My 300 gallon acrylic tank

[chris wright]

I would lift those lights to at least 8 to 10 inches above your tank at least. The Mh are the main light's so I would prop the lights to suit them and use the t5 as your supp's.

I doubt any body runs them any lower than this.

Cheers

Chris

 

[Elliott]

jnarowe: how much heat would you say T5's produce compared to MH's?

 

[jnarowe]

I really can't answer that. It is different with each T5 array because of how they are constructed, and each MH lamp has different heat emissions.

I just point that out because the conventional wisdom is that T5s transfer less heat to the water column, but that is not necessarily the case. I was shocked to see how much heat mine generate.

It's possible there is some data to help you with that, but I don't know where it is.

 

[mcliffy2]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11266968#post11266968 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by steve the plumb
this is the brand of MH bulbs I got.

I had these bulbs...they are the $30 ebay or off catalina aquariums website. It came with my cheapo light I bought from them. I had the 400w and after 2 months, I did not like its effect on my system, seemed like some corals started browning a bit, a purple rimmed monti cap lost its purple rim, etc. I switched back to my old bulb (Southern Pacific Sun) and the colors are slowly coming back. Hope you have a better luck than I did, could have just been my situation.

 

[TheOtherReefer]

Just spent 2 hours reading through this thread. Tanks is looking nice Steve. There is only one thing i recommend....patience. GL!

 

[steve the plumb]

Mcliffy 2 how did you like the fixture from them.I did buy the fixture and lights from Catalina.They seem pretty nice.I don't know how good the bulbs are but I was wondering did you like the quality.The fixture seems pretty solid(not cheap) The T5 don't have much space between them and I don't know how good those reflectors are.It seems everything is polished nice.The MH reflectors are small but the fixture has more reflectors inside of it.One fan sucks and the other fan pulls the air.Those T5 lights do give off a lot of heat but its not generated in one spot so all T5 wouldn't be enough heat to warp the top since most off the heat would come out from the fan.

 

[steve the plumb]

Here is some more pics of the skimmer.This is the bubbles in the neck

 

[steve the plumb]

foam production

 

[steve the plumb]

here is a video I took of the foam.Don't forget this is the second day plus I don't have many fish

 

[jnarowe]

very nice bubbles.

 

[steve the plumb]

Elliott the heat is the same watts is watts when the power goes threw the bulb heat is produced.The only difference is that T5 are longer so the heat is distributed over a longer source.Because the MH is a small bulb and has a much smaller surface area it seems hotter but its just hotter in one spot.The T5 are easier to cool.I noticed my 4 T5 bulbs run hot but you don't notice a hot spot under the fixture like the spot where my MH bulbs are but the heat that comes out of the fans is hot..I don't know the quality of my reflectors and ballast, the better the quality the more light I would get burning the same amount of electricity.I will try to find something at HD.Jnarowe where in invincible thread are the pics of the hangers or racks.His fixture is suspended by cables

 

[braid11]

I have been following your thread: great tank, great information.

Regarding your lights and heat issue, are you familiar with the Lumen Bright thread?

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1211402&perpage=25&pagenumber=8

bubbletip2 summed up the benefits of those reflectors in the quote set out below.

It would be a real bummer to have to switch lighting, but something to consider. I have not seen them in finished pendants, but when I asked if they exist, it was suggested that Reef Specialty has pendants.



"I think you should read a few of my last posts to understand better why raising your lights is a good thing. And I think you answered your own question regarding the difference, although I believe the amount of light generated by these beauties is not the same amount of light but stronger when raised higher than the LumenArcs. This is a key point here in that you would not want to raise Lumenarcs so that the bulb was 16 inches off the water. Why? Because the amount of light is reduced way too much to grow light loving coral.

To be able to raise LB's to 16 inches and have more light is what this hobby is been waiting for.

Again raising your lights will:

1. reduce some amount of UV radiation(especially on DE bulbs)
2. reduce heat transfer to the tank which effectively helps to stabalize tank temperature
3. provides more air circulation in the canopy which assists in reducing the heat generated
4. reduces water evaporation by the bulbs and by fans that need to be run because your tank is at 83-84 degrees.

If you cannot understand the benefits, I think you have not been paying attention.

