Coralife Hood Ballasts Out - Now What?

[TheChad]

Hey all,

I have a Coralife hood, 2x 96w CFL & 2x 150w HQI's..

I replaced the Magnetic ballasts with electronic ballasts about a year or so ago and all has been well with the HQI's..

Last week the CFL ballast(s) went out, So now I am at the cross road, Do I just put new CFL ballast(s) in, or do I change the actinic's to T5's or to LED's?

I would LOVE to change the CFL's our to VHO's as I have NEVER been able to get coralline algae to grow like I did when I had VHO's, but I know they wont fit in this hood..

So do T5's grow Coralline better than CFL's? What about LED's?

To be honest, once the HQI's fire up, I can turn off the CFL's and don't notice any difference what so ever in what the tank looks like, I think the HQI's are soo powerful they just shut out the CFL's.. So really the only time I *See* the CFL's is the 1 hour between when the HQI's turn on and the HQI's turn off. I have the CFL's on a timer to turn on 1 hour before and stay on 1 hour after.

So what's the opinion of the masses? Should I leave it CFL? or change it to something else?

Thanks!

-TheChad

[Mebbid]

I would say now is as good a time as any to switch to LED. The ebay units are cheap and very effective. They also grow coralline very well

[TheChad]

Originally Posted by Mebbid

I would say now is as good a time as any to switch to LED. The ebay units are cheap and very effective. They also grow coralline very well

Can you suggest one? I know that not all LED's are created equal and with saltwater there's the whole spectrum thing to deal with..

Thanks!

-TheChad

[Sniperhank]

The most common name is taotronics. The blue/white unit will do. Just get the one you can dim.


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[TheChad]

I ended up ordering these: Aquarium LED Light Reefbar 36" inch 3ft 453 Actinic Blue 27W 36 Coral Moon | eBay

They are fully dimmable, though I just ordered the 2 strips and 1 power supply.

At a later time when I look into changing out everything to LED, I will look into a controller to do full sunrise/sunset diming.

I figured my CF actinic's are 420-430nm, VHO actinic's are 454nm, so these LED's should hopefully be roughly equivalent to VHO actinic's.. LED's are a lot more intense so maybe even better?

-TheChad

[Mebbid]

Sad to say, but those light bars are the equivalent to mood lighting. They really arent going to do anything for coral growth.

[TheChad]

Originally Posted by Mebbid

Sad to say, but those light bars are the equivalent to mood lighting. They really arent going to do anything for coral growth.

It's the same NM rating as VHO actinic....


Really it's actinic... It's suppose to be accent light..

I have HQI's for coral..

[bribo12]

He already has halides. The LEDs are just to replace the cfls I believe. They don't need to be really coral capable. I think it is more for color.


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[TheChad]

Originally Posted by bribo12

He already has halides. The LEDs are just to replace the cfls I believe. They don't need to be really coral capable. I think it is more for color.


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Exactly right!

[Mebbid]

Ahh I understand what's going on now

[Holygral]

coralline algae grows like crazy in my sump with just a compact fluorescent from Lowes, so I would check your parameters, if it isn't growing. I have none in my tank because of my BSU. I throw him in the sump every couple of weeks to feast

[jeffaquarius]

Originally Posted by TheChad

It's the same NM rating as VHO actinic....


Really it's actinic... It's suppose to be accent light..

I have HQI's for coral..

There seems to a misconception of the ACTINIC term in the aquarium hobby. Some believes it is just the purple light or the "dark light" per say. Others think it is just aesthetic. To me i refer blue light as ACTINIC. It is the frequency band of light that photosynthesis takes place. The quote below is taken from the article below it.

"Most of the corals that are collected for the hobby come from areas surrounding the reef at a depth of 15 to 65 feet. In the wild, they receive light that is primarily blue in color with a high Kelvin rating."

Aquarium Lighting Spectrum and Intensity: How to Duplicate Natural Lighting In Your Aquarium

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