Sanjay's Lighting Guide

Message from Sanjay LEDs FAQ Articles MH Ballasts MH Lamps MH Compare

• Greetings! I am Dr. Sanjay Joshi and this is my reef aquarium lighting guide. Here I will present all the spectral and performance data for all the LED & Metal Halide lamps I have tested since 1998. The data has been available in my articles published in reef keeping magazines. This is my attempt to make the data more accessible to reef hobbyists all over the world, in a more dynamic format that allows for easy retrieval and flexibility in comparing the performance and spectral data for different lamps. May the Light be with You and Your Reef. – Sanjay Joshi Note: In most cases the data is based on 1 sample lamp and ballast, and some variation should be expected between lamps and ballasts of the same brand and type. For technical issues, please contact [email protected]

  Sanjay's Blog Posts

• What is this site all about?
  Over the last several years I have been testing metal halide lamps and ballast combinations in an effort to get some quantitative data on the light output from these lamps and ballasts. The emphasis is not on determining what is the best lamp, but rather to determine what the lamps are actually doing. Once this is known, then we can begin to answer the following questions:

  Given a bulb/ballast/reflector combination – What light levels and distribution can I expect ?
  What are the differences between different bulb/ballast/reflector combinations ?
  Does a particular combination meet my needs (coral needs)?
  How I can design around the limitations/ strengths of a particular combo?
  The site currently does not have data on the reflectors, but this information will be added in the near future.

  What data is available on this site?
  This website has the following data available for over 900 metal halide lamps and ballast combinations:
  
  The spectral plot shows the amount of power output by a given lamp at different wavelengths. The X-axis shows the wavelength and the Y axis shows the power density. For example, from the spectral plot above, we can see that the Ushio 400W lamp running on a Magnetek ballast has 0.40 Watts/m^2 of power density at 420 nm. Performance data for the lamps and ballast, which includes the power consumption, PPFD, CCT, and efficiency.

  Lamp name – Identifier used for the lamps (brand name – Wattage – Color Temp as sold – Type of lamp, single ended (SE) or double ended (DE) – Designator for the number of lamp tested, so 1 means sample #1, a 2 would mean sample #2, etc. Ballast name – Ballast used to test the lamp
  Shield – (N or Y), indicating if the lamp was shielded with a glass shield when the data was collected. Double ended lamps are usually required to be used with a shield, so data was collected under both shielded and non shielded conditions. PPFD – Photosynthetic Photon Flux Density as measured. see 4 below CCT – Correltated Color temperature, as measured. see 5 below Power – Indicates the actual power consumed in Watts when the lamp was running as measured by a true RMS Watt meter. This is what your electric company will charge you for if you were to use this ballast and lamp combination. Volts – measured the actual volts going into the ballast when the test was conducted Amps – measured the actual amps going into the ballast when the test was conducted. This number can be used to estimate how much amps your wiring will be subjected to under steady state conditions. Remember that this number can be higher when the lamp is starting up. Efficiency – this is ratio of light output to input power (PPFD/Power). Provides an indication at how efficiently power is converted to light.

  How does the wavelength correspond to color?
  The visible light spans the wavelengths from 400 nm to 700 nm. Visually this approximately corresponds to the following colors:

  Violet – 400 to 440nm

  Blue – 440 to 490nm

  Green – 490 to 540nm

  Yellow – 540 to 590nm

  Orange – 600 to 650nm

  Red – 650 to 700nm

  What is PPFD?
  PPFD stands for Photosynthetic Photon Flux Density, and is the technically correct term when PAR (Photosynthetically Available Radiation) is measured as the number of photons of light falling on a given area in a given amount of time.. The units are micromoles per meter square per second. 1 micro mole is = 6.023X1017. So for example, when you see a value for PPFD=200 it means that there are 200X6.023X1017 photons falling on a 1 meter square area in one second.

  What is difference between PAR and PPFD?
  PAR is the Photsynthetically Available Radiation which is all radiation between 400-700 nm wavelength range. It can be measured in several units. Just like distance can be measured in feet, meters, etc. PAR can be measured in different units used to measure radiation. When PAR is measured by the number of photons falling on a given area in a given amount of time, this is called PPFD and the units used are micromoles per meter square per second.

