Lighting Website Updates

1. Those numbers are meaningless.

2. Still meaningless. Like saying 'you need 2000 calories'. Huh? For what? Per day, per hour? In this case, the light that may happen in nature at the water surface is a useless statistic for our captive systems. Only very large public aquaria actually need lighting that creates intensity at the surface as high as in nature. Most of our tanks have intensities that are a fraction of that because the light innt penetrating 5-25 meters!!! Its going 4-24" usually. So to tell people that they need some 'golden number' like 1800 whatever is completely useless, and false. Every tank will have different ideal intensities at the surface depending on the height of the tank, and the spread of the light source. For instance, a PFO mini-pendant halide can have a hot-spot of over 2000 at the water surface right under the bulb. Then, that same bulb, just as far from the surface in a lumenarc style reflector might only have a peak reading of 1200 at the surface. Yet, if you go down into the tank 2', the lumenarc will be more intense... how is that? You should look into dispersion fields, optics, and the inverse square law to correct this.

3. same as above really.

4. halides dont contain phosphors. 175s can last alot longer than that as well.

5. The sun produces 1800 where? And what does that have to do with the price of cottage cheese in China? And to say that T5s or other phosphor based bulbs with their PARs seem low it completely misunderstood and innacurate. There are plenty of T5s that can give halides a run for the money. The difference is that T5s and other tube bulbs are more spread out... so you will get a higher reading close to a halide bulb than you will a phosphor/tube bulb because the source is more concentrated with a halide. In order to compare them with accuracy, you need to measure them at greater distances without reflectors.

6.3, no that person was not confused... PAR is visible light output. Usually it is given from 400-700nm, just like the photometric scale. Shame on you for now telling them they were confused when you were the one who was/is.

6.4, you cant manipulate PAR like that. PAR, as you stated yourself, is a pure measurement that is evenly distributed. So a bulb with high amounts of blue will not give a 'manipulated reading'.

6.5, rubbish, just rubbish.

6.6, more meaningless stuff.

6.7 Kelvin ratings are not coordinate temperatures. They are arbitrary numbers for marketing. You are talking about the CCT. you will also find from the multiple spectrum graphs that Dana and Sanjay have published that red light drops off rapidly under water, even at just 5m. And then green as well. Since most corals we keep are from 5-25m depths, keeping them in bluer light is right on the money.

6.10, spectral graphs provide absolute outputs. See those numbers on the left hand side of the graph... those are actual exact amounts of radiation. They are not 'relative amounts' as you say. PAR/PPFD, for instance, is the integral of a spectral graph (a measure of the area under the line from 400-700, or 300-800 for extended range, for a total output).

I was unaware that LED's had problems with 475m light... that is blue light (450-495) by the way. Many LED's have this spectrum.

7. "I have no interest in the visual aspects of light when I speak of lumen"... thats just plain funny right there. Im holding my gut in. You pretty much just said "I have no interest in how many miles per hour Im going when Im talking about speed"...lol. Maybe you dont concern yourself with the visual aspects, but the lumen scale IS exactly that... lol.

Oh, and you cant 'fool a PAR meter' by loading up on one spectrum. Who told you that? Sure, a bluer light will have a higher relative PAR to lumen ratio than a warmer light, but thats not a form of manipulation. Its the true reading (unless its a crappy Quantum meter that has a faulty pickup at some wavelength, but thats not the radiometric scale were talking about then.

"I just haven't seen academic research showing the PAR requirements for each type coral.

I am sure Dana Riddle lives up to his reputation and would urge him to publish in the academic world so we can all see his methodology and analysis. With his experiments, Marine Biology would gain much."

Okay... like I said... have you even heard of Dana Riddle? He has been publishing here (www.advancedaquarist.com), almost every month or so, on spectrum, intensity, etc.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/sea...created&sort_order=normal&Subject=Dana+Riddle

You pretty much just walked into the Harley dealership and commented that you dont see any motorcycles with that one.

And then there is everything in this thread that I have already commented on.... like how you cant get a total efficiency rating of a bulb with your methods (I cant even do that... its so hard to do its not even funny... special room, equipment, computers).
 
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Now, for the REAL info that you might like...

