Halide Help?????

[Anonymous]

Does anyone out there use a 24" halide fixture???? I am thinking of getting one but I have a few questions first. Would 175 watt halide plus 2 20watt actinics be overkill on a 20 long.......only 12" deep??

What is the difference B\W the Halides....5500K, 10000k etc....and which would be best for me???

Will these bulbs cause excessive heating of a small tank like mine??? the fixture I saw has 2 fans so they should help but still???

Lastly....without going the DIY route does anyone know of a good deal out there??? I have a price from Hamilton for about $500

.......kinda steep!!!! THANKS

 

[Anonymous]

How small is small? For me, small was 55 gal, which I determined would overheat with metal halides. The reason is the pumpheads alone keep it at 79 to 80 F without the heater coming on. Because of this I bought 4X 55 W compact fluorescents, and have been very happy with the results so far. If I upgrade, it will be with more of them rather than Halides. I got this from Hamilton. You get what you pay for. It isn't cheap, but is extremely well made. You can buy through www.marinedepot.com and save on the shipping. Even so, compare prices with Hamilton factory-direct; what I got was cheaper from Hamilton directly.

As for the various Kelvin ratings, briefly, this refers to "color temperature". Bigger numbers mean bluer light, and the number characterizes the spectrum as a best fit to a theoretical black-body radiation source. The K value is an adjustable parameter in Planck's law to give you a particular shaped curve, and the higher the temperature, the bluer the maximum in the spectrum. It does a better job describing halide lamps than fluorescent lamps. 7500K fluorescents for example are very blue because they lack the phosphors that put out reds and yellows. You will find everyone has their opinions on lighting, and mine is that fluorescents are perfectly adequate and present less of a cooling problem and also are cheaper to run in the long term.

 

[Anonymous]

My 55 certainly doesn't overheat at all since I have started using halides. In the event that there's no thermal isolation of the bulbs from the tank, there could be a signifiacnt amount of heat added to the water. But I have 4 MJ 1200 pumps running, 2 175W MH lamps, 2 110W VHOs... and the heater definitely turns on during the day... All I use for cooling is a couple of small computer fans...

I'd say that a 1000W would be overkill on a 20. But plenty of tanks in that size range use 400W halides with no problems. I'd also say a 250W 6500K iwasaki would be a good moderate solution. The bulb is fairly intense and won't cost nearly as much to replace on a continuing basis as the high K rated bulbs. The 5500K bulbs will look like somebody urinated in the water...but they are cheap...

If you get the Ham hood with 2 fans, you should have no big problems with heating. Just leave a small space between the hood and tank for air circulation, and you'll be in good shape... I also would recommend just getting some NO actinics instead of the PCs or VHOs... The type of blue light they put out is really nice to see coral pigment fluorescence, and they cost less to operate and replace than the others.

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http://members.xoom.com/FriscoReef/

 

[Anonymous]

THANKS for the help!!!!1

It is a 20 gallon long in case I was unclear.....sorry.

Should I just put some wood blocks under the canopy to get it off the tank a little so air will flow better???

Anyone out there who has halides and actinics over a 20 gallon I would love to hear how it's doing!!!!

 

[Anonymous]

Salty Dog,
email [email protected]

He can get custom hoods made that aren't anymore expensive than a premade, out of the box one. You can also get any manufacturer's parts in it and they wire it for you.

I've been searching for 4 months for my optimal MH setup and this was the only place I found exactly what I wanted.

I am in no way affiliated with them, other than the fact that they're getting to know VISA real well through me

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My wallet lies at the bottom of my reef.

 

[Anonymous]

SD,

I had a 175 over my 20 for over a year. Upgraded to 400. Was great. It doesnt matter what size tank you have...what matters is the animals you are keeping. I cant stress that enough.



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Dan
Minotaur15 on #reefs
http://www.tcnj.edu/~maughme2/

 

[Anonymous]

Min15......do these bulbs transfer heat to the tank much??? Why did you upgrade to 400 watt??? 175 not enough?? do you use 6500K or 10000K???? or other?? what kind of corals do you keep??? do you have the canopy on or above the tank a little??

I am starting to wonder if I should try DIY?????? Anyone have an idea???

 

[Anonymous]

One other option might be the reefsun pendant hoods. It hangs over the tank, so not as much heat would get transfered to the tank. It was suggested that I go with a 175Watt 10K bulb for a shallow 24 gal tank (24"x18"x12" deep). The color of the 10K bulb should be blue enough to not need atinics, and the total price is around $290.

I haven't purchased it yet, as I was also considering upgrading to the 12K 250 bulb for around $20 more.

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Dresch
http://members.aol.com/drdresch/aquarium

 

[Anonymous]

SD,

<<<do these bulbs transfer heat to the tank much??? >>>

With a properly designed canopy or full hood with adequate ventilation - very little.

<<<Why did you upgrade to 400 watt???
175 not enough?? >>>

Needed more to support bright coloration in my Acroporas and other SPS.

<<<do you use 6500K or 10000K?????>>>

I used 10k with the 175 and now use 6500 with the 400. I like the look of the 10k, however the bulb replacement costs coupled with the short bulb life led me to switch to Iwasaki when I upgraded the wattage. I like both equally.

<<<what kind of corals do you keep???>>>

You can see a complete list of the animals in my tank right here: http://www.tcnj.edu/~maughme2/critters.html

<<<do you have the canopy on or above the tank a little??>>>

You can see a pic of the canopy how it used to be on the old tank here: http://www.tcnj.edu/~maughme2/light.html

I prefer to use an open, hanging canopy that hangs approximately 9" off the tanks surface. It allows for much better heat dispersion.

HTH,

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Dan
Minotaur15 on #reefs
http://www.tcnj.edu/~maughme2/