Help me confirm my lighting needs

J

johnnstacy

Premium Member
Whenever someone asks for lighting help, usually the first question is how deep the tank is? I have mentioned in the past that this is not the most important question. I am currently running 250W DE PFO Pendants with 10K Ushio bulbs. with HQI ballasts. I am not satisfied with the amount of light I am getting in my primary SPS tank. I want to go to 400W. Right now, my most light loving corals are about 18" from the pendants. Probably 20" by the time you get to the bulb. I don't feel as though they are getting the light they need. I am considering SE 400W on HQI ballasts. Probably 10K bulbs. Does my argument sound reasonable? Do I stand a better chance at getting better color and growth using 400w SE bulbs instead of 250W DE bulbs?

I am looking for recommendations for what to use for the SE reflector setup. I have only used DE's up till now. Quality over cost. Thanks.
 
I am using 5 x 250 over my 180 and I am not happy with light levels. I have also thought about 400's but if I went 400's it would be the highest par blue bulb. Which should be brighter than the highest par bule 250 bulb.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8067412#post8067412 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by clkwrk
I am using 5 x 250 over my 180 and I am not happy with light levels. I have also thought about 400's but if I went 400's it would be the highest par blue bulb. Which should be brighter than the highest par bule 250 bulb.
Click to expand...

Are you using SE or DE? and what socket would you ideally want to go to? A few of the benefits I see of the 400W SE are:

More choices on bulbs
Size of footprint
Better par

Footprint is important because I would still like to use my 4 VHO's to help out on the blue side if I go with 10k bulbs. With the large footprint of 400W DE pendants, I don't see how anyone could supplement their light unless maybe with T5's. I am speaking of tanks 24" front to back.

Still would love some ideas on what to use for a 400W SE reflector.
 
LAIII's can house DE or SE bulbs, just buy the correct socket type.

Only DE bulbs need UV sheilds, SE do not.

If you were doing the LAIIIs, go SE and do the LAIII minis = Smaller foor print.

I got my set up at www.thereefstop.com
I got two LAIII minis with SE sockets, and a SLS Bluewave 7.
It is dual 250w and will fire most SE and DE bulbs if you ever want to change down the road. (Very cool feature.)
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8067604#post8067604 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Letmegrow
LAIII's can house DE or SE bulbs, just buy the correct socket type.

Only DE bulbs need UV sheilds, SE do not.

If you were doing the LAIIIs, go SE and do the LAIII minis = Smaller foor print.

I got my set up at www.thereefstop.com
I got two LAIII minis with SE sockets, and a SLS Bluewave 7.
It is dual 250w and will fire most SE and DE bulbs if you ever want to change down the road. (Very cool feature.)
Click to expand...

I think I checked on those LAIII minis but they only went up to 250W?
 
Here is a dumb question, but have you considered bringing the pendants closer to the water. Remember Halides are a point source and the farther away from the target the more disapated the light is. Bring them down and it will brighten up in there.

That is the main reason I went with the Aqualight pro....the little legs that are provided bring the unit about 4" above the tank...The bulb is maybe 6" from the water surface.

Tank depth is a factor with choosing lighting, its only an important question if you want to grow SPS on the bottom and not be restricted to the top. Trust me, I fought and tried to make 150's work on the bottom, but in the end they just didn't have enough PAR to get to the bottom of the tank.

I think you have plenty of light and just need to fine tune your setup.

Exactly what are you looking for? More color, growth.....what is you main drive? Have you tried other bulbs rather than the 10k?
 
With DE pendants, I am not comfortable having the glass shield any less then 8" from the water surface. Here again, that puts the bulb another 2" higher for a total of 10". Then we go down from the water surface to the corals another 6-10". I just don't like it.

I am looking for color and growth
 
Regarding the LIII minis, I could use some help configuring what I am going to need. I have only used PFO in the past. I have always matched up the PFO pendants with PFO ballasts. What options are there for the LIII minis? I want to use an HQI ballast. Is that okay? Are there any really good brands that work well with this reflector? Also, I have kind of a long span from the reflector to the ballasts. Does anyone make extensions like PFO so that I can run them out a ways? I guess I am wondering if reflector and ballast connections use universal plugs or do are they all different? Then lastly, would anyone recommend PGS to buy the minis, ballasts, etc or are there less expensive alternatives on pricing? Thanks for any help.
 
PFO and SLS make the top rated HQI magnetic ballast right now (atleast affordable ones).

If I am not mistaken the SLS are more versitile.

Any ballast can work the the LAIIIs, its just a reflector.
There are no electrical componants. It's just where you plug your bulb in. There is no non-compatability issues.

The bulb Ktemp and wattage is more important to match up with the ballast type, rather than the reflector.

You need to pick a definitive wattage and the K rating.
What color do you want 10 - 12 - 14 - 20 K ?
This should be adressed first.

I like 14k @ 250w and 20k @ 400w.
 
Doesn't sound like there is any way to use the LIII mini in a canopy with VHO's. I guess if you wanted supplemental lighting, you would have to go with T5's correct?
 
T-5s would be a better option no matter how you slice it. Smaller diameter, less heat, better par, cheaper bulbs, wider array of spectrum options, can be fired on VHO ballast, you just need new end caps.
 
So I guess my question is, does anyone supplement lighting when using Lumenarc minis? If so, what are you using? I was checking out the T5 stuff at marine depot. PFO I guess makes power compact retrofits as well. If my calculations are correct, on a standard 180g, with three minis, this would leave you about 27" total which you would then have to divide into two sections between the minis. This is about 13" in each section. Would you run the T5s parallel or perpendicular? I'm guessing perpendicular but can someone confirm?
 
I would run them parallel to the tanks length.

Do not even consider the PC's !!!

If you can fit some t-5's in there I definitely would.
I originally was going to get the LAIII standard size, but I love what T-5's do so I got the Minis and can fit fit one bulb in front and two bulbs in back of the reflector. For a T-5 end cap and all only take up 1.5" in width you can fit them. I got an Icecap 660 to run the T-5's.
 
Glass shields are important.. all it take is one fish to splash, hit the bulb with the water, and CRACK.. 80 dollars shot.

Speaking from experience....
 
I have been lucky and never had a single bulb break or crack . At one time I had 175's 4 inches off the water and I had to clean the bulbs weekly of deposits . I also have only had one pendant sheild break in the last 3 years and it was do to a tang splashing his tail at the waters surface. That only happened once and the tang hasn't stopped.

If running SE you will be wasting alot of light by using glass sheilds on them . If you want sheilds go DE.
 
another thing I did on my tank,.... I had shields on 2 bulbs and no shields on the other 2 bulbs.... No difference in color on the acropora at all.... So I shielded the other 2 after cracking a NEW 80 dollar helios....
 
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