Lighting Website Updates

[pro99line]

I was hoping sanjay or hahnmeister could help. I went onto Sanjay's website and pulled some information using my current ballast and the bulbs I am considering but unfortunately I don't know how to interpret this info. I am currently running the 3x250 Phoenix DE bulbs on Icecap electronic ballasts with PFO HQI Mini Pendants . Previously I run Hamiltons on the same setup. I have been pleased with both as far as color. I didnt really notice any difference in my corals with either. I mainly have softies with the occasional LPS and clam. I have attached the information form the website and hopefully someone can answer based on that, which bulb is the best for my combination. Since you can see the information in the color chart I typed it.

Aquaconnect - u=.1862, v=.3223, cct=out of range, ppfd=68
EVC - u=.1908, v=.3127, cct=out of range, ppfd=50
Giesemann - u=.1943, v=.4439, cct=8982, ppfd=63
Phoenix DE1 - u=.1862, v=.3253, cct=out of range, ppfd=73
Phoenix DE2 - u=.1828, v=.3286, cct=out of range, ppfd=69
XM - u=.1978, v=.4145, cct=16099, ppfd=43

 

[Wayner2]

AQ250MH - what does the AQ stand for

 

[Genetics]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13938881#post13938881 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Wayner2
AQ250MH - what does the AQ stand for

Aquaconnect

 

[CheckitOut]

Sanjay,
I was looking at your test and I'm wondering under the SE 250 watt 10000k section what is the difference between the Coralvue 250W 10000K SE 2 and the Coralvue 250W 10000K SE 1. The SE 2 has better par than the 1 but is it a different bulb or something?

 

[jjoos99]

Hahn
I currently have 7 5ft t-5s overdriven over my 180. I was impressed with the par readings in your previous post. My setup is diy and I dont see how I would fit another bulb into my hood. I just dont get the colors out of my sps that it seems that metal halide users get. I have taken frags from a halide tank and they have lost color under my t-5s. thus I have been thinking of switching over to halides. what do you think could the one bulb make that big of a difference? do you think that it would be worth it to go to (3) 250 mh with keeping several t-5 for extra color?
thanks
Jeff

 

[jjoos99]

Has anyone tried to read sanjay lighting info on manhatten reef? i registered tonight and the pages are blank when i try to pull them up. anyone else getting this?
Thanks
Jeff

 

[Ralph ATL]

Nope, fine for me. That was two weeks ago

 

[hahnmeister]

jjoos99, what bulb combo are you running for the T5's, what reflectors, ballasts, etc...???

 

[jjoos99]

Hahn
I am currently running 1 procolor 1actinic 3 blue plus all ati and 2 giesman 6k. All bulbs are fired by icecap ballasts (2) 430s and one 660. I purchased my reflectors from reefgeek about 2 years ago. Not too sure of the brand. At the time there was only one manufacturer who made a 60 inch reflector so I have individual reflectors and standoff for each bulb. that is why I cant fit anymore bulbs in the hood. i have several frags that I got out of a halide lit tank and they have lost their color and havent grown much at all if any. They were use to (3) 400 watt 14 k icecap bulbs. some of the frags I have gotten from guys here on reef central have done alittle better in the way of color but slower growth. My tank is just 8 months old. Maybe I should just give it alittle longer? I hate to post on grims t-5 forumn. He gets slammed by posts everyday.
Thanks
Jeff

 

[The Grim Reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14045179#post14045179 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jjoos99
Hahn
I am currently running 1 procolor 1actinic 3 blue plus all ati and 2 giesman 6k. All bulbs are fired by icecap ballasts (2) 430s and one 660. I purchased my reflectors from reefgeek about 2 years ago. Not too sure of the brand. At the time there was only one manufacturer who made a 60 inch reflector so I have individual reflectors and standoff for each bulb. that is why I cant fit anymore bulbs in the hood. i have several frags that I got out of a halide lit tank and they have lost their color and havent grown much at all if any. They were use to (3) 400 watt 14 k icecap bulbs. some of the frags I have gotten from guys here on reef central have done alittle better in the way of color but slower growth. My tank is just 8 months old. Maybe I should just give it alittle longer? I hate to post on grims t-5 forumn. He gets slammed by posts everyday.
Thanks
Jeff

You have Tek reflector. Reefgeek just recently brought out their own brand of 60" reflectors that kick the snot out of the Teks and are only 2 1/2 inches wide.

Another newly revealed T5 factoid (at least to me) is the Ice Cap 430 ballast doesn't overdrive the lamps nearly as much as the 660.

Are you using any fans to cool the lamps?

How old are the lamps?

Having SPS corals shift to a pastel color under T5's is a pretty common complaint. Adding a red lamp seems to help so you have that covered. In my 7 lamp system I run 4 blue plus lamps, 1 GE 6500K 1 Pro Color and 1 UVL 75/25. You could try that combo to see what happens except you can't get the UVL lamp in 60 inches. A Fiji Purple lamp would come close. The Giesemann 6K is close enough to the GE so you would just have to add a Fiji Purple and another Blue Plus.

I bought this coral as a semi Green Staghorn. It was under halides that were a little old, about a year and a half. It looked brown with a hint of green to it when I got it.

The deep green color is very close to what you see in person

This shot, especially near the top of the picture shows the baby blue of the new growth that looks white in the previous picture

I don't have a picture of it but I also bought a brown looking acro from the guy that he said had been purple. It shifted back purple but also has a violet cast to it that looks cool. Had similar experiences with a beige monti cap going purple and a digitalia going beige to nice violet color.