What we are finding is that the LB's give off a cone of light and not this so called Laser Beam

As you raise the reflectors the cone gets wider. I will not deny that if you have these reflectors with the bulbs 8 inches off the water that the "cone" is more concentrated. Who wants to heat up their tank 8 inches off the water to get enough light? Some have to keep LumenArcs 8 inches because they don't give off nearly as much light if you raise them like you get with the LB's. The LB's are not designed to be kept 8 inches off the water. Use them properly and you will reep the benefits. They were designed for reefkeepers in understanding we don't want overheated tanks. People are paying $400 these days to purchase a pump that has the motor housing on the outside of the tank to reduce heat. Seems to me that they should give some LB's a try to further help to reduce the heat. The key thing here again is raising your reflectors will still allow an adequate amount of light at all levels of the tank with a LumenBright. I am starting to believe that 36 inch deep tanks will be more common in the future and all thanks to the LumenBrights.

Well, enough of my spiel. Just got my 2 new Large LumenBrights They are all set up and ready to go. I reduced my photoperiod to acclimate the coral to the brighter light, so I will have to wait a bit for them to come on. I will have some pics tonight after the lights come on.

I will show a comparison pic of my LumenArcs at 13.5 inches and the LB's at 16 inches off the water. Yes I do own both but not for long. LumenArcs will be up for sale soon. More to come..."

Tom

 

[jnarowe]

That's very interesting. I never heard of getting more light by moving the light source away from the target. Do you have a link to data supporting that?

 

[braid11]

It's all described in detail in the Lumen Bright thread I linked to, with lots of photos and PAR readings comparing other reflectors.

Of course the PAR reading for any given distance goes down as the reflector/bulb is raised from the water surface. However, if I underststand it correctly (here comes my 2 cent summary), the lighting bubbletip2 describes is the result of the Lumen Bright reflector design. It focuses the light from the MH bulb into a more narrow cone. The reflector can then be lifted higher off the water level. The correct distance is where the cone of light spreads out just enough to light up entire bottom of the tank and its contents. The height apparently varies from about 15-20 inches.

The light is all focussed into the tank, from a higher height, and is brighter than other reflector designs at a lower height. Apparently this is because other designs allow the light to spead out too much, spilling out beyond the boundries of the tank.

On page 15 they descibe how it's easier to watch TV in the same room at night, cause the Lumen Bright light is focused into the tank.

It's all in that thread, very good read.There are also some great descriptions of MH bulbs that perform well without supplemental T5 or other lighting.

Not trying to Hijack the thread, just throwing out alternate lighting sugestions I read about

Tom

 

[Elliott]

braid11: excellent read, thank you

 

[erics3000]

Nice new toys Steve. I remember that link a while back. definetly will go through it again.

 

[Elliott]

Steve: you're right, watts are watts. T5s, at only 54 watts each will allow a little less heat and still do the job, depending on how many bulbs are used. I'm looking at fixtures for my grow out tank and concerned about heat since it's in a small fish room, will probably go with a 4 bulb T5 reefgeek sunlight supply fixture with individual reflectors

 

[steve the plumb]

Thanks for the links.Those T5 bulbs still run hot Elliot.With the fans you will be able to cool the fixture but not the room.I get a lot of heat coming out of that fixture(from the fan) I do see this as a problem in the summer unless you had this heat vented outside.What I don't know is how good is this fixture compared to others.My MH reflectors are small so they are not the same as those mini lumen arcs or reef optics those reflectors are very nice but I didn't go with them because they are bulky.I was going to buy the marristar witch has pretty good reflectors and its not a bad unit.It was double the price and I always say you get what you pay for.There is enough light in the tank I just have to get the fixture at a height where the heat from the mh bulbs won't be a problem.

 

[Elliott]

yeah, I'm planning to install a separate ac in the room, right now it's on the main house unit. there is an exhaust fan already installed, the problem is it also exhausts the conditioned cool air. last summer my chiller ran way too much.

 

[steve the plumb]

I am a little worried about the heat issue as well.The heat isn't as bad directly to the tank as my old lights were on my 150 gal.I am worried about the heat coming from the fans.I think they will heat up the room come summer time.I have a portable a/c unit I will more than likely have to install it.