Saltwater & Reef

marchmaxima · 05-25-2008, 11:03 PM

Hi guys,

Sorry to butt in, but thanks for continuing the thread. I'm about to install in the order of 400w of MH lighting for my new 120g fresh water planted set up, and I know nothing of lighting so I appreciate the discussion.

Subscribed.... (now off to read this again)

PS. ccapt, you have a beautiful tank.. You're inspiring me to one day think about having a go at saltwater.

ccCapt · 05-25-2008, 11:49 PM

Thank you.

I'm not at all familiar with fw planted, but isn't 400W MH a real lot of light for plants? Even with the depth of the tank, 400W would be borderline overkill for a sw reef tank.

marchmaxima · 05-26-2008, 01:01 AM

Well, technically it's not 400w. I'll actually be installing 370w. 2 x 150w and 1 x 70w.

Over a 120 gallon tank that is:

370w / 120g = 3 wpg... pretty much good for growing most plants I'm being told. But you're right, I wouldn't want any more than that.

neilanh · 05-26-2008, 10:05 AM

Sharon have you looked at the ADA 8000K bulbs? I hear they're the king of FW MH bulbs for plant growth.

And btw, you should consider dropping the 1x70 and just running the other 2 IMO.

jherrin215 · 05-27-2008, 02:08 PM

I am running 2 coralife 175W 5500 bulbs now and am not really happy with the color. I ordered 2 10K coralife's and hopefully that will bring me closer to where I wanna be. I don't want them 2 blue as I also have 1 6ft super white VHO and 1 6 foot Actinic VHO and 2 actinic 24" VHO's.

ccCapt · 05-27-2008, 02:18 PM

WOW I didn't know they still made those bulbs. I used them about 15 yrs ago. They were a step up from Coralife 5K's. You will see a huge difference going to 10K. I don't know what Coralife 10K's look like, but XM 10K's were a little too yellow for me. Not real bad, but not white.

Oh...and Welcome to AA!

marchmaxima · 05-27-2008, 08:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by neilanh

Sharon have you looked at the ADA 8000K bulbs? I hear they're the king of FW MH bulbs for plant growth.

And they would want to be at $214.00 aussie dollars for a single globe. no ballast, fixture or anything else... just the globe.

Quote:

Originally Posted by neilanh

And btw, you should consider dropping the 1x70 and just running the other 2 IMO.

Noted and I had actually thought of perhaps starting with 300w total lights and see how I go.... you just confirmed that is a better idea. Can always add on another light later....

ccCapt · 07-06-2008, 03:09 PM

Little update on the new Iwasaki 15K bulbs. I would have to say they changed very little, if any, in color or intensity. I like them.

This is when I installed them around 5-24-08.

This is now.

Ziggy953 · 07-08-2008, 03:42 PM

Have you noticed a difference in growth rate from these bulbs? I see you added an Orange Cap on the right side of the tank....

ellisz · 07-08-2008, 11:34 PM

I am a big fan of Reeflux bulbs. I used the 12k's for a yr and had decent growth but Sanjays tests showed them to be on the low side of ppfd scale. The Iwaskis 6500's (175w)and the XM 10k's(250W) are supposed to be the PAR monsters for their wattage. The Reeflux is a bit lower but I like the 10k as it has a strong white look but has a huge actinic spike that made my acros really color up.

As for the ebay bulbs, there is a huge thread on RC about these. There is a company that used to sell on Ebay called Reef Optics. I am not sure if they still sell there now but they still sale bulbs. These bulbs were actually tested by Sanjay and did decent but were not that great. They are half the price of some bulbs though. The Reeflux are 62.95 shipped so I am happy with them.

I don't believe Iwaski has a 250w bulb yet?

ccCapt · 07-09-2008, 08:46 AM

Quote:

Have you noticed a difference in growth rate from these bulbs? I see you added an Orange Cap on the right side of the tank....

I am getting nice growth, but it's hard to say if it's just from the bulbs. I replaced 2 AC70 ph's with 2 Koralia 4's...so that's a big increase in flow too. Flow and lighting and big factors in growth. I had the orange cap a long time. I just moved it from the middle to the side.

Quote:

The Iwaskis 6500's (175w)and the XM 10k's(250W) are supposed to be the PAR monsters for their wattage.

These Iwasaki 15k's have the highest PPFD (71 w/magnetic ballasts) rating of any 175w 15K bulb Sanjay tested. It's higher than many 250w bulbs. As a comparison, 175w Hamilton 14K's are 29 PPFD. I don't think Sanjay tested the 175w Iwasaki 65k's, but the 250's are insane. PPFD is 189 (electronic ballast)! 250w XM 10k's are 182 PPFD.

PPFD = Photosynthetic Photon Flux Density