  What is CCT?
  Correlated Color Temperature (CCT) which is defined as the value of the temperature of the black body radiator when the radiator color matches that of the light source. So when you see a lamp labeled as 10,000K what it implies is that the color produced by the lamp is similar to color produced by a black body heated to 10,000 Kelvin.

  Why are these numbers different from what I have seen from other people’s data?
  The PPFD measured is a function of the distance at which the data is collected. To compare 2 different readings you have to make sure that the distance at which the measurements are made is the same. Since PPFD measures light falling on a given area, as we increase the distance from the source to the measurement plane, the same amount of photons get spread over a larger area.
  

  At what distance are these measurements made?
  All measurements are made at 18” from the centerline of the lamp to the top of the sensor dome.

  What instrument is used to make these measurements?
  Licor Spectroradiometer LI-800

  Where can I go to get more information?
  The following articles from my Facts of Light series provide more detailed information on lighting for aquarium hobbyists.

  Part I: What is Light?

  Facts of Light – Part I: What is Light? by Sanjay Joshi – Reefkeeping.com

  Introduction: The choice of lighting is one the most important decisions to make when setting up a reef tank. The light fixtures and related equipment are some of the more expensive pieces of equipment both at initial setup up as well as in their contribution to daily operating costs.

  Part II: Photons

  Facts of Light – Part 2: Photons by Sanjay Joshi – Reefkeeping.com

  As discussed in Part I, we need to think of light in terms of photons. A photon is the smallest discrete particle of energy that travels along a wave defined by its wavelength, and the amount of energy contained in the photon can be mathematically determined.

  
  
  Part III: Making Sense of Light Measures

  Facts of Light – Part 3: Making Sense of Light Measures by Sanjay Joshi – Reefkeeping.com

  A large amount of confusion about light measurements comes from the fact that there are several different ways of measuring light. Many terms are used to measure aspects of lighting, and a simple cruise on the Internet will take you through a plethora of terms such as: lumens, lux, candlepower, foot-candles, lamberts, phot, nit, irradiance, illuminance, Color Rendition Index (CRI), Kelvin and Photosynthetic Photon Flux Density (PPFD), among others.

  
  
  Part IV: Color Temperature

  Facts of Light – Part 4: Color Temperature by Sanjay Joshi – Reefkeeping.com

  One the most abused and misunderstood terms in reef aquarium lighting is color temperature. Lamps, both fluorescent and metal halide, are being sold in the hobby based on color temperature ratings ranging from 5000K to 50000K, with a wide range of values in between.

  
  
  Part V: Everything You Need to Know About Metal Halide Lamps and Ballasts

  Facts of Light – Part 5: Everything You Need to Know About Metal Halide Lamps and Ballasts by Sanjay Joshi – Reefkeeping.com

  Metal halide (MH) lighting is often an intimidating choice for beginning reef aquarists and DIY enthusiasts alike. This article will provide basic background information on MH lighting systems, as well as an understanding of the basic vocabulary used when talking about metal halide lights, and the hardware components that make up a complete lighting system.

• Complete Listing of all of Sanjay’s Reef Related Articles

  Spectral Analysis of MH Lamps

  Spectral Analysis of Metal Halide Lamps Used in the Reef Aquarium Hobby Part 1: New 400-watt Lamps, Aquarium Frontiers, Nov 1998.

  Aquarium Frontiers On-Line: Feature

  TEXT AND DIAGRAMS BY SANJAY JOSHI AND DAVE MORGAN Lighting for reef aquaria is still an area of considerable debate. Contributing to the debate is a lack of knowledge of the spectral analysis of light and of specific details about the lamps that hobbyists use over reef aquaria.

  Spectral Analysis of Metal Halide Lamps Used in the Reef Aquarium Hobby Part II: Used 400-watt Lamps, Aquarium Frontiers, Jan 1999.

  Aquarium Frontiers Feature

  TEXT AND DIAGRAMS BY SANJAY JOSHI AND DAVE MORGAN In the previous installment to this article (“Part 1”) we presented the spectral analysis of new 400-watt metal halide lamps. This month we will present the results of our analysis of used 400-watt lamps.

