Mark's 180 Starfire upgrade

[mpoletti]

I like 20K bulbs because "most" corals are not red or purple and I like the look of 20k radiums on a m80 ballast. They are more of a crisp blue and still allow reds to be decent. The 20K, for the general reefkeeper, do color a tank more than a 10k. Lighting is totally a personal preference and what one likes the tank to appear as when they look at their masterpiece. :thumbsup:

I only run my halides for a few hours a day, but I like to look at the tank; thus another reason why I use actinic supplements. Right now, I get to turn over my shoulder and see my tank under vho's and LED's and I just have to smile

 

[mpoletti]

I always learn the most interesting things on this thread. Thanks again, Mark. :lolspin:

Dan - some of the new LED fixtures coming to market look very slick. Did you see the pics of the Giesemann Quazar? Just need the intensity and the spacing of the lights to improve some more ...

I just try to do my part

The Quazar looks very nice. I've heard the direction of light is decent.

 

[ryanjiang]

I like 20K bulbs because "most" corals are not red or purple and I like the look of 20k radiums on a m80 ballast. They are more of a crisp blue and still allow reds to be decent. The 20K, for the general reefkeeper, do color a tank more than a 10k. Lighting is totally a personal preference and what one likes the tank to appear as when they look at their masterpiece. :thumbsup:

I only run my halides for a few hours a day, but I like to look at the tank; thus another reason why I use actinic supplements. Right now, I get to turn over my shoulder and see my tank under vho's and LED's and I just have to smile

That smile is priceless.

I am not arguing your point or light choice, your tank speaks for itself. Light is more about personal preference but majority of reefers agree that high kevin light color corals better, low kevin light grow coral faster but wash out color. I was just wondering why it is, since really a tradional 10K bulb has more spike on red and green segment, which take 2 of 3 primary colors, maybe as you said most corals are not ged or purple. Anyway it does not make too much sense for this kind of question here, thanks for your time!

 

[john90009]

if everything is perfict and in check you can have super colors with a 10k bulb. I would say as long as you strive to make that water super pristine then the corals colors will pop no matter what when they are happy. one coral i noticed you can change the color of it with lighting is the upscales microladus, im not sure if mark has a pic of it somewhere or if he even carries such common corals such as this but under 20k it ill be teal green and under 10k it will be yellow. im gonna see how is affects this under my 12k bulbs. P.S mark i think i stumbled upon pics of your shallow tank

 

[DanW]

I..Dan - some of the new LED fixtures coming to market look very slick. Did you see the pics of the Giesemann Quazar? Just need the intensity and the spacing of the lights to improve some more ...

...The Quazar looks very nice. I've heard the direction of light is decent.

Yeah it looks cool but I'm not sure how I would use it in an open top set-up since its 17.7" x 3.2" x ~1". Now the G-Man Helios looks to be pretty awesome if they make it in a 60" I'd be interested, need to see some par numbers.

 

[mpoletti]

Yeah it looks cool but I'm not sure how I would use it in an open top set-up since its 17.7" x 3.2" x ~1". Now the G-Man Helios looks to be pretty awesome if they make it in a 60" I'd be interested, need to see some par numbers.

PAR SCHMAR :lol:

 

[mpoletti]

if everything is perfict and in check you can have super colors with a 10k bulb. I would say as long as you strive to make that water super pristine then the corals colors will pop no matter what when they are happy. one coral i noticed you can change the color of it with lighting is the upscales microladus, im not sure if mark has a pic of it somewhere or if he even carries such common corals such as this but under 20k it ill be teal green and under 10k it will be yellow. im gonna see how is affects this under my 12k bulbs. P.S mark i think i stumbled upon pics of your shallow tank

There are a lot of corals that appear different under different light coloration and that's what makes keeping coral interesting. PS, check again

 

[DanW]

PAR SCHMAR :lol:

PE SME-EE

I got the filefish out :dance:

 

[mpoletti]

PE SME-EE

I got the filefish out :dance:

:thumbsup:

 

[john90009]

mark i put 2 uvl super actinic over my tank and they seem purple and dark, which is nothing like your pic in the tank of the month article. Is uvl the same you use, or is your camera not capturing the purple like my eyes are?

