Lighting Website Updates

[hahnmeister]

mwood, I double checked about the halibe bulbs today. They are BLV 10,000K (but are marketed as 12,000Ks, kind of like AB does their 13,000/10,000Ks). I thought that this was the same bulb as the Ushio, but his corals are all freaking out.

 

[dirtyreefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6670689#post6670689 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by wfgworks
BLV doesnt have a 12K to my knowledge but they just released a DE bulb that is 14K.

Is the 14K DE BLV bulb the same as the Ushio 14K DE bulb? I know they're the same company, but are they releasing two different bulbs at the same K, or is one brand meant to be sold in Europe and the other in US.

Also, has anyone used the BLV 14K DE bulbs? I am curious to see what the color is like, as well as the PAR (or PPFD).

 

[Tunguska]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6733959#post6733959 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Siffy
I also wanted to ask if you (or anyone else) could tell me the difference between these ballasts
http://www.1000bulbs.com/products.php?cat=70-Watt-Metal-Halide-Ballast
Specifically what's different about F-CAN vs. Multitap ballasts? Or if they would either accomplish starting and burning an HQI bulb like this, http://www.hellolights.com/70w10hqiu.html , "70W 10,000K HQI Double Ended -Ushio".

F-can ballasts are simply cap and coil ballasts enclosed in a metal can with asphalt. They have their pros and cons, but will work.
Multi-tap refers to a ballast that can be used with different voltages, depending on how you wire it. F-can can be multi-tap, for example.

As for the specific ballast you linked to, The ANSI code is M110. It looks like the F-can is simply an enclosed version of the cap and coil one below it. The Ushio bulb is designed for an M85 ballast. It won't work.

For my 10 gallon nano, I use a Universal Lighting Technologies ballast (F-can, multi-tap) I got on e-bay for ~$20 shipped. It is designed for M98/M101 bulbs. I use a double ended bulb designed for M85/M98 ballasts. In my case, each matches, so it works. If the Ushio bulb will fire on an M98 ballast, you could get one of the Universal or Advanced 70W ballasts that are all over ebay for cheap.
Make sure you know the designation of the bulb you intend to use, and use that # when you purchase your ballast. (aka, a M85 bulb needs a M85 ballast)
Hope that helps.

 

[Siffy]

Thanks, helps a lot. Right now I'm thinking "Duh, should've known/thought about the ANSI codes"... and after looking, this site http://www.fortunecity.com/meltingpot/cambie/38/id33.htm shows an M110 ballast as 50 watt. What bulb are you using that's known M98 compatible? MD carries "Aqualine AB" in 10 and 20000K but doesn't list the ANSI type on either. Also, any pics in your gallery of your nano?

OT: Just noticed you're in Tuscaloosa. There's a small frag swap http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=773755 about 2 hours north of you this weekend if you're interested and have the time. Don't know if you view the Alabama Reefers forum here much.

 

[Tunguska]

Well, I'm using a Catalina Aquarium 10K bulb. My montipora are growing quickly, but some of the higher light stuff is just hanging on or slowly receding. All the colors are getting dimmer, regardless of growth. You get what you pay for, it seems.

Anyways, the whole setup cost me $60 -- bulb, ballast, DIY pendant... so I can't complain.

I don't have any pics of the nano, since I only manage to borrow a camera every now and then. I haven't had a chance since I set it up. A friend of mine took some pics right after set-up, but she never sent them to me. If I can make it to the frag swap, I'll have some pics of the DIY lighting and the nano on my phone.

 

[hahnmeister]

Antman, you asked for the 'bluest' bulb. When someone says this, I go directly to 14,000Ks. 14,000Ks have the largest blue/420nm spike of any bulb and sometimes little else. 20,000K bulbs are not the bluest, they are the most purple because besides the 420nm spike, they also have a huge 450nm purple spike. Often the only difference between a 20,000K and a 14,000K is this purple spike. If you look at the graphs of 250watt radium and a 250watt pheonix/aquaconnect, the only diff between them seems to be that the radium (connsidered by some to be the highest K bulb) has a larger 450nm spike. So quite literally, the pheonix/aquaconnect 14,000Ks are the 'bluest' bulbs out there. So I didnt mention any 20,000K bulbs like the XM and CV...they have more purple. If you were to ask for the bulb with the most purple, an Iwasaki 6500K would be in order.

So there are two interpretations of 'bluest'. The bulb that looks the bluest to you, or that might have the largest blue peak.

If what you want is a blue-looking bulb, then the radium classic blue would be that.

 

[Antman]

The Radiums are 20K thow NO ? Also I do not think they have a 175W lamp

 

[hahnmeister]

They have been rated as 38,000K by some. They have a good PAR however.

 

[Antman]

But do they make a 175W SE lamp ?

 

[hahnmeister]

Hmmm. No, I dont think so. They do list their 150s at 165watts however...I wonder if it wouldnt work anyways... They make a screw socket 150watt. Ewww, 175 watters...that gets tough.

