Lighting Website Updates

[hahnmeister]

wemeetnet, you better remove that URL from your sig... its the fast track to getting banned, stated right in the user agreement. If you want to link to another site, use the option in your profile so it pops up when you click the little red house.

 

[TropTrea]

Yes I can see adding a 5,500K or even a 6,500K, but going with a 3,000K would really be the extreme.

Generaly looking at numerious individuals reef pictures my person opinion is that a lot of people are going with so much blue that it simply over powers the red and green end of the spectrum. Now when you take a Yellow or Red coral do not give it a lot of Red or Yellow light to reflect back at you but loads of blue light it somply will not look red or yellow any more but instead a washed out red or yellow which generaly appears brown to the eye.

The exception to this would be the florescing corals that take blue light and converts them so the coral floresces at a longer wave lenght.

It is a real pity we cannot talk Sanjay into doing plots on the T-5's out there, as well as the LEDs. If we had a good reliable source of comparable data it would be much easier to accuratly compare.

Dennis

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8554223#post8554223 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by hahnmeister


The solution for T5 users that are having spectrum problems is to throw in a sun bulb, a 6500K, or even a 3000K, and the results have been very nice...

Read in mothra's blog... he even has photos...
http://blogs.frags.org/member.php?uid=2561

This page says it all...
http://blogs.frags.org/showblog.php?bid=87

 

[hahnmeister]

Well, you saw Mothra's pics in his blog... the 3000K results speak for themselves.

Sanjay is busy with his 500g setup. I have a spectroradiometer as well from ocean optics, but I am waiting for them to send me a replacement sensor (they sent me the wrong one).

Sanjay did mention though that he is looking to do T5 testing in the future, and he has set aside equipment and space for doing so. Its just a matter of time.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

It ain't easy being Sanjay

I try to stay off here cause it ain't cool to spoil the purity of his thread with T5 infestation but for those who are afraid to go with the 3000K try the UVL Aquasun, judging by the popto-glo it has to have some red in it. Using the 3000K really ain't no thing when you have 5 other lamps that are predominatly blue, it really look nice.

 

[Sanjay]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8550691#post8550691 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by salmon alley
Any word on a clarification of the Giesemann bulb data?

Here is the set of data from the last tests I did on the Giesmann Marine and Coral Lamp.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2006/5/review/document_view

For some reason this data is not on my website... most likely I forgot to put it up there or uploaded an older version of the db.

I will add this to the website over the thanksgiving break.

sanjay.

 

[DrBDC]

Something I noticed too is that you don't have data on the Iwasaki 6500K 400w bulb. I'm almost positive I heard you mention a par or ppfd rating on it in a thread but I don't see it in the charts.

 

[hahnmeister]

Just a clarification thing too... I take it that the 250wattDE 14,000K BLV Nepturion is the same as the Ushio 14,000K.

 

[TropTrea]

This makes me wonder how many bulbs are made by the same company and then sold under different brand names.

I know this is being done in other industries. Basicly one company makes 3 units with the only difference is the name logo on the device and which distributor it is sold to.

I know years ago a GE lighting engineer told me that florescent bulbs were only made in three plants throughout the world. Each of these plants sells florescent tubes to other companies that add there label to them. I'm sure Penplex, Corallife, and a few other companies that sell florescent lighting under there own brand name do not own there own plants which make light bulbs. And for the metal hides how often is this also true?

Dennis

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8562597#post8562597 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by hahnmeister
Just a clarification thing too... I take it that the 250wattDE 14,000K BLV Nepturion is the same as the Ushio 14,000K.

 

[Mojodickbas]

Shakira is having sex!
http://shakiranudeworld.info/movies/1

 

[BreadmanMike]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8520850#post8520850 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by hahnmeister


If you would like to test a Coral 14,500K, let me know... I have one laying around.

Hahn,

What are you or did you run this on? I'm going to switch to these, but I'm not sure which ballast I'm going to use. I was thinking about the SLS Galaxy electronics, Coralvue electronics, or SLS Pulse Start ballasts. What is your recommendation?

 

[hahnmeister]

Stick with HQI. Its a good, strong bulb with high quality. It should be run on the ballast it was designed for. I ran mine with a PFO HQI ballast. Geez.... I just realized, I have turned into a bit of a light collector... I have more bulbs than I can use in the next 3 years...hmmm.... 'you might be a reef-lighting addict if...'

 

[BreadmanMike]

HQI it is! Thanks!

 

[ieatqiue]

opinions please..

i have a 65g tall tank

see this for pics - http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=931914 -

i havent updated since finishing the plumbing but whatever it dosent really matter for this question..

the tank is being designed for sps.

i am going to build a suspended lighting fixture containging:

reflectors - 2 X lumenarc minis

ballasts - 2 x m58 (what i have in mind)

bulbs #1 - 1 x XM 10k
#2 - 2 x XM 20k
or south pacific sunlight 10k

ill will run #2 like 9 or 10 hrs or whatever like antics, and #1 for less time for intensity..

what do you think? too much despite the weakness of the 20k?

where can i buy the south pacific sunlight bulb?


-thannks, Frank

 

[ieatqiue]

for bulb #2 i meant 1x XM 20k - sorry

 

[hahnmeister]

Nah, XM 20,000Ks are very weak, and so that 400watter prolly puts out no more than a 150wattDE 10,000K. Esp considering you are using M58 ballasts that will burn out those bulbs faster than But it is alot of heat to contend with. I would do dual 250wattDEs myself if I were to go halide, and use HQI ballasts with EVC 20,000Ks (much better looking than XM 20,000Ks IMO).

