Major Lighting Upgrade. Need Some Imput

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64Ivy

64Ivy

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Joined
Feb 18, 2005
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Location
Greenwich, CT
After nearly a decade I am about to undergo a major lighting upgrade, basically going from (4) AB 10K 250W MHs plus (3) 20K 400W Radiums all hood-mounted in Spiderlight reflectors (plus 640W of VHO actinics) to (3) Sfiligoi Twin 400W XR4s pendants. The recommended bulbs are BLVs and I am thinking of going with one 10K and one 20K in each pendant (with no actinics). My goal is skewed more toward color than growth and the tank is a 10 year old 500g (96 X 36 X 36), SPS dominant.

Any thoughts on this? Recommendations? Critiques?

It's been difficult for me to do a PAR comparision because BLVs aren't listed in Sanjays site, although I've heard they're made by Ushio. I don't know if the characteristics are the same however. Also, my current lighting set up is run through magnetic ballasts while the new one would be through Sfiligis electronics.

Anyway, I've still got a little time to decide so any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
 
Hi Michael,
It's nice to see you here :)

I haven't run the ballasts and reflectors you are referring to so I can't comment on them one way or another. I sold 3 of the new Sunlight Supply Lumen Max 2 reflectors to Redeyereef a couple of days ago. He has a PAR meter and is supposed to let me know how they perform in the next week or so. He is currently using 24" PFO reflectors. The only change will be the reflectors, the bulbs and ballasts will be the same. I will see if he will post his results here.

I've been playing around with the Giesemann T5 HO actinic+ (450nm) fluorescent Lamps for coral coloration. I've been very pleased with the results so far. I have been using them in combination with 10,000K (they burn with a color temp. about 12,000K with my equipment) 400W mogul Reeflux bulbs in 24" PFO reflectors, driven by PFO HQI magnetic ballasts. I have 14 of these bulbs burning over 4 tanks and the results are pretty uniform. The blue corals really stand out.

I have run the 10,000K BLV/20,000K Radium combo before with good coloration but not exceptional. Purple corals looked very good with the coloration very intense. I was using PFO reflectors and PFO magnetic ballasts. The growth however was outstanding averaging 1-1.5" per month on a wide variety of SPS corals. I had 5 400W (3 BLV and 2 Radium) bulbs over 96" x 44".

Regards,
Kevin
 
Thanks for the reply. Were the Reeflux's SE by any chance? I'm really looking for a combo that accentuates coral color as opposed to growth. Also, as it stands now, I'll be going without actinics. If I don't like the look (and I've always liked actinic augmentation), I can add them later.
 
Hi Michael,
Yes they are. I can send you a few used ones to try if you would like. The power will be diminished but the color would be representative.

Regards,
Kevin
 
Very much appreciated but I have a reefkeeping aquaintence here that uses the SE Reeflux, which is one reason I asked. I had already planned to borrow one of his, as well as a couple other brands, when my ballasts and pendants come in from Sfiligoi.

So far, you are the only person I've spoken to who has used the BLV brand for comparison so your input is especially valuable. Thanks a lot! Any other outstanding MH combos come to mind?
 
Michael,
Make sure the Reeflux bulbs are recent (in the last 10 months) there were some older ones that had a pink tint.

The next closest was the XM/Radium combo. They looked OK too.

I've tried a bunch of bulbs but haven't found any that I liked as much as my current setup (I have them on 2 - 48" cubes, a 450 and a 550) :cool:

Regards,
Kevin
 
Michael,
I can understand the desire to switch lighting to accent color vs growth, but I'm curious about your decision to change out your equipment too. Was there a reason for this? Why did you settle on sfigloi for your new lighting? Where you planning on using the dimmer computer that is compatible with them, the ACLS?

Nick
 
Blame Sanjay Joshi :) . Actually, to take one step back, my current hood has been getting waaaay long in the tooth and would've needed replacement soon anyhow. Then, after hearing Sanjay's talk at MACNA this year, I came to agree that the versatility of pendants make them a better option for me than any fixed hood. The ability to raise and lower them, for instance, gives me more control over lighting intensity, which I expect will afford me longer usable bulb life. Of course, pendants also allow for a more open surface area which aids in cooling, thus bringing down the cost of operating my chillers.

As for the Sfiligois, all I can say is that I also saw them at MACNA and was impressed with both their build and the ACLS features. In fact, we have a new LFS here that is running these pendants and so far, they couldn't be happier with them.

Trust me, I'm one of those people who hate change (I even continue to own a turntable and a few film cameras...y'know, in case this digital thing doesn't work out), but I figure if I HAVE to make a change, I want to accomplish everything I need to so I only have to do it once. That's why I'm obsessing about the 'right' bulb combination.

Hope this answers your question. Thanks for asking.
 
Ahh,
thanks for the info there.

If your happy with the AB10K's, stick with them by all means...unfortunately, I'm not as up on the 400 watt MH bulb choices as I am with the 250's....

