more coverage.
I had DE for a couple of years. They have hot spots and shadows.
Good luck!
the answer to that is both. Some is reflected and some is transmitted. The amount that gets reflected is dependent upon the angle at which the light interacts with the glass.
To have the beam of light fully reflected (total internal reflection {TIR}) the angle of light must be greater than the critical angle of glass from water. The indices of water and glass are 1.333 and 1.5 respectively. Using Snell's Law, the critical angle occurs at an angle of 62.7 degrees according to the normal (perpendicular to the glass). Any angle smaller will transmit light.
The black panel will just soak up all the transmitted light.
cybrsufr
In Memoriam
I could not agree more. I ran my 90G reef with 2x250DE 20K bulbsand the SPS grew and that is about all I can say. When I moved to my 180, I went with 3x400W Radiums and the Colors shifted very dramatically for the better, Growth EXPLODED literally (corals that grew 3" in a year while in the 90G, grew 3" in 3 months in the 180G). Granted there is more water volume, flow etc, but the lighting is so much better. Coverage is better with less shadows and dead spots. DE bulbs are a point light source and therefore produce a narrower beam of light when compared to a SE bulb.
bimmerzs
BadMotorScooter
mike/cybrsufr...I have to disagree with needing 400 watters for sps. There is a lot more than light that determines coral growth/coloration. Blasting a coral with light doesn't necessarily make it grow more since various coral types only utilize a percentage of the light they receive...even deep water varieties only take in maybe 10-20% of received light, that's why placement of coral's based on light requirements is key. We all know 20K bulb's generally have half the par of lower kelvin bulb's, and the ballast also makes a big difference on the output/color of the bulb's. Cybrsufr, your comparison is not apples to apples, you had a bigger tank, more water volume, possible lower nutrient's and most likely greater stability, coupled with possibly doubling your light output. Not a real fair comparison. See here. http://www.athiel.com/lib2/lightclub.html
Cheers,
Cheers,
Last edited:
Similar threads
- Sticky
