halide question

[fishfan09]

I was wondering if there was any significant difference between se halide bulbs and the double end hqi? I have only ran the se halides. I am planning to put up a 70 gallon cube in the near future and I am trying to get a list of equiptment I want to have on this setup and was wondering if it was just preferrence or if there was any difference. Thanks.

 

[CleveYank]

I do recall Sanjay (all knowing all powerful light testing guru that can be found via google search) when HQI's (DE's) were first breaking in reefdom that comparible output curves showed DE as for example 10K ushio SE vs 10K Ushio DE, that the DE was superior in output in PAR.

Alot has changed with ballasts and bulbs where the clear cut winner of DE can be questioned. And combined with this will be desired spectral output and intensity.

Joe likes a bluish tank or Mary likes White, and Tommy likes his with a yellowish and supplimental blues added via VHO actinics.

So now that I've made it as vague and up in the air as possible we'll bring it back in.

Color of the tank. Spectrum
Blue = slow growth but jazzy colors.
White = bright and nice par levels which offer growth
Yellow= good growth, but reefer that needs his or her eyes checked now that there are so many bulb choices to not have to look at yellow or green tinged tanks.
The SE and DE formats all offer these.
So you have to look at PAR vs what makes the lighting go wowee for you.

Then in this cube are you going with a pendant or a hood?

Then what ballast type were you going for? Electronic bluer and cooler burning or HQI hotter and overdriving but gettting the most out of the bulbs? Which bulb mfg and SE vs DE that is going to get you to your decided look offset by the PAR output and there the curves and intensities measure out to.

So, google Sanjay, read some of his data and look up his ballast bulb comparision search tool (a little behind some of the new bulbs but still help) and then hit some folks here that are using the bulb/ballast combos you're thinking of.

Good Luck

Also, If I were setting up a small cube system, I'd build a dual fanned hood for it. And I'd consider a 175 ARO electronic Ballast and a 15K Iwasaki SE Bulb with the mini reflector with 4 of the 24 inch bulbs, 2 URI reflector inside them FULL actinics in VHO and 1 KZ purple T5 and 1 ATI blue plus T5. Run on Icecap 430 for the VHO's and workhorse dual for the T5's.
That setup would have the shimmer of metals. The dawn dusk cycle. And funky glow and irridescence of a full T5 setup.

 

[fishfan09]

Wow great response and inpuut that really helped. I haven't decided on a hood or pendant. I was leaning more towards pendant and setting it up more so as a look down style but not sure that is why I am trying to do plenty of leg work before the ball really gets going. I would rather push the setup back and wait awhile longer than starting the setup and not having a clue what the next step will be...lol as for the setup you suggested I am not faniliar with t5 at all I have only ran se halides. Will that setup provide just as must light for sps growth as say 2x400 watt halide pendants cause before this post I had either 2x 250watt or 2x400watt pendants?

 

[CleveYank]

Wow great response and inpuut that really helped. I haven't decided on a hood or pendant. I was leaning more towards pendant and setting it up more so as a look down style but not sure that is why I am trying to do plenty of leg work before the ball really gets going. I would rather push the setup back and wait awhile longer than starting the setup and not having a clue what the next step will be...lol as for the setup you suggested I am not faniliar with t5 at all I have only ran se halides. Will that setup provide just as must light for sps growth as say 2x400 watt halide pendants cause before this post I had either 2x 250watt or 2x400watt pendants?

I miscalculated (figurin was off) the depth of the cube. If it's 25 by 24 by 31 (glass cages makes a cube that size) then you would want 2 175's. The Iwasaki 15K is one high output 175. It's almost...I retype, almost as much bang as alot of 250's. If you pendant only then you would need 250's to 400's. If I were going pendant only, I'd try the reeflux 400 SE 12K's driven on coralvue or lumentek or icecap electronics in that order of preference. Look up acorpora nut;s TOTM thread. And no the 250 reeflux is not an equal to the 12K 400 only lower wattage. They look slightly different and the results are as well.

 

[fishfan09]

Actually it is gonna be a perfecto tank and the dimensions are 30"x30"x18" I will check out that thread. I may actually keep in contact with you through out the process if that's ok? I could use the help cause this is the largest set up I will have had...lol and I really want to do it right cause in past setups I have cut corners and used equiptment that may not have been great but it was easy and affordable. The setup I have now is the 1st setup I have done "right" but it is only a 29 gallon so none of the equiptment will be transferable.

 

[jiriki]

It was once explained to me the difference..

SE bulbs:
-Pros

-Far more color choices
-has its own UV shield
-generally cheaper

-Cons

-Lowest wattage that's generally availabe is 175w
-Only a handful of SE bulbs such as Radiums are actually HQI (Designed to be overdriven?)

DE bulbs:

-Pros

-Can fit in very slim fixtures
-A lot of the bulbs are HQI (I believe this is still true)
-Available down to 70w

-Cons

-Costs more per bulb
-Less color choices
-Fixture requires a UV shield

I asked the club and the general consensus was to stick with SE bulbs for cost, color choices, and availability.

-Jon

 

[jakano]

Yep I would stick with SE bulbs too, DE bulbs are a pain in the rear. And for size I would do no less than a 250W. Those Iwasaki 15K bulbs are fantstic there's no doubt of that, but what happens when you get bored of the look and want to try something different? Most other 175w bulbs are seriously lacking in par values. A 250W will allow you to sample literally dozens of bulbs with plenty of par for your tank. I would think a setup like CleveYank recommended would be perfect except use the bigger bulbs so you won't have to upgrade in the future.

 

[Reefdiver72]

LOL You could just put 1 1000 watt over it and buy your fish all sunglasses. I thought I would give everybody a laugh. I need to design oakleys for my fish how cool would that be LOL my dog wears them.