  Spectral Analysis of Metal Halide Lamps Used in the Reef Aquarium Hobby Part III: New and used 250-watt Lamp, Aquarium Frontiers.

  Aquarium Frontiers On-Line: Feature

  TEXT AND DIAGRAMS BY DAVE MORGAN AND SANJAY JOSHI In the first two parts of this series of articles we presented a spectral analysis of new and used 400-watt metal halide lamps.

  Joshi, S. and Morgan D., 2001. “Spectral Analysis of Metal Halide Lamps – Do Ballasts Make a Difference,” 2001 Annual Marine Fish and Reef USA , Fancy Publications. Reprint available here

  Joshi, S. 2002, “Spectral Analysis of Recent Metal Halide Lamps: Part IV- 10000K and 12000K lamps,” 2002 Annual Marine Fish and Reef USA , Fancy Publications.

  Joshi, S. and Marks, Timothy. 2002. Spectral Analysis of Recent Metal Halide Lamps and Ballasts, Advanced Aquarist , Oct 2002 ,

  Joshi, S. and Marks, Timothy. 2002. Spectral Analysis of 150W Double Ended Metal Halide Lamps and Ballasts, Advanced Aquarist , Nov 2002

  Joshi, S. and Marks, Timothy, 2004. Spectral Analysis of 400W Lamps: XM, Radiums, Osram, Sunmaster and PFO, Advanced Aquarist , Feb 2004

  Joshi, S. and Marks, Timothy, 2004. Spectral Analysis of 250W Double Ended Lamps and Ballasts, Advanced Aquarist , Feb 2004

  Joshi, S. More Spectral Analysis of 150W Double Ended Lamps, Advanced Aquarist , May 2004.

  Joshi, S. Spectral Analysis of 250W Mogul Lamps – Part I, Advanced Aquarist , July 2004

  Joshi, S. Spectral Analysis of 250W Mogul Lamps – Part II, Advanced Aquarist , Aug. 2004.

  Joshi, S. More Spectral Analysis of 250W Double Ended Lamps and Ballasts, Advanced Aquarist, Oct. 2004

  Joshi, S. Spectral Analysis of 400W Double Ended Lamps, Advanced Aquarist, Oct. 2004.

  Joshi, S. More Spectral Analysis of 400W Lamps and Ballasts: EVC, Hamilton, Aquaconnect and Helios Lamps and EVC, Blueline, Reef Fanatic and Icecap Ballasts, Advanced Aquarist, Jan. 2005.

  Joshi S. Spectral Analysis of 250 Watt Double Ended Metal Halide Lamps and Ballasts – EVC, Happy Reefing, IceCap, AB, and CoralVue, Advanced Aquarist, Feb. 2005.

  Joshi, S. Spectral Analysis of 250W Mogul Base Lamps – Part III: EVC, Happy Reefing, Agromax and Coralvue, Advanced Aquarist, April 2005.

  Joshi, S. Spectral Analysis of Mogul Base Coralvue and Coralvue Reeflux Metal Halide Lamps. Advanced Aquarist, May. 2005

  Reflector Analysis

  Joshi, S. and Marks, Timothy, 2003. Analyzing Reflectors: Part 1 – Mogul Reflectors, Advanced Aquarist, March 2003

  Joshi, S. and Marks, Timothy, 2003. Analyzing Reflectors: Part II – Double Ended Lamp Reflectors, Advanced Aquarist, July 2003.

  Joshi, S. and Marks, Timothy, 2004. Analyzing Reflectors: Part III, Advanced Aquarist, March 2004.

  Joshi, S. 2004. Analyzing Reflectors: 400W DE Reflectors, Advanced Aquarist, Dec. 2004.

  DIY Articles

  DIY Calcium Reactor
  DIY Compact Flourescent
  DIY MH Lighting System (1999)

  Others

  Photosynthesis and Photoadaptation
  Featured Aquarium in AF
  Feeding a Reef Aquarium (2000)
  Exploring the Inner Beauty of Corals, Advanced Aquarist, July. 2002
  Penn State Aquarium – Featured Aquarium in Advanced Aquarist (Oct 2002)