any 1000 watt users out there???

[janmango]

if so where did you get your setup and what bulb or bulbs have u used. Do you prefer the 65, 10 or 20k's??? Looking to upgrade my lighting and the 1000 watt has really caught my attention. So please any of you with any info, please come forth and share what you have experienced. Thanks!

jan

 

[john f]

It depends on the water depth.
My new 1000 gallon reef will be 4 ft deep.
A 400 watt bulb will not penetrate deep enough.
OTOH, 600+ gallon systems which are only 30 inches deep and like 10 ft long would be able to use several 400 watt bulbs just fine.

The wattage of halide lamps needed for any tank is a function of water depth only. Total gallonage, length, or width mean nothing. Deep tanks need high wattage lamps to grow SPS and Clams. Now if you want a deep water reef system you can decrease the lamp wattage to 400s or even 250s.

Since most tanks are 24-30 inches deep 400 watt bulbs will suffice for these.

John

 

[Anonymous]

Superleet,
Research facilities for coral physiology and reef degradation tend to use 1000 watt bulbs because we find they often provide more accurate overall intensity relative to where they were collected from. At the Center for Tropical Research in Summerland Key, FL, they (1000 watt Venture Metal Halides) are used about 12"-15" inches from the water line (lux reducing and diffussion shielding is used based on any number of variables, from acclimation to experimental design) on systems that average about 90- 130 gallons and are probably about 20"-25" deep.

john f, don't forget that wattage never corresponds reliably/consistently to the actual amount of light being emitted or the irradiance being received. Color temperature and other factors, such as bulb construction/type/orientation can often have dramatic affects on emmittance/irradiance. Also, at 30" deep, I would probably opt for 1000 watt bulbs, but hey, thats just me, as such is often not practical and even if it were, it would depend on the zonation/depth being replicated

.
cheers,
Chris

 

[janmango]

superleet,

this is going on my 58 gal..19 inches deep.

Galleon,

So do you recommend the Ventures...55k?? Or do you think with 1000 watts, it will be up to the eye of the beholder. I think 10k's will look awesome!!

jan

 

[Anonymous]

jan, the 10,000k 1000 watt halides are gorgeous. Sparkling, tear-jerking white. The Florida Aquarium uses them (Osram) on their Atlantic live coral display. I very much like both the 5500k and the 10,000k. I would honestly be hard pressed to choose, lol. For a more accurate depth illusion, I would say 10,000k, for reef flats and very high energy zonation replications, probably the Venture's

 

[john f]

"john f, don't forget that wattage never corresponds reliably/consistently to the actual amount of light being emitted or the irradiance being received. Color temperature and other factors, such as bulb construction/type/orientation can often have dramatic affects on emmittance/irradiance"

You are correct Chris.
I was assuming these to be held as constants.
My statement applies to most of the bulbs available to the hobby.
Of course I am partial to the higher kelvin bulbs and it sounds as if you are partial to the higher PAR bulbs.

Still, for most 30" tanks, figure a 5 " sandbed and the real water depth is only 25".
Also I tend to put my bulbs very close to the water (8") compared to the 12-15" you mentioned.
I believe the light intensity for any given bulb is at least double when the distance is reduced by 1/2. I thought I remembered it was even more than this but I can't find any data to back me up just yet.

Good points though.

How is the Atlantic display doing at the Florida Aquarium? I was there about 1 year after the opening and I was very disapointed in the reef tank.
The rest of the aquarium was great but the reef looked like an algae farm and the corals all showed very poor expansion. Hope they have improved over the last few years.

John

 

[Anonymous]

John, the Florida Aquarium coral tank has improved. I was last there in May, and while they have Acropora cervicornis growing out of their ears, and their coral health seems divided. Their unique problem lies in the fact that they have had, since initial setup, a strange algae infestation, probably introduced via the live rock, this is all I was told by the tank's caretaker. I don't know the specifics of their "battle" (grazers tried, etc.), so I can't really comment other to say that that part of the system hasn't changed (not forgetting that the lack of expansion could have been conditional, ya never know what they were playing with the day or the day before you visited

).

 

[br1200]

janmango,
Go to my web site and see.
I'm using 3 1000W 20KK.

There is only one company (in US) that makes 20KK bulbs.

The housing for the bulbs are made by hydrofarm.

They are heat generators, so prepared to buy a BIG chiller and some fans too because it will heat your top of the tank.

Other then that take a look and see (from the pic) if you like the color.

Let me know if you need more info.

--Arnon

 

[Anonymous]

Arnon, my friend, I would love to have a look at your photos, however your website is not listed inyour profile, nor is it in your post...

 

[br1200]

galleon,

My dear, you're absulotly correct.
I realized it after the fact. (I'm slow)

Any how now its in my profile.
In any case it's www.members.home.com/arnon.brouner/welcome.htm

Take care

--Arnon

 

[john f]

Hope this works Chris: http://members.home.net/arnon.brouner/aqua/

 

[Terra Ferma]

Arnon,

How hot are we talking here? Hilojack (Phil) seems to have one large fan cooling 1600 watts (1000 + 400 x 3), and runs no chiller on the tank. It this someting that can be done in Cal. w/o a chiller, assuming that the light is not in or behind a canopy?

 

[Anonymous]

Email Rod Beuller (sp?) at rodsreef. He just recently made the switch to 1000 watters.

 

[SuperLeet]

What kind of freakin monster tank do you have?!? 1000 watts?!

The only places i know that use those are public aquariums and sewage treatment facilities! But the lights are about 10ft from the water there!

Will i need 1000watters for a 300-800 gallon?

 

[br1200]

Terra Ferma

I run 1.5HP chiller and an industrial fan
blowing air on the top. The chiller only runs once every 3 HRs. But when it was installed the tech guy had to tweak the pressure to fit the high temp.

As far as California goes I live in San Diego so temps here can run high.

The whole system is in the garage which is open 18 HR a day to let air cool the place.

Sounds crazy isn't it.
--Arnon

 

[davelin315]

Geez, you're going to give your corals skin cancer in a 58 with 1000watt lights! You might want to talk to Homer J. Simpson about some plutonium to power those lights too!