Lighting question

[jmaneyapanda]

Hey grim- what were the specs of the lights and tank. did you test them the same day? How old were the bulbs? what ballast? etc etc etc???

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Tank was a 125, 72x18x23.5 tall. Sensor was 18.5 inches below the water surface. Halides were about 7" above the surface of the water. Halides were ran on EVC electronic ballasts with 14K lamps. Lamps were new. 10K lamps did 120 or so new. The 80 watt T5 lamps were from a few weeks to several months old when I measured them. No, they weren't checked on the same day (except for a 4x54 watt Ice Cap system which put 183 to the sandbed on a day the halides were doing in the 80's).

 

[jmaneyapanda]

What brand meter did you use? Those were 250 watt MH, right? How long apart were the readings taken? Was it on the same body of water? Same filtration/conditions? How about reflectors?Sorry for all the questions, but I am trying to equalize the parameters.

Our reef club here in Atlanta "rents" out their PAR meter so that members can check their lights. They are hoping to amass a number of measurements, including many I have asked you, and create a sort of reference chart.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

The halide reflectors werent the best but the UV shield was some kind of low lead glass that only decreased the light output by around 11%. The glass on most UV sheilds cut 18 to 22%,

The water parameters were pretty much unchanged. I had T5's and changed to halides and went back to T5's again. The T5's had similar readings both before and after the halides.

The meter is the Apogee QMSS with the remote sensor, www.apogee-inst.com

 

[jmaneyapanda]

thanks.