HQI vs. MH

[MarineDreamer]

Does anyone know some quick and dirty links to references to the pros and cons of HQI bulbs vs. using MH's?

I’m looking to build a new reef, but I can’t find any articles as to why HQI may/may not be better than MH. And correct me if I’m wrong, but all double ended bulbs are HQI, right?

Thanks

 

[dpaynter]

HQI is a form of MH for starters. I don't have any quick links, but do a search for "Sanjay" or "Sanjay Joshi". You will find links to lots of articles he has written on lighting.

 

[Krish]

I've always wondered the same thing Trevor. When I got my PFO metal halide setup, everyone was asking if the ballast was HQI...It almost sounds like HQI's are better than the mogul based MH's. Either that or they just may take up less space being a smaller bulb but pack the same punch I need to follow along to see if I can learn something

 

[bc_slc]

So DE bulbs and DE pendants like the reef optix IIIs and the PFOs tend to focus the light into the tank very well. In that respect, they tend to be a bit more efficient with less light wasted out the sides of the tank. That being said, they require a magnetic/HQI ballast which pushes the bulbs a bit harder, using more energy and being less efficient. However, a good DE setup can generate more PAR, more light and more penetration and therefore you could use a 250w DE setup and get similar results as a 400w mogul/SE (aka a regular) setup. For tanks that are deeper (>24" deep) then a DE setup helps the light to penetrate a little deeper into the tank.

That being said, because they focus the light more, you typically need to use the same type of DE bulb in each reflector as the colors do not mix well, unlike with a mogul setup. Also a mogul setup works better when you want the light to spread out a bit more, like in a cube or where you are trying to cover more space with a single light. For example if you used a DE/HQI setup for a 3x3 foot cube or 2 reflectors in a 5 foot tank, you would end up having areas where there was much less light.

The major exception to this are the Lumenarc reflectors for mogul bulbs. They may be the best pendant out there.

Mat

 

[Scooterman]

Edit as per Boomers reply.

 

[liveforphysics]

HQI = MH ballast with around 20-40!% higher capacitor value, and sometimes transformers with additional heat dissapation modifications performed to deal with the additional current.

This means, its a MH ballast that overdrives the bulbs. From the test data I found, the best HQI ballast was a tiawian made unit (test didnt include icecaps or a few other slick electronic ballasts).

The PFO unit drew more current, while outputting less light than the tiawian made unit.

For actinic type bulbs, you have essentialy zero bennifit from overdriving. For bulbs closer to full spectrum, overdriving helps more and more.

HPS (high pressure sodium) responds best of all to overdriving.


If you wish your 400watt halides could be 500watt halides, use HQI ballasts and you get your wish. If you are happy with 400watt halides, use normal ballasts.

 

[Scooterman]

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/oct2002/feature.htm

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/feb2004/feature1.htm

http://www.personal.psu.edu/faculty/s/b/sbj4/aquarium/ballast comparison/ballast-comparison.html

PFO

http://www.pfolighting.com/AqBallasts.aspx

AMP draw

http://www.pfolighting.com/AqWiringDiagram.aspx

This is the part I don't like yea you get high PAR in their testing but @ over 5 amps, compare regular ballast & then you get a better test if your looking for better efficiencies.

 

[Boomer]

Scoot

FYI HIQ is a trademark name brand, has nothing to do with DE lamps

Where did you get that from

HQI is a bulb type design = DE. It started as a common name for DE bulbs in Germany. HQI = H (from the H is Hg for Mercury chemical symbol) Quarz Iodine. It also, many years go, stood for Halogen Qaurtz Iodine, now called Halogen Lamps, Quartz Halogen lamps or Tungsten Halogen lamps. SE =Mogual base are also HQI. It is just us that refers to HQI = DE. Sometimes, in the lighting industry, HQI Moguls based bulbs which are tubular in shape are called HQI. These HQI are often written as HQI-SE, vs. HQI- DE


bc_slc

That being said, because they focus the light more

No, that is not the reason, it is as lifeforphysics said. How could they focus the light more when the plasma arch tube is may times bigger than a SE. That is like saying a Fluorescent lamp can focus even more light, because it has an even bigger plasma tube than a HQI-DE The bigger the PS (Point Source) the less it can focus and become more "flood light " than "spot light". If you took a HQI-DE and a SE-Mogul and both where driven the same, with the same W and same output and measured its light intensity at any distance, the SE would register higher on the light meter.

 

[Scooterman]

Scoot

FYI HIQ is a trademark name brand, has nothing to do with DE lamps

Where did you get that from

I got that from RC
Hey I guess that is another Hear say!

 

[jlehigh]

I think BC_SLC was thinking of the reflectors/pendants which typically house the DE bulbs. DE type pendants often have a parabolic reflector wich tends to create high focal areas down toward the tank. This is why the DE tests often show higher peak PAR numbers BUT high peak doesnt mean better overall distribution. I think I did a write up on this topic a while back.. lemme see what I can find..

 

[bc_slc]

Yes Jlehigh, there are certainly differneces in the bulbs between DE and SE, as well as the balasts that run those bulbs, but I think that one of the biggest differences in selecting between the type of system is based on the pendent you plan to run. If you have a deeper tank or plan to run more bulbs in the same space (the perfect example is a 5' tank - 3 pendants vs 2 pendants) then I think that the DE offers a nice capture of all that light we are generating. The downside is the bulbs don't overlap very well because they are so focused (if you run different bulbs).

Mat

 

[MarineDreamer]

Kewl!

Thanks Scottie for all the links... That's what I was looking for.

Boomer and liveforphysics, thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience and for putting it into laymen’s terms!

bc slc- odd that you should mention a 5' tank; as that's what I'm researching for. I'm currently running a 55 gallon tank with 2 250W 10K XM's under PFO reflectors, supplemented with four 28/32W actinics on an IceCap 430. I'm currently running the MH's for twelve hours and the actinics for fourteen. I really, really like the look of this lighting. And the corals seem to thrive under them. But I am running into heat issues. So with the 180 project I was hoping to raise the lights and that would require MORE POWER!

 

[Scooterman]

I was comparing the PFO vrs The HQI PFO & according to their website they post almost double amperage for the HQI Now on the testing Sanjy did not the actual case, the lamp decided that. If you used XM10K on the standard PFO you get around 600 PAR, HQI PFO over 800 PAR, either one of these blows the competition away leaving out the 6.5k of course.

http://www.cnidarianreef.com/lamps.cfm

 

[Boomer]

OK Mat got that