PAR for a SPS tank

[mos90]

i would like to see some par #s when u get a chance.

ive decided to try a 400w radium in the center on a lumentek ballast.

when u said the glass splash sheild removed, did you mean permanently? i would love to remove mine.

 

[110galreef]

Ok, here are the numbers. tank is 66x36x 24. So keep this in mind.

2 400w SE XM 20k on lumatek select a watt at 400w setting. 6 days old, 11" from water 4 t-5 80w ~ 2 weeks old. 10k, coral+, Blue+, and purple+

 

[mos90]

those #'s are definately higher then mine. do you like the color of the xm's? btw. i saw par comparisons from the xm 20k and radium. they are almost the same on that ballast.


you didnt mention if you keep the glass cover off your light all the time.

 

[110galreef]

Yes I plan to leave the sheild off. Especially since the light is so high. Extra par and no worries of splashes. I like the xm's. I may try next time radium for more par or even a 14k but then swap the 10k and coral+ for blue +. So like 2 blue + and 2purple +

 

[mos90]

I think I will take my shield off also. It's a pain to get to the bulbs as needed and I think bulbs will run cooler with it off.

Have u tried blue plus with true actinics? That is my favorite look and I leave the true actinics on for A few hours after everything is off. Everything glows.

 

[mos90]

btw i like your tank..

 

[110galreef]

I think I will take my shield off also. It's a pain to get to the bulbs as needed and I think bulbs will run cooler with it off.

Have u tried blue plus with true actinics? That is my favorite look and I leave the true actinics on for A few hours after everything is off. Everything glows.

I actually just switched out the 10k for and actinic bulb. Now that the Xm's have burned a bit they have whitened and brightened up.

back to front:
Blue -Hamilton
Actinic- Hamilton
Blue+ ATI
Purple + ATI

I have the middle two come on for 30 mins, outside 2 then one for another 30 mins, then MH's on for 7 hrs. then reverse the T-5 for another 45 mins.

It seems that the actinics don't do much relative to the 400w MH's plus there is plenty in that spectrum with the XM20k's. The Blue+, coral+ and the purple + seem to help what the XM20k misses out on

btw i like your tank..

Thanks, This is not a very good pic and doens't docolors any justice, but worked for getting PAR numbers up!

 

[mos90]

i like the purple plus bulb. i had 1 on my 125 with t5's. i didnt like it mixed with the blue plus only. so for dusk/dawn i did the same as you.

are you leaving the t5's on all day?

here is my new plan.

radium 250- radium 400- radium 250

front to back
actinic-hamilton
blue plus
blue plus
actinic-hamilton.

 

[110galreef]

Here I updated to show the MH only PAR numbers. (orange)

 

[110galreef]

i like the purple plus bulb. i had 1 on my 125 with t5's. i didnt like it mixed with the blue plus only. so for dusk/dawn i did the same as you.

are you leaving the t5's on all day?

here is my new plan.

radium 250- radium 400- radium 250

front to back
actinic-hamilton
blue plus
blue plus
actinic-hamilton.

The purple+ really helps the look of my reds & pinks. I am defintily keeping the T-5 on all day for now. Trying to get this tank to fill out.

Based on the kill a watt i am at 430w for each bulb , and 180w for each pair of T-5.
So I am using 360w for 10hrs a day
and 860w for 7 hrs a day. !
That puts me at like $220/yr in bulbs. $120 MH's and $100 in t-5
Not bad for a 250g tank

Based on MH's alone i am maybe just a tad low overall, but the Radium or 14k bulb may make up keep the T-5's for when I am around to enhance the 14k!

 

[mos90]

i would bet the radium 250 will have more par then the hamilton 14k.

i would consider 1 purple plus to compliment the blue plus. and leave the actinics alone.

i dont even want to know how much electricity im using. might get sick.

 

[110galreef]

i would bet the radium 250 will have more par then the hamilton 14k.

i would consider 1 purple plus to compliment the blue plus. and leave the actinics alone.

i dont even want to know how much electricity im using. might get sick.

Looking at Sanjay's numbers:
250w Phoenix 14k DE sheilded on HQI was like 88ppfd
250w Radium 20k SE unsheilded on HQI was like 85
250w Hamilton 14k SE unsheilded on HQI shows ppfd of 99/ 69 on electronic

Now if I went from:
400w XM 20k SE unsheilded on electronic was like 96ppfd....HQI 114ppfd

TO:
400w Radium SE unsheilded on electric ppfd is 123..... HQI-143ppfd
400w Reeflux 12k unsheilded on electric ppfd is 125....HQI-133ppfd
400w AquaConnect 14K SE unsheilded on electric ppfd is 143...(now neuco aquastar by coralvue)

Looks like all 3 of these will be atleast a 20% increase in output? And all should be similiar in color based on these plots. And can be easily tweaked to licking via some t-5's

I think I will try the radium or reeflux next go and see how much more PAR I get. Reeflux is only like $66

 

[mos90]

how does ppfd convert to actual par #'s?


so it looks like the hamilton 14k on the same ballast, either hqi or elec will have more output the the radium 250. slightly. but should definately be more blue.

the radium 400 has little to no spike at 410 compared to the others but the most ppfd.

 

[mos90]

funny.. the reeflux 12k same as other 20k's i wonder what their 20k looks like.

 

[110galreef]

ppfd is just another way to measure light output.

basically like comparing a mile to Km. Both measure the same thing "distance" just a little different way.

So i am not sure there is a coversion from ppfd to PAR, but since simple fact is they are all measured in ppfd. So a higher ppfd bulb should have higher PAR! Guess I will know next bulb go!

Also the reeflux 12k is really more like a 20k. Henc ethe spectral plot. Oh and i think they only have a reefux 10k and 12k.

 

[mos90]

got it. i wonder if radium on an e-ballast work well.. it looks like they want hqi.

 

[110galreef]

Radium 250w is designed to be ran on an M80 balast. true HQI. that will drive it in the 315w+ neighborhood. If you plan to run e balast run a different bulb.

 

[110galreef]

however you can see that the 250w Radium on HQI has the same ppfd as my 400w XM20k on electronic

 

[mos90]

i think u may be right. im going to either reeflux 12k or xm 20k bulbs instead of the radium. i think im leaning towards xm 20k. i dont want to buy more ballasts.

 

[110galreef]

Have you ran Phoenix 14k before? Those in 250w are great color and great par. I'd run those and add blue+ and or acctinic t-5 if you want bluer. The phoenix 14k are just a tad bluer than the hamiton 14k's. I have ran both in 250w.


I beleive the XM 20k 250 w will be rather dim....of the two u picked i'd go reeflux 12k,

The neuco Aquastar 14.5k is supposed to be a nice blue colored bulb and bright. It is supposedly a replacement of the AquaConnect 14k and a tad better. That was a high par 14k bulb too.
Corlavue sells/markts these bulbs.