Looking briefly at a few E-tailers websites, I can find:

10K Ushio
10K XM
10k AB
12K Sunburst
13K Megachrome
14K Ushio
14K Hamilton
15K XM
20K Ushio
20K Radium
20k XM

As the main ones...there are some reeflux bulbs which I'm unfamilar with as well.

I've used the Hamilton 14K DE's over my reef. I liked the color, but it slowed the growth of my acro's.

Might be something to look at if you dont want to go with the Radium's. Also if your wanting to go w/ lower PAR, might check out doing a combination of Xm 10K's and XM 20K's. If you like the color of the XM 20K's that is. Bonus to those bulbs is that they are readily available and relatively inexpensive when compared to other bulbs on the market....

Nick
 
Hi Ivy64,

I’ll chime in (this may be long, feel free to skip).

As Kevin mentioned, I did some testing on my new LM2 reflectors that just went over my reef a few days ago. I was running 4 400w AC14k bulbs off PFO HQI 430w ballasts in PFO reflectors stretching the full 8' of my 360 gallon (96Lx36Wx24H) with 4 4’ Actinic VHO on IC’s. My Apogee “Elec” light meter at 10" below the bulb in PFO reflectors ranged PAR 450-770 (edge to center PFO reflector), VHO off.

After 8 hours of installing 3 LM2 reflectors (very nicely build reflector) keeping same ballasts and bulb's (one less MH bulb & ballast then before) I tested the new LM2 at 700-1200 PAR. This reflector is brighter with a more square pattern of light then my PFO but this test was VERY unscientific. Difficulty keeping consistent placement of light meter to bulb because of new setup. But now I only have 3 MH's (less heat & electricity) and can only see a slight difference of light brightness on one end of reef. Very worth the change.

Now bulbs; I like color over growth. To me growth is over rated and requires more maintenance. IMHO if you want color, run MH's with VHO actinics and/or T5 Blue Plus. I’m running all three to maximize color. I have tried and tested a few bulbs and here is my humble opinion, not fact.

-XM 15k, don't waste your time.
-Radium, standard for coral color, ok growth, PAR good, replace often.
-XM10k great bulb, high par, I'm not a 10k fan (Ushio & AB similar).
-Ham 14k good all around bulb, not a knock out in any one category.
-XM20k, good color corals, too dim and low par.
-Sun Aquatic 20k, ok 20k, I like better then xm20k & higher PAR.
-EVC 14k, this is an actinic MH bulb in my book, may good if pair w/10k’s.
-CV Reeflux, PAR on par with Ushio, AB, XM10k, AC14k, nice color, still 10k.
-AC14k, I love this bulb, great visual blue tint, high PAR, high cost, does last, near impossible to find.

If I can’t find AC14k in the future I’d go Reeflux or XM10k, maybe Ham 14k or Radium.

I think if your “old” setup worked, don’t change it. Only thing you may consider is upgrading reflectors. IMO; if you are set on no VHO/T5’s go with 4 LAIII’s; if you keep VHO’s for color then LM2 are a smaller reflector and works well for wrapping with fluorescents. A private testors has told me it is close to same spread of light as LAIII.

Good Luck.
 
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Thanks a lot for the replies, fellas! So far, based on all the research and the imput I've received, I'm narrowing my choices to a combination of Reeflux, XM, BLV (Sfiligois recommended brand) or my old ABs (all 10Ks) with Reeflux, BLV, or my current Radiums (all 20Ks). I'd also love to take a look at the AC14K bulb you mentioned, RedEyeReef. Where did you get yours?

Another thing I've done is (finally) sprung for an Apogee meter so I can run my own tests to determine PAR. I do understand I'll be comparing apples to oranges, at least in the beginning, since my new reflectors will also be the square (well, retangular really) pendant kind versus my old Spiderlights which are mounted in my current fixed hood. Still, since so many bulbs haven't been 'offically' tested yet, I still think it is well worth the investment.

By the way, all this just in time for Richard Harkers article in the new Reef Annual Magazine where he seems to advocate high intensity but LOWER spectrum bulbs, maybe with actinic suppliments for asthetics. And me, perhaps, giving up my actinics for the very first time. Oh, well. :rolleyes:
 
Where did you get yours?

www.aquaristic.com is the only place I've seen them. $145 ea. for 400w. Sanjay tested them with Lumenarc III, they had the absolute highest par of any bulb that he tested on pfo hqi ballast.
 
Thanks for the information and the link, I'll be sure to check them out. I ordered mine from Aquarium Obssesed, one of the vendors I met at Macna this year and one of the few who currently carry this line.
 
64Ivy said:
Thanks for the information and the link, I'll be sure to check them out. I ordered mine from Aquarium Obssesed, one of the vendors I met at Macna this year and one of the few who currently carry this line.
Click to expand...

Is there a link for Aquarium Obssesed? Would like to check them out.
 
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