The aquaconnect is still the bluest then...lol.

Sanjay, I need a suggestion. I would like to get an EVC 250watt e-ballast. I see one place listing it, but do you know of any other places to get it from? It seems to outperform the Icecap ballasts on every bulb its tested with, and even outperforms the M80 on some bulbs.

 

[Travis]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6756674#post6756674 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Antman
The Radiums are 20K thow NO ?

The kelvin ratings that lamp manufacturers put on their lamps are simply a generalization that the company uses to convey to the user what color to expect from the bulb. You cannot accept these numbers as fact, however.

For example, the XM 10k is labeled a 10k bulb. But when I plug it into sanjay's spectral plot with a M58 ballast, the true CCT 12000k. So this is actually a 12k bulb that is marketed as a 10k.

If you want a good idea of how a bulb will look, you need to plug the bulb and ballast combination into the spectral plot form on Sanjay's site and look at the graph and also the CCT. Lower CCT numbers correlate to a more yellow looking bulb, while higher CCT numbers correlate to a bluer looking bulb. Unfortunately, a lot of the 14k and 20k bulbs come up as NA for the CCT as they out of range for the instrument used.

 

[edwadd]

Only problem is I dont know anyone who thinks xm on m-58 is really 12000cct. I started a thread on this and almost every one complained how yellow xm was. I asked and asked and no one agreed with the 12000# as far as bulb appearance, unless of course 12000cct looks yellow.

 

[Travis]

That is the bulb/ballast combination I'm currently running and I don't see any yellow. But everyone's opinion of bulb color is going to be different.

 

[hahnmeister]

K ratings are relative. They are some sort of average it seems, so two bulbs with similar K ratings could have wildly varying peaks throughout the spectrum.

 

[MARSHALL MANN]

with my experience
the xm 400 watt 10K moguls on a electronic ballast look yellow without a doubt

im running aprox. 9000 watts on different systems and i must say its hard to find a nice bulb for the money in mogul lamps.

has anyone tried any of the geismen 14k mogul bulbs ?
and over what type of corals and with what results

one more question
i will be lighting my 300 starphire and aquascaping soon
for this tank i will do de hqi and keeping primarily clams montis and table acros

i will be using 400 watt pfo hqi ballasts since i already have them

what do you think is a nice choice for bulbs
like everyone else i want a nice blue look but want to keep a high par

MM

 

[Urabggr]

Any recent info on a 250w version of the 14k Iwasakis? Right now I have 14k unsupplemented EVC's and I plan on changing to either the 10k EVC's or the 14k Iwasakis (if they're out by decemberish). I want to avoid using supplements, but still want colors to pop. Also, I think the 14k EVC's are too blue for my taste... I guess i like more of a crisp white look. So which would be better... the 10k EVC's or the 14k Iwasakis (if they are even going to come out)? SE bulbs btw.

 

[H20Sidhe]

Hi there,

Sanjay, I too thank you very much for all your hard work. I have learned alot from reading your articles. I look forward to seeing you at the WMC in April.

I have 2 questions, and I have read all 18 pages of this thread TWICE to be sure the answers aren't here - if I missed them I apologize heartily! (and I have learned even more from reading this - thanks all)

Question # 1, when I read about the lamp & ballast statistics on your webpage, I start with efficiency (PPFD/watt). then I go to spectral plot. Thge highest efficiency I have found so far is 54% achieved with a 150/175 w electronic ballast you have listed as "LampsNow". When I google LampsNow, I get the hellolights webpage with a 150/175w electronic ballast made by ARO. Is this the same ballast?

Question #2, on page 11 of this thread you have a nice graph of "PPFD of all lamp ballast combinations". The vertical axis is labelled PPFD. The horizontal axis is not labelled, but is marked off in increments of 10. Is this month of use, inches from light source, or some other variable entirely?

Thanks,

Sherie

 

[pvtschultz]

Lamps now is now known as hello lights.

The horizontal should be wave length.

 

[armygreen11]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6843028#post6843028 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by pvtschultz

The horizontal should be wave length.

Wavelength is already a factor of PPFD since it's the measure of light energy in the 400-700nm range, so it can't be wavelength. Besides, the scale goes from 0 to 60. My guess is that it's just the combination number... For 400W SE 10000K bulbs, it looks like there are 52 plotted points, like he used 4 different 400W ballasts, and 13 different 10000K SE bulbs. Just a guess though.

H20Sidhe did mention that it could be months of use, and while I don't think that that graph showed anything related to time, I personally WOULD still really like to see some plots of how certain bulb/ballast combintations change their spectral output over time (say the course of a year....)

 

[H20Sidhe]

Wavelength!
OK, Please help me understand this - wavelength should be measured from 400 to 700nm (or 310 to 850). The horizontal axis on the graph I referred to on page 11 of this thread is 0 to 60 in increments of 10. Are you sure this is supposed to be wavelength? What is the conversion factor?