It seems like the theme of your tank is to use excessive equipment, but then to hinder it somehow. You are running two darts on a 65g? But through 10 ports. You are using dual 400s... but with the crappiest bulbs and ballasts around. I think I see a trend...

Are you planning to be able to quickly upgrade the size of this tank w/o having to upgrade equipment? Thats what it seems like. The equipment you have could easily run a 180g if you simpy swapped out the bulbs for 10,000Ks and used fewer outlets on the Darts.

If I were to go with any lighting though, for a 65g (then again, I would go with a 75g before I would go with a 65g), I would go with a 6 bulb T5 unit. It just works out better... but if you really want dual halides, I would save the wattage and stick with lumenarcDEs + 250wattHQI ballasts. A pair of nice 14,000K or 20,000K bulbs is all you need.

 

[TropTrea]

What I still find so hard to understand is why so many people go with 14,000K bulbs and 20,000K bulbs. Just look at the low Par values of these bulbs. In many cases it takes 3 or more times the wattage to equal 6,500K and 10,000K bulbs.

Dennis

 

[hahnmeister]

Nah, usually just a bump up... like from 150 to 250, or 250 to 400. The XM is just a poor bulb to begin with. Some, like the pheonix 14,000K, actually outdo some 10,000K bulbs like the ushio 10,000K.

Why would people go for these bulbs? Looks. Corals love it. The only other way to get enough blue for some corals to look good is to use supplimental actinics/blue bulbs, which, until T5s, were no where near as efficient or cost effective to run as just getting a bluer halide. Bluer halides cut out alof of spectrums that corals dont really need that much of anyways. I would even go so far to say that even though the PAR from a bluer bulb is less, the bluer spectrum can make up for it and result in more growth... like if we were comparing a 14,000K to a 10,000K, and the 14,000K had 10% less PAR, but 20% more blue spectrum than the 10,000K... I bet the 14,000K would grow corals faster.

A while back I asked Sanjay to make a tab or some feature to the lighting archive that would allow the user input specific ranges, like 400-500nm, or 200-400 (UV)... to compare the levels of specific colors. Sanjay said at the time that it wasnt so relevant, as the difference between the whole PAR was also often reflecting the outputs of the blue spectrums as well... so comparison was a wash.

But now, with red LED/blue LED tests, spectral testing being done on corals, and the increased use of narrow output light sources which require better husbandry (T5s and LED's can have too much blue, which is good, but little else, which is bad with such extremes).

So whaddya say Sanjay? How hard is it to add that feature?

 

[ken6217]

I am not too technical so sorry if this is a dumb question. Does par correpond to the brightness and intensity? Would say a 250 watt HQI 14,000k bulb have a higher par value than a 150 watt HQI 10,000k bulb?

I am running two 250 watt HQI Ushi bulbs with two 54 watt T5 bulbs on a 90 gallon tank with softies and LPS. I wanted to move to a 14,000k bulb but not if it is at the expense of the corals. Is there a very good 14,000k HQI bulb that I can run that will give me the appearance I want but still have very good output?
The ballasts are Blue Wave. it is a Maristar fixture.

Thanks,
Ken

 

[ieatqiue]

hahnmeister, i think you have the m59 ballasts in mind as the m58s are for 250w bulbs..
http://www.hellolights.com/25unmagm58ba.html


sorry about the misleading pics on my thread.. there is only one dart and it ended up on the opposite manifold - hopefully this will provide more tumbling water as it flows agains the returns that will be smaller jets....

the only reason i was thinking xm 10k is because if its huge ppfd, then using the xm 20k for its color to offset the yellow tint of the 10k..

i suppose you are saying electronic ballasts will not burn the bulbs out so quickly?
the only reason i was leaning toward the m58s was because of their spectral plots verses those of the electronic ballasts.. but if life is that much of an issue i will certainly reconsider (i was unaware.. this is why im asking the pros first)

i would like to offer this comparison (all plots thanks to sanjay of course)

this spectral plot is of the radium 20k on a pfo hqi

it shows area under the entire curve (i believe this is essential for coloration and of course growth as well). i am showing this because i think most consider it a good setup, and therefore a good ppfd curve...

here is a representation of the setup i was asking about - it is plain to see the similarites the curves make to that of the commonly respected radium20k pfohqi setup..

and here are the same bulbs of the icecap ballasts.. showing lower ppfds

when i experiment the spectral plots of hqi bulbs i am always turned away from the because the shielding really kills the ppfd..

anyway.. im going for good area under the curve, with nice distribution, and with a nice blue tint..

any advice you can give me is GREATLY appreciated, and thank you for your previous replies...

-frank

 

[ieatqiue]

hahnmeister, in light of the apparent fact that m58s and xm bulbs are not great.. i definately see what you are saying about the de evc bulbs..


the 14k vs 10k on m80s looks good...

however the cct on the 10k is LOW (5700).. as it lacks area under the left(blue) side of the curve (compared to the xm 10 m58...

SO that 14k might not really be enough to supplement enough blue to make me happy..

so this is the 10k vs 20k.. i think this is my choice..

the autoscale is a little misleading.. but i think this combination of light must be excellent for coral growh.. as well as componenet life..

what do you think?



-frank