 

[mpoletti]

I have no idea what to compare your lighting too. All I have is mine. IMO, people should never try lighting because of a picture they saw. There are just too many variables. I use URI, but they are all pretty close from what I've heard. I have 440nm LED's and the vho's are slightly more purple than the blue LED's.

 

[john90009]

huh : / i always thought uvl and URI was the same but i guess there not now. well i want a blue actinic bulb the uvl super actinic is like a purple that is dark but makes things pop, and putting up a pic wouldn't work because im sure id see a diff color then you.

 

[mpoletti]

If you are looking for a Blue look, then VHO's might not be the best choice. I've never seen them described as blue, just actinics that pop

 

[ryanjiang]

Mark, sorry to bother you again, I hope you don't mind.

I am running 2X 250W radium on galaxy, I found out from my apex that it draws 6amp total, that is 330 Watt per lamp, almost same as bluewave. I remember saw your posting that you have ran radium on both galaxy and bluewave and to your eye bluewave is slightly whiter/brighter than galaxy, am I correct?

Is the bluewave louder (of course galaxy is total quite), hotter (my dual 250 galaxy is pretty hot too) and bigger size than galaxy?

BTW did you hood up your apex to WiFi? I did it, it is pretty easy with a cisco wireless bridge, it takes about 15 minutes total to setup, then I can control and monitor from browsers from any computer in house.

 

[mpoletti]

Ryan,

Yes, That is my take on radiums on Bluewave's. The BW is slightly louder and larger. About the heat, I have no idea as I don't go putting my hands on my ballasts as they are above my canopy.

Thanks for the tip on the apex. I did get everything dialed in awhile back. Its nice to check in on the tank when I'm not home :thumbsup:

 

[ryanjiang]

Ryan,

Yes, That is my take on radiums on Bluewave's. The BW is slightly louder and larger. About the heat, I have no idea as I don't go putting my hands on my ballasts as they are above my canopy.

Thanks for the tip on the apex. I did get everything dialed in awhile back. Its nice to check in on the tank when I'm not home :thumbsup:

That is cool, I haven't got time for the web access yet.

Thank you for your time!

 

[goetzc]

Mark, sorry to bother you again, I hope you don't mind.

I am running 2X 250W radium on galaxy, I found out from my apex that it draws 6amp total, that is 330 Watt per lamp, almost same as bluewave. I remember saw your posting that you have ran radium on both galaxy and bluewave and to your eye bluewave is slightly whiter/brighter than galaxy, am I correct?

Is the bluewave louder (of course galaxy is total quite), hotter (my dual 250 galaxy is pretty hot too) and bigger size than galaxy?

FWIW:
I'm using 250w radiums on lumatek 250-400w dimmable ballasts, in lumenarc elite reflectors with about 12" between glass shield and water. I tested both par(apogee) and wattage(kilowatt meter) and they are almost identical.

The lumatek ballasts were set to the second setting for 275w. This setting draws 290-291w at the wall.
The Bluewave 7(dual 250w hqi) took 585w at the wall.

Par and color were identical.

 

[ryshark]

FWIW:
I'm using 250w radiums on lumatek 250-400w dimmable ballasts, in lumenarc elite reflectors with about 12" between glass shield and water. I tested both par(apogee) and wattage(kilowatt meter) and they are almost identical.

The lumatek ballasts were set to the second setting for 275w. This setting draws 290-291w at the wall.
The Bluewave 7(dual 250w hqi) took 585w at the wall.

Par and color were identical.

Do you feel it is necessary to use the glass shield with Radiums over 12" above the water?

 

[pookstreet]

Hey, what's with all this talk and no pix???

 

[john90009]

hah your a little dry on your thread to kenny : )