PAR at depth, as per emails with Dana (thanks Dana, you rock!):
DanaPARvsDepth.jpg


DanaPARvsDepth2.jpg


Thats why 'daily amouts' are important. You can overexpose a coral over the course of a day by giving it just as much as in nature... since the peak value only happens for a fraction of the day underwater. What we give corals in our tanks would look not like a bell curve, but a couple steps up, and a couple down, or maybe not even... maybe just a square (lights come on, stay on all day w/o varying in intensity or position, then turn off). So calculating the total is most important.

Then, consider the depth that the coral comes from... a coral that comes from 5m will get alot more light than one from 15m. If you use the top graph, you will see that basing any captive system on what the ocean gets at the surface is useless. What matters is at the coral. In nature, the surface might be at '1800', but only 400 at a coral's depth. Well, in a captive system, the intensity at the surface might only be 500, yet still 400 at the corals depth because the coral is only 6" below the water's surface.

Then there is spectrum as well. As per Sanjay's article here:
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/8/aafeature/view
You will see how light changes very fast as it filters throught water:
figure-4.gif

(see those numbers on the left... those are actual energy readings, not 'relative' numbers).
So those 'bluer bulbs that try to manipulate the PAR reading by being so blue'... they are just giving the coral what they are used to if they are from deeper water. Thats all.

I hope that gets you on the right track. I hate to see people, esp ones who link themselves to being a mfg of lighting products like you have, to spread bad info. It hurts everyone in the end.
 
Okay, now hahn...are there any bulbs out there that actually produce that sort of spectral plot? Most graphs I've seen have a large spike around 420-460 or so, then nothing of note in the 500-550 (green).

I think if LED's ever get cheap enough there should be a way to swap out actual LED's for a spectrum that mimics that at certain depths in the ocean....then we could TRULY run lighting as the reefs are with variable output and random electronics to mimic clouds and such....that will be a good day! and if we can do it for the price of a budget MH system would be even better :lol:
 
There are LEDs and T5 bulbs that are pretty similar to those curves. With good bulb husbandry, I think those spectrums are easiest to hit with T5s (LED's as well). Halides, not so much... unless you combine a 14,000Kish bulb with 420 and 460nm peaking T5s (blue and actinic). That gets pretty close.

Lucky for us, corals can photoadapt to an extreme extent (like humans adapting to eating tree bark), so as long as we 'try' to get close, they seem to pick up the slack. This 'photoadaptability' is no doubt due to the sessile nature of the coral once grown, but the fact that where it lands as as a 'spore' can influence what spectrums of light it may have to work with. Terrestrial plants can vary in elevation, position, etc... and the light spectrum doesnt vary a whole lot. 5m vs. 30m of depth in the ocean is like two seperate worlds, and that spore of acropora cant really get to be too picky where it lands. Sure, if its in a totally wrong spot, it wont 'set up shop', but beggars cant be choosers.
 
Sanjay,
The Helio 250W 20K SE bulb is there any info this bulb? If there is i cant find any.

Also quite a few posts back someone had asked if you were or are going to be testing the Lumen bright reflectors?
 
Silly question am I the only one who thinks the XM 20K lamp is NOT blue enough on an Mag 57 ballast ?
I have used the Blueline 14K lamp and it looks great Nice and blue but the Par is in the dumps
The XM is 51 for a 175W and the blueline 14K 250W is only 31
 
How often should I change my 250 watt metal halides? I'm using Phoenix 14K bulbs on I believe a pulse start dual magnetic ballast.
 
Thanks Rickyrooz1,
That is just one 250wattDE on a light rail, yes. I use a ushio 14,000K in it. The thing is, its bright, maybe too much. I did a quick PAR reading the other week (black box, no reflector), and it scored within 5% of my Giesemann 14,500K. I wonder if this bulb hasnt been 'redone' recently or something... I think its too bright for my application. Im going to have to try a different bulb. I love the color with my 4x54wattT5s (2x true actinics and 2x blue+), but some of my corals are doing the 'pastel look'.

I wish there was a '200 watt' bulb or something, as this bulb is already been cut back to being on an Icecap ballast (rather than the PFO HQI). So Im trying to find a duller daylight bulb... but thats sort of a waste. I dont need something bluer though either... but maybe if I made the halide a 20,000K, and put a daylight bulb in for the T5s, it might be alright.

