Frag Tank Lights

[Highland Reefer]

Would the Home Depot 6500 k. natural daylight power compact bulbs provide good results if used on a 30 g. frag tank? I am currently using them on my refugium and the coraline algae is growing nicely.

[Coral Hind]

It depends on what you want to frag, what wattage the bulbs are, and how many bulbs you plan to use.

[Highland Reefer]

It depends on what you want to frag, what wattage the bulbs are, and how many bulbs you plan to use.

 

I want to frag sps corals.

 

Bulb wattage: 16 w. power compact. which is a 65 W. equivalent.

 

How many bulbs - However many it takes. 4 of them would provide 260 W.

 

These bulbs cost about $7.00. They have the reflector built in & are protected by outer glass, which means they are safe around water. Bonus - energy efficient with energy star rating & are cheap. They are rated for Recessed light fixtures, so heat is not a big issue.

Edited June 17, 2008 by Highland Reefer

[L8 2 RISE]

tagging along here, I am really interested in this as I want some cheap lighting for a 40 gallon breeder

[Highland Reefer]

These bulbs produce about 700 lumens.

 

 

 

 

I could not find a link for the Home Depot bulb which is a 6500 K. bulb, but here is a link to a competitors bulb which is 5,000 K. bulb for comparison: http://www.greenelectricalsupply.com/15-wa...-permadisk.aspx

 

 

 

I am using 3 of these bulbs on my refugium, which is a converted Pepsi barrel. The water level is at about 27" deep. The coraline algae is growing on the sand at the bottom of the barrel very nicely and rapidly. I do have the lights on 24/7.

[treesprite]

What kind of a fixture would they go in?

[CHUBAKAH]

What kind of a fixture would they go in?

Standard light fixture

[treesprite]

Standard light fixture

I didn't know pcs could be used that way. So would a clip-on flex arm fixture work for them? That might be a better option for a small shallow xenia fuge than using an NO fixture, just because of positioning and concentration.

[CHUBAKAH]

You could use anything like that. Everything is built right in to the bulb.

 

The question at hand however has still not been answered, and that I don't have the answer to.

[reefmontalvo]

I found that hdyroponic web sites have the same bulbs we use. But at a third of the cost. I noticed you can get a T-5 setup with double the bulbs and wattage for less than the other sites post for. I will look and come back with my results right now I'm at work.

[davelin315]

The short answer is no, they are not a good substitute. These bulbs don't produce the same PAR and also don't have the right "color" that you want. That's not to say that they don't supply enough light (lumens is an inaccurate measure for how well a light will work, it's the amount of light put out versus the quality of the light put out), it just might not be the right type or quality of light. It's possible that some are OK to use, but I would say that these are not going to produce what you want in a reef and won't keep your frags alive. Borrow the PAR meter from Brian Ward and see what your readings are on these bulbs at the bulb, at the water surface, and then slightly below the water surface. I will wager that it will drop significantly and won't be above double digits except possibly at the bulb and that by the time you get down to where your frags will be there will be single digit PAR readings.

 

As for the hydroponics bulbs, not all bulbs and ballasts are the same. I wouldn't say that they are the "same" thing unless they actually are the same thing (same Kelvin, same manufacturer, same process of manufacturing them).

[Highland Reefer]

An article I found on the amount of PAR needed for corals: http://samsreef.com/content/view/22/2/

 

Looks like this idea has been shot down.

 

I still need to get down & pick-up the PAR meter from Brian to check out what is going on in my reef tank. I can see what these bulbs put out at the same time.

Edited June 18, 2008 by Highland Reefer

[CHUBAKAH]

 

 

I still need to get down & pick-up the PAR meter from Brian to check out what is going on in my reef tank. I can see what these bulbs put out at the same time.

Keep us posted as to your results.

[DJBoy98]

What did you end up doing? I'm looking to build a 30g frag tank too.

 

I'm looking at either 150 MH or 2 39w t5 HO's.

 

Anyone want to chime in if that'll suffice for a mixed frag tank of SPS/LS/Softies?

[Highland Reefer]

I picked up the Quantum meter & took some readings for the power compacts. They read 250 at the top water level. I do not think that the Maryland meter is working properly. I am not sure & hope to compare it with the Va. meter at the FragFest.

 

I went ahead & bought a 250 W. metal halide Retro Kit for $150.00 new from this Ebay Merchandiser: http://stores.ebay.com/Great-Lights-4-Less

 

After experimenting with the Quantum Meter, I found that I would not have to raise the light source off the water level much to make a large difference. With only one bulb on a standard 30 gal., I feel more comfortable with the 250 W. Plus elevating the light source will help dissipate the heat. IMHO.

[dtfleming]

yea those bulbs wont work, 250W retro is a good idea and you can always add some T-5 for actinics.

[Highland Reefer]

The Ebay seller noted in the above link sells the Chinese Bulbs. I ordered the 14000K Bulb with the retro kit. I think I will look into the Radium Bulbs the next go around since they are running about $100.00/bulb. I really want to get a reading with the Quantum Meter on the Chinese bulbs.

 

The Maryland Quantum Meter gave me a reading of about 1,000 right under my 400 W. 14,000 K XM metal halide bulbs which are powered by IceCap Ballasts. The reading just above the water level 12" down gave me a reading of about 275, which does not seem right to me. A few inches into the water & the reading drops down below 100. If these results are correct, then I should not be able to grow corals much less the clams (which are growing fine) in my tank.

 

I did notice that somewhere along the line, someone has attached a piece of pvc to the Quantum Meter's light sensor with a screw. This light sensor goes into the water. I am wondering if the screw has broken the integrity of the sensor to water tightness and allowing water to enter it, causing problem readings?

[jamesbuf]

Yeah, I wondered the same thing about the screw. I found the same meter online and it appears that the reader module has a hole with threads on the bottom to allow you to screw it in. You can see what I mean here:

http://www.apogee-inst.com/manuals/QuantumSensor_Manual.pdf

Look at the last page.

 

 

Cliff, have you compared the readings you're getting with the results others had recorded?

[Highland Reefer]

The only thing I have to compare it too is the one link listed above. From what I can gather you need about 600 - 800 readings for most of the SPS corals to grow. If I remeber correctly, you said you were only getting about 450 at your water line. Is that correct?

[jamesbuf]

The only thing I have to compare it too is the one link listed above. From what I can gather you need about 600 - 800 readings for most of the SPS corals to grow. If I remeber correctly, you said you were only getting about 450 at your water line. Is that correct?

 

 

Yeah, I definitely never got anything near 600. I was around 300 just below the water, and got down to around 100 on the sandbed.

[Highland Reefer]

That is good news about the screw hole. It may be that the meter just needs to be re-calibrated. I am working on getting the two meters together at the FragFest to compare them, which is what APOGEE is recommending.