Another lighting thread

[dandy7200]

OK, I have been thinking for several weeks about this and done enough research to make my head hurt.

 

Heres where I am at:

 

Currently run a Outer Orbit HQI 150w 10k bulb and 2ea 55w pc dual actinics.

Tank is a 54 corner.

Water conditions as of this evening:

Sal: 1.025

Ph: 8.20

No3: 0

No2: 0

Po4: 0 - .01 (hard to tell)

Nh3: 0

Alk: 10 dkh

Ca: 400

Mg: 1280

Temp: 80.4

 

I can provide any additional tank info as needed.

 

Currently I keep SPS in the middle, and LPS at the bottom. Everything has good growth. The PAR is right around 50ish PPFD according to input data but, I have not verified this with a real test. The first post I made about this I stated that I wanted more color in the corals. The reality of the situation is the color I get in my sps is nice. I have had a Purple tip staghorn that I picked up a little browned out from a recent mini crash recolor very nice. Also I recieved a bottlebrush acro that looked great in the sps tank it was in with 20k lighting color up and look even better in my tank. I have a Green polyp birdsnest growing like crazy and retain every bit of the color it had while under 400w lighting. Red cap, purple rim cap, yellow slimer, green polyp staghorn and green milli all have good colors as well as growth. 6 decent size LPS all look good and flourece nicely. I have a nice collection of brown and tan digitata . Ok so these digis are the only thing that has lost color rather than gained it in my system, oh and a tan milli as well.

I attribute most of the color and growth to the water quality and just enough light to keep em happy.

The problem is I WANT MORE . That 2 hour period after the main photo period of the tank when just the actinics are on is my favorite viewing time. I think it would be nice to have that 12 hours a day .

The 20k tanks I have seen make everything look oh so special and I think I want more blue. The t-5 lit sps tanks I have seen makes the corals look unbelievablly colorful, in fact they can make the colors look so intense they seem not to be real. Shimmer is important to me so I will be using halides.

Simply switching bulbs on this setup I believe will drop the par to a unacceptable level for growth.

I was origanally thinking of switching to a single 400w bulb in 14 - 20k range. I have been discouraged by too many to believe that this is the right solution.

This is the setup I am leaning towards right now:

 

24" PFO parallel reflector.

250w m58 or ARO electronic ballast

250w XM 20k se bulb.

Triad Ballast

2ea 24" URI actinic white T-5 bulbs

 

I have seen a couple examples of tanks lit with this combo and it looks really nice. Jumping to 250 watts for the halide even at 20k will slightly increase the PAR. The actinic white will add more PAR and the 12k will tone down the blue just a little. I would also cosider using the GE 6500k bulbs for the T-5 "suppliment".

I have not seen a tank lit like that but, according to some "experts" the 20k 6500k combo hits all three color spectrums required for the differant zoox to thrive. This I will look into more.

 

So wadda ya think WAMAS?

[dandy7200]

image removed

[Gadgets]

IMO, if your looking for the "blue" look you should run XM 20ks and two URI actinics. That is what I am running. You saw my tank during the interview. I wish I had of let you see the tank with just actinics. With that said, I plan to use a combination of T-5 Blue+, URI Actinics, and MH on my next tank. I want to get the best of all three worlds!

[dandy7200]

Yeah Chris, I kind of want it all too. The blue+ is another option. Provides a little more PAR than the Actinic white. I do want the blue look but, I also want growth. All corals I have put in the tank are doing well, so I am thinking about adding some nicer pieces. I don't mind paying the $ for a LE frag but have a hard time coughing up the dough for an entire colony. I've got time to wait and watch the coral grow just not the heart to watch it sit and not grow under 20k at 150HQIw. While it may look better my goal is to bring up some nice colonies from frags in this tank so when I set up the biggun next year or so it won't cost me an arm and a leg to keep it from appearing bare. I do however need a little blue to get that warm and fuzzy feeling .

[dandy7200]

Does anyone maybe have advice on photoperiod when the 20k is halide and t-5 "suppliment" is a high par daylight bulb? I was just thinking of reversing and running the halide 12 hours a day and the t-5 for the 8hours in the middle?

[dandy7200]

Final decision:

 

PFO Parallel reflector 24"

PFO Standard Magnetic Ballast 250w (m58)

XM 20k se

2 bulb Tek T-5 Retro 24" (doubt I'll use the individual reflectors)

2ea Powerchrome Aquablue+

 

Still looking for advice/experience on photoperiod..........

[dschflier]

dandy, Where in Alexandria do you live? Currently I have 3 250 watt 10,000 bulbs and 2 96 watt blue acitinics in my 210. My 46 is T-5s. I am still not completely satisfied with the look of my 210. I think it is nice but not perfect. I am not sure if it is the water clarity the light color or both. The reason I am posting though is if you want to see what my color looks like you can feel free to come by. Plus you could give your input on what you think. I am always looking for input to improve my tank.

[Gadgets]

2 bulb Tek T-5 Retro 24" (doubt I'll use the individual reflectors)

 

Your going to loose a lot of par by doing this. Why get the t-5s if your not going to take advantage of their capabilities?

 

Just my opinion.

[dandy7200]

Your going to loose a lot of par by doing this. Why get the t-5s if your not going to take advantage of their capabilities?

 

Just my opinion.

 

 

The PFO parallel reflector should work better to distribute the light front to back. The kit comes with the reflectors so I do have the option to use them if "should" doesn't work as planned.

[gastone]

Here are my thoughts and I could be wrong...

 

From Sanjay's website here is a spectral plot of your 20k setup:

 

 

Notice the huge spike at 450nm and the minimal showing in the 420nm (true actinic).

 

Now here is a spectral plot of the megachrome T5:

 

 

This also spikes at 450nm. Seems like they would cancel one another out. If it were my tank (and like I said, I've never used 20k), I would use VHO true actinics (420nm) to supplement.

 

And I also agree with Chris that you should definitely get the individual reflectors for the T5. Huge difference in par.

 

Good luck.

 

Garrett.

 

 

Here's another option (if you've exhausted this route already, I apologize). Keep the 150 and put in an XM 10k. Here is a comparison with the 250 20k:

 

 

Notice the par values are almost exactly the same. So, for 40% less electricity you only lose 16% output. Now, supplement the 10k with a combination of VHO actinics and T5 blueplus. Overall you gain par (the new T5s) and your color quality goes up, but the electrical load stays the same as it is now.

 

Just a thought.

 

Garrett.

[dandy7200]

Sorry the pics are not there.

 

This is the bulb I selected.

Aquablue+

Link

 

It is a 60% actinic and 40% white.

 

I was going to go with the actinicwhite but this was similar, had more par and hit a better portion of the noon sun spectrum. That said I have no Idea about T-5 lighting other than what I have read.

 

I did ask TGR over on the Q-5 T&A thread on RC about the reflectors and he thought it was a non issue as the PFO reflector would do a great job. I am interested to find out what kind of differance it makes. Like I said the relectors come with the kit and so I will have them if I need them. What I am really hoping to do is be able to do is fit 2 T-5 bulbs on each side and then slap pure actinics on them and then as Chris said: the best of three worlds. We will see.

 

How much room does the T-5 take with the reflector? without?

 

Thanks for the help everybody.