DIY Actinics?

[Electrobes]

Hey everyone I started soft corals thanks to a friend of mine who was convinced that having a refugium type tank couldn't compare to soft corals, so got me some and voila here I am! I want to add an actinic to the set up that I already have... two 65 watt CF bulbs from LoA. The lights have about 22-23 inches space between them. I was looking at some of the 55w/65w 03 actinic bulbs and was wonnnndering if I could just buy a bulb, a straight end cap, and power it using a quicktronic ballast (like a 2X32) or something? Thanks everyone!

 

[scuba_steve]

not sure about the ballest/light working together !!
but concerned ya mislead on the benefits to a refugium as its adds to your tank system and not that its in your main tank and what ya want to keep in it !!!

 

[Electrobes]

nono.. I was going to have a main tank of just macro algae...but decided onn soft corals instead.

 

[scuba_steve]

hummm tank full of macro wouldnt that be pretty much a refugium ?? hheheh but got ya

 

[justDIY]

I see no problems with your plan...

expect the bulbs to have a 'useable' life of about 9 months, given the severe nature in which a 'cheap' ballast like the quicktronic starts them

 

[Electrobes]

what ballast would you suggest then for the actinic bulb?

 

[justDIY]

the quicktronic is fine ... spectral shift will get you after 12 months anyway, so it's not worth spending extra $$$ on a fancy ballast to squeeze a few months out of a bulb.

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for powercompact, or any bulb that is HO or VHO, research shows the "Programmed Rapid Start" is the best way to insure consistant lighting of the bulb and maintaining bulb life.

PRS works by first pre-heating the filimants of the bulb and then ramping up the arc voltage, instead of just slamming 600v across the bulb to fire the arc... instead starts slow and works up. by slow, it's usually less than 2 seconds, but that is forever compared to a high voltage instant start ballast, like the quicktronic

since a powercompact is a small bulb, with small filaments, they 'may' not take the same amount of abuse a big T12 vho bulb with a heavy duty filament will... so instead of lasting almost 3 years (20000 hours), they'll last maybe a year and a half... but this is where spectral shift gets you anway, having the colors degrade to the point where it's not longer useful to the animals that rely on it for survival.

 

[Electrobes]

Okay cool sounds good then. Do you suggest the VHO or the power compact for an actinic?

 

[justDIY]

if budget is your primary concern, power compact

if apperance is your primary concern, you're already in trouble with the 6500k LoA lights

 

[Electrobes]

you don't think any actinics can save it.. I was thinking of getting two 55 watt actinics (power compacts) on it...

 

[Electrobes]

okay so what do you think could provide enough actinic light... anything-wise? I just tried two 55 watt PC actinics, and though it did SOME change to the waters color.. the corals didn't seem much affected, more like the actinics got drowned out by the yellow, like you said... didn't expect 110 watts of actinic to be flooded out like that! Is there anything I can do to change this? Thanks!

 

[justDIY]

well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, esp after you worked so hard to make those LoA bulbs work ....

BUT ... you really need 8800k+ (9325, 10000, etc) bulbs along with actinics in order to get that good 'reef' color scheme

the amount of green light anything less than 8800k puts out is just overwhelming your color balance

my recommendation would be to sell off the LoA setup to someone with a fw tank, and get some 10k pc's and some 03 pc's

 

[Electrobes]

Heh, if I sell it off... I am just going to say the hell with it and get a 250 watt 20,000K MH - Know anyone who would be interested in this set up?

 

[justDIY]

dopers are probably interested, almost all the high intensity lighting on ebay goes to dopers, and a small percent of it actually goes to aquarists and horticulturists / serious indoor gardeners ... why do so many vendors go out of their way to advertise 'discrete packaging'

 

[Electrobes]

dopers? and discrete packaging? hehe I am lost but I put it in the classifieds section. I never know about ebay, I'll post but I think people always get way to suspicious when something is custom made.

 

[Electrobes]

DOH! I get it, hahaha jeez I am slow!