How many Kilowatt Hours per day?

[PoggiPJ]

Hi,

I've had a major hair algae (HA) problem for over a year, and reading scores of threads on the subject, I believe my lighting may be the cause. I would appreciate some lighting advice/opinions.

 

The lighting over my 220Gal mixed reef is a total of 1,742 watts. This is in excess of 7 watts per gallon, on a 12 on - 12 off cycle. The bulbs are in a rack about 7" above a water surface area of 96" x 20". Depth is 30".

 

Configuration:

(250MH) (400MH) (250MH) (400MH) (250MH)

( ---- 96 watt 50/50 PC -----) (----96 watt 50/50 PC----)

 

The total watt-hours per day was 1,742w x 12 hours per day = 20.9KW each day. After reading all the related lighting posts, I'm thinking that I've got WAY too much light.

 

I've now altered the lighting cycle to yield a reduced total of 10.1KW each day. The max of 1,742 watts is now only on for 3 hours of that cycle, where before it was 1,742 for almost 12 hours.

 

I am curious to hear the total wattage per day that you apply, your surface area and depth, bulb-surface distance, and whether or not you have an algae problem. If there are enough responses, would like to compile the responses into some sort of chart.

[flowerseller]

I use 3-250w 10k and 2 140w 03s on my 220H

 

Chip

[DEEPBLUE]

I use 3 - 400w - 14k and 2 - 140w VHO on my 240 tall.

 

Eric

[PoggiPJ]

Thanks Chip, Eric,

Can you tell me how close to the surface your bulbs are, and how long they're on during the day?

 

Maybe it's my imagination, but today my mushrooms were more open than usual, the fish were noticably calmer, and the algae appeared "thinner" for lack of a better description. Observations tomorrow and the rest of the week will be more telling, I'm sure.

[Guest Yomeister66]

How do you calculate Kw and where can I find a table that shows what an acceptable range is. I use 2x400W 6500K(10 hrs/day) and 2x140 Acitinic VHO (14 hrs/day)on my 110. Dropped the lights to about 8" above the water a few weeks ago. I'm battling hair algae and red slime algae so I'd be interested in the results of the Kw calculations.

 

Thanks,

 

Johan

[unninair]

I had a very bad Hair Algae and Purple film algae that cured itself after I cut down my lights (10K) to 8 hours instead of 12 hours. I have 55W x 4 PC over my 55G regular. Check this link:

 

http://www.reeftank.com/modules.php?name=S...iewarticle&id=1

[DEEPBLUE]

My light set up is in my canopy, so they are about 12 inches from the water.

 

time setup -

 

VHO's turn on at 8am and off at 8pm

2 - MH's turn on at 10:30am and off at 7pm

The third - MH turns on at 12:30pm and off at 3:30pm

 

I hope this helps.

 

Eric

[PoggiPJ]

Hi Johan,

I calculated mine by creating a spreadsheet. Each column represented an hour of time, and one row for each light, like this abbreviated example.

 

 10PM | 11 PM | 12AM 
  250 |       |  
  400 |  400  |
  250 |       |
  400 |  400  |
  250 |       |
  192 |  192  |  192   
------+-------+-----+
 1,742|   992 |  192

Add your totals = 2,926, or 2.9KWH

 

I don't know if such a table of KWH for reef tanks exists. I am attempting to create one by first collecting data from lots of folks, then I will examine the results to see if I can identify any correlations. My original total KWH per day was almost 21KWH, and I've had a hair algae plague for over a year. I've tried cutting back feeding, Rowaphos, charcoal, chaeto, Phosban, water changes, with no results. I cut my lighting back to about 10KWH, and I've seen a difference in two days.

[HowardofNOVA]

Pete,

My 90g is currently running on 1-250w AB 10,000k and 1-250w 6500XM bulbs with 1-110w Aquasun VHO. I had a problem with algae a couple of months ago. I ran a Phosban 150 with Rhosphos with great success between it, sucking out the algae as much as I can, cleaner crews, etc. Currently, problem is gone.

Upgrading lights to 250w 14000 soon!

If you running bulbs of that heat only 8" from the water, what water temp are you getting? I'm about 79-80 degrees.

Timers:

8:15am VHO 110w AquaSun On for 1:45 minutes

9am MH On for 12 1/2 hrs

10am VHO Off

9pm VHO back on for 1 hr

9:30pm MH Off

10pm VHO off

VHO on for 2:45 minutes @ 110w = 302.5 hrs

MH on 12 1/2 hrs @ 500w = 6250 hrs

Total 6552.5w per day, so how many Kw does that equal used in a day?

Howard

[PoggiPJ]

Hi Howard,

Thanks for the information - I'm running about 78-79 degrees. My tank is in the wall, with plenty of room above and behind it. I don't use a chiller. I'm thinking about raising the light rack a little to help the algae situation

[PoggiPJ]

Howard, I forgot to ask - how long do you leave your lights on each day?

[Guest Yomeister66]

Pete,

 

Thanks for the info. I missed the CMAS meeting where Sonyi Jashi (Sp.?) spoke but the notes from the meeting indicate him saying that dropping your lights from 9" to 6' inches increases the intensity of the light received by your livestock by 44.4%. Here is his link: http://www.reeflightinginfo.arvixe.com/

 

Johan

[HowardofNOVA]

Updated my info on previous notes