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Re: tek fixture and no cooling

Re: tek fixture and no cooling

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11907207#post11907207 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by surgeonfishbarb
Can anyone tell me about the downside to the Tek fixtures in regards to not having active cooling? How detrimental will this be to the longevity of the bulbs? Also when those bulbs get hot will you have a decline in PAR due to the bulbs being too hot?

Without active cooling on the Teks, the bulb output on Giesemann T5s dropped almost a whole 20%. They also dropped in longevity by an amount I dont know, but it was pretty dramatic. When I added a fan to mine, the bulbs regained much of their lost output and their life shot up to 18months+. Those w/o fans seem to have rapid bulb output losses, I would imagine 9-12 months being the life span like this.
 
Has anybody actually run the 400w SE G-mann 14.5k and the 400w SE 14k Ushio? I'd like to know if there is a visual difference between the two without actinics on. I've run the G-mann and they are very white. Are the 14k Ushio's as white or do they have a slight yellow to them.

I know there is speculation they might be the same bulb, but it's still just speculation... right?
 
I know it's not a 400w but i'm running a Ushio 14k 175w SE on an Icecap e-ballast and it is white with no yellow after burn in. HTH
 
I'm setting up a 75 gall 48x18x20. What would be good T-5 fixture for this application, and what would be a good bulb layout for mostly soft corals. I'm looking at Nova extremes, but not sure if I need 4 or 6 lamps. How do the Novas hold up?
 
Redoing lighting

Redoing lighting

I have a 180 gallon reeftank (24x24x72") that, due to a recent system crash after 9 years of being set up, needs to be redone. I'm contemplating changing the entire lighting structure, however, I have some constraints because of a customized hood for the tank. I have only 10" of clearance between the top of the hood and the tank surface. I currently have a DIY set up of 3x400W MH 20,000K SE fixtures with reflectors of questionable optical value + 4x65W CF actinic lighting. I am contemplating going to 3x250W DE MH fixtures with better reflector structure + 4x24" T5 HO or VHO fluorescent lighting in order to get some energy savings. So, two questions:

1. Will the set up for 3x250W DE MH provide near the same amount of light as the 3x400W SE MH if I improve the reflectorization?

2. What retrofit fixtures can anyone recommend that would fit the custom hood currently in the tank? I have a size limitation of 10" from top of hood to tank surface and 16" from a large crossbar on the underside of the top of the front of the hood to the back of the hood. Obviously the more compact the fixture the better.

Any advice or recommendation would be helpful.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11985177#post11985177 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by GeoB
I'm setting up a 75 gall 48x18x20. What would be good T-5 fixture for this application, and what would be a good bulb layout for mostly soft corals. I'm looking at Nova extremes, but not sure if I need 4 or 6 lamps. How do the Novas hold up?

I thought this would be a simple question with a simple answer. Any takers here?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12036680#post12036680 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by GeoB
I thought this would be a simple question with a simple answer. Any takers here?

THere are other threads on here where you can get an answer to that question and others. This thread is about Sanjay's reef lighting info. Sanjay to my knowledge does not ahve any tests on T5 fixtures. The Grim Reefer is the man to ask about T5's. There is a thread titled "The T5 Q&A thread" where A LOT of questions like this have been answered.
 
quick question...

Why does the lighting website allow me to view data for the Radium Single Ended 250w bulb with the PFO HQI Ballast? I thought all HQI ballasts are double ended? Am I missing something?
 
but how does one go about physically plugging a DE lamp into an SE ballast? are we talking about electrical mods to the ballast?
 
I not sure I understand what you are saying.

The Radium 250-watt lamp is a single ended lamp but is electrically built like a double-ended lamp. Single ended ANSI M58 ballasts can sometimes light double-ended and single-ended lamps built to European / M80 /HQI specifications but they will not operate properly and reliably. An ANSI M58 does not have the proper starting voltage and operating lamp current for DE and SE lamps built to a European /M80 / HQI specification. You can not mod an ANSI M58 ballast to make it compatible with these lamps. An ANSI M80 (HQI) ballast will light any 250-watt lamp because the starting voltage is highest on this ballast but not all lamps are designed for this higher starting voltage and higher lamp operating current. Table 3 in that article shows the electrical differences.

Each type of ballast is built to a different electrical specification. In North America we use ANSI codes for lamps and ballasts. To assure proper and reliable operation the ANSI codes/standards should be matched.
 
ok let me rephrase my question.

the Radium 250 SE is a single ended bulb.
the PFO HQI ballast is a double ended ballast. so all premade pendants with the PFO HQI would have a double ended fixture.

so you are telling me you can plug a SE lamp into just one of the avilable plugs in that HQI ballast? or do they change the connectors to be SE?
 
The company lists all of the lamps HQI metal halide lamps. It’s just a general term that is used for many different things and the meaning differs by companies and people. Some companies list lamps as HQI but they are just standard lamps. HQI and metal halide get missed used, misunderstood and sometimes like in this case mean the same thing.

The Helios single-ended lamps are just standard probe start lamps built to North American specs (ANSI M57, ANSI M58 and ANSI M59 standards). A true European/M80/HQI standard single-ended lamp does not have a starting circuit within the lamp (a starting electrode connected to a bi-metal switch and a resistor) because the starting voltage for this standard is too high and is not needed. The Helios lamps are equipped with a starting circuit making them standard probe start metal halide lamps.
 
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