I should have made the tank 4" taller. Im seriously considering switching to all T5s (8-10 x 54wattT5) on this tank. The halide just has too much of a 'hot spot' under it. Some corals love it, but others hate it. Because of the light mover, the tank doesnt really have many 'low light' areas either. So dont take it as the light rail being bad or anything. I might be able to either swap the reflector for my lumenarc DE pendant to spread out the light more, but I might just end up moving down to a 150watt bulb.
 
Hahn

I currently have 2x250w megachrome marine 12.5k On a 125g 24"high . I have some blue acros. which I thought should be bluer I'm woundering if I need to upgrade to 400w or do you think I'm getting enough par on the 250's to keep some light loving Acros. The fixture is located approx. 9" from the water.
They are on for 9hr a day.
Wow thats intresting on the par of Ushios and the Coral.
Thanks!
 
Hi Sanjay you have a very nice 500gal tank.

Can you tell me what your light specs are.Also I am going to run xm 250w 10000k bulbs on my tank and could you tell me which ballast do you suggest.


m58
pfo Pulse-start:
pfo Electronic:
ice cap
ice cap electronic
or will the m58 run the bulbs just fine it is a lot cheaper.

Thx in advance
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11207931#post11207931 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ksed
Hahn

I currently have 2x250w megachrome marine 12.5k On a 125g 24"high . I have some blue acros. which I thought should be bluer I'm woundering if I need to upgrade to 400w or do you think I'm getting enough par on the 250's to keep some light loving Acros. The fixture is located approx. 9" from the water.
They are on for 9hr a day.
Wow thats intresting on the par of Ushios and the Coral.
Thanks!

The 14,500K coral bulbs will be slightly bluer, and have a very decent output.

Regards,
Jon
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11199684#post11199684 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by NewSchool04

I run 3 400W Reeflux 10K bulbs on Coralvue E Ballasts. I shut each one of the lights off for one hour, 1/2 hour apart mid day in the light cycle. Left off, 1/2 hour later middle off, 1/2 hour later left on, far right off, 1/2 hour later left and middle on, far right off, and then 1/2 far right on.

I've heard that this gives the corals a break and allows them to regenerate. Am I wasting my time with this?


anyone have a opinion on this?
 
29" tall tank

29" tall tank

Hahn or anybody else that might be able to answer this question.
Setting up a 140 gal. It's 29" tall. Have been running 400 watt. Aquaconnect bulbs but man they make alot of heat. So was thinking about going to 250 watt Aquaconnect or Radium 20k bulbs. The tank is 99.99% acro/sps so I'm wondering if the 250's will put enough light to the bottom of the tank. Your opinion or opinions will be appreciated.

Thanks,
Robert
 
Re: 29" tall tank

Re: 29" tall tank

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11247071#post11247071 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Robert Patterso
Hahn or anybody else that might be able to answer this question.
Setting up a 140 gal. It's 29" tall. Have been running 400 watt. Aquaconnect bulbs but man they make alot of heat. So was thinking about going to 250 watt Aquaconnect or Radium 20k bulbs. The tank is 99.99% acro/sps so I'm wondering if the 250's will put enough light to the bottom of the tank. Your opinion or opinions will be appreciated.

Thanks,
Robert


Hey Robert.

I have been using two 400w 12K Reeflux bulbs over my 156g and have not had any problems with heat especially since I switched to LumenBright reflectors. Just to point out, I have tested PAR readings between 200-400 on the bottom of a 30" deep tank with these reflectors whch is enough to grow most SPS on the bottom if you wish. My tank stays between 78.5 and 79.5 through out the day and sometimes only fluctuates within a half degree. I do not run a chiller. I use fans for evaporative cooling. Since I got my LumenBrights and was able to raise the bulbs 16" off the water, my fans don't come on until 1.5 hours to 2 hours after the lights come on. I have 4 fans and my other 2 have not run at all and my 400watters are on for 8-10 hours now depending if I am acclimating a new coral or not. With my old LumenArcs the fans would come on after 5-15 minutes because the bulbs had to be much lower.

Not sure if it is possible for you to raise your lights. How high off the water are your bulbs? What reflectors do you use? What ballast are you using? And like Hahn said, how many bulbs do you have?

Jim
 
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