Do I need more lighting?

SunnyX

SunnyX

Member
I currently have

-120 AGA (4x2x2)
-2x250watt MH XM 20K's run on an electronic ballast
-2x110watt VHO URi super actinic and actinic white also on an electronic balast.

I just added a Calcium Reactor and am seeing more growth but i want more :). Would adding another 250watt MH make much difference?
 
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Maxx

Maxx

Well-Known Member
I dont think you need more lighting at all. You've got 720 watts of lighting over your tank. The 250 watt MH's are penetrating deep enough to hit the bottom of the tank, and if memory serves right, you've got a sandbed, which means you've actually only got between 18-22 inches of depth in the tank. If you're wanting more/faster growth, I'd switch to the 10K Xm's which have twice the PAR of the 20K XM's over your tank currently. The 10k's are crisp white, but if you want the blue tint like the 20K's, just go w/ actinic 03 VHO's.
HTH,
Nick
 
Z

zy112

Active Member
i think your fine. if youve just added the calcium reactor i think the growth will really start to take off. i agree with going 10K XM's and supplement with actinic 03's. Although, on the 120 i am setting up i am going 2 x 400 watt MH.
 
Maxx

Maxx

Well-Known Member
Sanjay Joshi has tested and concluded that the 250 HQI/DE bulbs and reflectors put out almost as much PAR as 400 watt mogul based bulbs, (4/5ths the PAR) and use almost half the power. So it amazes me that people want to spend the money initially and then long term on 400W MH's. Not saying you cant, its your money, I'd just rather spend it on stuff in the tank.
Sanjay's 250 w HQI/DE test.
With the “HQI” ballast on the 400W Ushio the light output is higher but so is the power consumption. The most PPFD for the USHIO 400W lamp was with the PFO HQI ballast (165) where as the most for the 250W DE lamps was with the AB lamp (128), however the Ushio 400W consumed 512W of power, where as the 250W AB lamp only consumed 304W of power. The difference in PPFD is 37 units where as the difference in power is 208W. Combine this with the fact that the reflectors for the 250W DE systems are much better given the smaller size of the lamp, I am starting to believe that the 250W DE 10000K lamps are a better option for most mid size tanks.
Click to expand...
Given the costs of electricity in most places, I think its time for aquarists to seriously reconsider the use of 400W 10000K lamps.
Click to expand...
HTH,
Nick
 
tommyp

tommyp

Member
If it is only the lighting its the 20k's. They look great but growth slows abit. We have a club member who is a sps freak who has 20k on one side and iwasakis on the other. The colors are sweet under the radiums but the growth is slower. the par is just alot lower on the 20k's.

I am experimenting with running iwasakis and t5 20k's to make the tank more blue. but still have good growth. I get my t5 bulbs tommorow so I will take some pics. I have super actinics right now and I don't like the pink hue. I want to get the tank enough blue so that I can possibly add another iwasaki and it won't look too yellow to my taste.

Tom
 
mnreefman

mnreefman

Well-Known Member
i didnt know he was running hqi de bulbs.. if in fact these are what your running i agree keep these....
 
JB NY

JB NY

Member
You're running 20K lamps. Almost all find them the poorest lamps for growth. If you want more growth and want to keep the 20K, move up to 400 watters, be even then you might be dissapointed. Droping down to a 10K lamp should give you much better growth. But the color might not be to your liking.
 
C

cheeks69

Wannabe Guru
RS STAFF
After checking out your testing Joe I went with the Coralvue 12k 250w with the Reefanatic electronic ballast hopefully I'll have good growth with them , it's not so white not so blue. I don't know if you've seen the side by side comparisons SunnyX if not check it out.

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

SunnyX

Member
So you think If i switch to 10k XM's should I add another actinic?
I tried to put my USHIO 10k's back in but the tank looked like crap.
Everything was colorless. Do the Xm 10k's look beetter?
 
C

cheeks69

Wannabe Guru
RS STAFF
I'll let Joe chime in but from what I understand the lower the K the better the growth. I don't like the color of the 10k but if you have actinic supplementation you should be fine.
 
JB NY

JB NY

Member
I think you'll see a big difference in growth. It generally takes at least a month or so for your corals to adjust to the new lighting. But you'll definitely get more growth than using 20K lamps.

The color of the tank is in the eye of the beholder IMO. I personally do not like the look of a tank lit with 20K lamps, it's too blue for me. I have 280 watt of VHO actinics on my tank and the color of 10K with the actinics is more to my liking. but after seeing all the lamsp on my tank, I would like a little more blue than I have, so I plan on adding another 140 watt 5' VHO actinic tube to the tank next month when I swap out my VHO lamps after their year of use.

HTH
 
SunnyX

SunnyX

Member
after debating it I will most likely be going with 400 watt XM 20k's. I just cant give up the color of the 20k's.

I was wondering also if anyone knew how much PAR VHO's put out. the URi's that is.
 
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