I am not a good stonies guy so maybe I am just lucky with these corals but all have come from Halide lit tanks and have colored up under my T5's. The one halide was old but the guy never said a thing about the coral having any blue in it.

HTH

 

[onetrickpony]

Here is an interesting read on red light and the effects on some corals

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2008/12/

 

[The Grim Reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14045680#post14045680 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by onetrickpony
Here is an interesting read on red light and the effects on some corals

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2008/12/

I've seen that. Someone needs to read it to my corals:lol:

I have no doubt excessive red light could mess with corals but on the other hand the commonly used fluorescent lamps have very little red in them. Adding a lamp heavy in red spectrum really brings out pink and purple colors that are lost under Blue Plus and Aquablue lamps.

 

[jjoos99]

You have Tek reflector. Reefgeek just recently brought out their own brand of 60" reflectors that kick the snot out of the Teks and are only 2 1/2 inches wide.

Another newly revealed T5 factoid (at least to me) is the Ice Cap 430 ballast doesn't overdrive the lamps nearly as much as the 660.

Are you using any fans to cool the lamps?

How old are the lamps?





Grim
i have to admitt that the tec reflectors are pretty bad. The reflective surface is dull and the finish is starting to wear off from wiping them down to remove the salt spray. My last order to geeks I got a new reflector that must be the one you mentioned. It is wider and a smoother curve to it. I am going to try and change out 3 or 4 bulbs every six months so that they will be eventually 1 year old when they get replaced. I dont want to slam the tank with new killer lights all at once so I thought that this approach would work out ok. Although I am beginning to wonder it the icecap ballasts are wearing out the bulbs at the 6 month time frame. I also have (2) 4 inch fans on the ends of the bulbs blowing back to front.
what order would you think to place your recommened bulb choice?
thanks for your time
Jeff

 

[The Grim Reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14046328#post14046328 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jjoos99
You have Tek reflector. Reefgeek just recently brought out their own brand of 60" reflectors that kick the snot out of the Teks and are only 2 1/2 inches wide.

Another newly revealed T5 factoid (at least to me) is the Ice Cap 430 ballast doesn't overdrive the lamps nearly as much as the 660.

Are you using any fans to cool the lamps?

How old are the lamps?





Grim
i have to admitt that the tec reflectors are pretty bad. The reflective surface is dull and the finish is starting to wear off from wiping them down to remove the salt spray. My last order to geeks I got a new reflector that must be the one you mentioned. It is wider and a smoother curve to it. I am going to try and change out 3 or 4 bulbs every six months so that they will be eventually 1 year old when they get replaced. I dont want to slam the tank with new killer lights all at once so I thought that this approach would work out ok. Although I am beginning to wonder it the icecap ballasts are wearing out the bulbs at the 6 month time frame. I also have (2) 4 inch fans on the ends of the bulbs blowing back to front.
what order would you think to place your recommened bulb choice?
thanks for your time
Jeff

The reefgeek reflector is about 2 1/2 inches wide. The Tek is just over 3". They look very similar. Not sure why the smaller reflector does so much better.

Front
ATI Blue Plus
Ge 6500K Daylight or Giesemann Midday
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Pro Color
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Aquablue or Fiji Purple
ATI Blue Plus

I doubt the ballasts are going bad as long as you are using heat sinks on them. Like I said now Ice Cap say the 430's only slightly overdrive the lamps. The 80 watt lamps aren't overdriven as much as the shorter lamps so its possible the 430 doesn't overdrive an 80 at all.

I know a guy up here who has 6x80 watt Tek II retro over his tank and is getting 345 for PAR at the sandbed. Thats on a 125. With reefgeek reflectors you could get close to that on a 180.

 

[rhinochaser]

Well its time for new bulbs. Right now I have a semi-cube thats 30wx24deepx20tall. I have 2 giesemann nova 250 hqi pendants both with pheonix 14k bulbs. I also have 4 t5 ho 24" fixture with 2 giesemann aqua blue +, 1 giesemann pure actinic and 1 giesemann actinic +.

I need to replace the hqi bulb and was thinking of going with 1 13000k and 1 14500k megachrome bulbs. Or sticking with the pheonix again. Or mixing a giesemann with the pheonix. Any suggestions. Are the giesemann really a better bulb. Theyre alot more expensive. I keep alot of sps. thanks

 

[ReefEnabler]

which reefgeek reflectors are you guys talking about, are they for sale yet?

When I goto the site, I still just see Icecap SLRs and then the Tek reflectors.

 

[ksed]

Looking for some opinions on lighting temperature. I recently read a article by Dana Riddle and the study determined that bulbs with some red in the spectrum inhibited coral the growth as well as a higher par value did not increase growth any faster than a bulb with higher temp eg 20000k. I'm confused now. Anybody with suggestion would be appreciated.

Thanks
Kevin

 

[ksed]

Here is the article
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2008/12/

 

[ataller]

Thinking about upgrading to a shallow cube. Something around 36x36 but only 18" high.


Since the cube will be relatively shallow, spread it would seem would be more important to me than penetration. Understanding that, I would imagine something like a Luminarc would be necessary. Would a higher wattage bulb also increase the ability of a single pendant to light the tank? AKA would a 400w in a luminarc do a better job lighting the cube than a 250w? Or would the 250w be enough since the tank is so shallow.

I am also open to ballast and reflector suggestions!

Thank you


Adam

 

[Underwaterparadise]

Anyone have any info or PAR readings on the DE 250w 12,500k Giesemann bulbs on an elctronic ballast?