Lighting info and resorces

Laura and Jim will be hosting the May meeting this Saturday the 12th and it will be the usual of food, drinks, raffle and fun.
 
Doors will be open at 6:00 pm for social talk and the meeting will start at 7:00.  Parking gets a little tight and the city says you can't park on 4th but there is a parking lot a block away.   Meeting is usually held in the backyard so feel free to bring your favorite lawn chair, weather permitting of course.

If you need address/directions, contact a club member.

Best if you park at Mini Mall (where the spaghetti establishment use to be)
 
You will get to see his new frag tank set up in the making.
 
Hope to see you there!

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[Rico]

I promised I would post the source of the new low cost MH bulbs, Lumanarc reflectors, and Sanjy Joshi's data.

The new bulbs are EVC Tech from Ocean Encounters.  Supposedly these bulbs are equivilant to the XM bulbs, but with better quality control.  I have not yet run these so I cannot provide actual experience comments.

http://oceanencounter.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=SFNT&Store_Code=OE


The reflectors that have been found to have the best perfomance and symmetrical light output pattern is the Lumenarc 3, available from Pacific Garden Supply.  Note that on their web page, they only show a system which includes ballast.  It was stated that the reflectors can be purchased separately for approximately $135 each.

http://www.pacificgardensupply.com/lighting/lumenarc3.html

Here is a link to the reflector research that supports the performance claim to these reflectors.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/mar2003/feature.htm


And finally, here is the link to Sanjay Joshi's web site with data from his testing of various MH bulbs and ballasts.

http://www.reeflightinginfo.arvixe.com/index.htm

Click on "Search Performance Data" and if you leave all fields clear, you will get all data on all bulbs and ballasts. Each column in the resulting table is sortable by clicking on the top of the column.

The PPFD column is what we care about, that is the measurement of how much light (Photons) is being emitted. The higher the PPFD the better the light.

Also note the CCT column, that is the "Corrected Color Temperature" It will tell you how close a 10k bulb really is to actually being 10K. A lot of mfg are not all that truthful.

And for example, if you look at the XM 400W 10000K bulb and click on the plot, you will find different plots and data for the same bulb but driven with different ballasts.

Rick

[Les]

Rick,
Can you also post the name and maybe a link for the bulk Rowaphos used in public water systems?

[Rico]

Les,

I need to contact Mike to get that information.  I will start that line of communication.

How does the tank look now?  Has the dust storm settled?

Rick

[Les]

Crystal clear.

[Rico]

Les,

The raw component of the phosphate removal product is Ferric Iron Hydroxide.  I found this west coast distributor

http://www.reade.com/Products/Oxides/iron_hydroxide.html

I also found this Reef Article on the stuff.. It is a very informative article, well worth reading.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-11/rhf/

Rick

[i1justin]

some people have used the EVC bulbs for a bit the 14k version here is some of their thoughts
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=547405
Justin

[angelscrx]

Great information, thanks all.

[VickiG]

With all the cost of starting up a new tank, I've been mulling around starting out with VHO lights instead of investing in MH right away.   If we build the canopy to eventually house MH, but go VHO instead, how big of a job is it to change out, upgrade to MH, down the road?   Also, what configuration of VHO - T5, T6 - I have no idea what to even look at - but what do y'all think would be a good start up set up for lighting for now?  Problems?  I have a 5' tank, so that might be a problem finding 60" lights?  I know MH is preferred later on, for coral growth especially, but knowing our tank area is already a hot spot in the house in the summer, starting w/MH now would almost certainly mean a chiller right away too and just getting the tank, stand, canopy, sump, pumps, skimmer, plumbing - not to mention, salt, live rock, fish, corals etc eventually - either I rob a bank, or cut back on something, or have MORE patience, so is it worth it to even try to set up with VHO now, upgrading to MH later or am I just asking for a big pain in the butt doing it that way?  

Ideas, suggestions, sharing of your experiences - all welcome!  
Just ruminating on all this lighting info is giving me a headache!

[i1justin]

i think VHO is a good start, you can get 60 inch bulbs with little to no problem. i say start with VHO cause even down the road you will/can use them for actinic supplements. just design it so the bulbs are positioned so MH can be added later. An icecap 660 ballast can run 3 60 inch VHO perfectly. that will be a solid start for softies and LPS you just have to figure out a good configuration so MH will fit in later. something like 2 bulbs then MH space then the 3rd bulb. Whatever works best, just figure out what the MH reflector dimensions will be and leave room for that. And if you never really wanted to deal with sps or clams you could be in great shape running 6 60inch VHO. Just my opinion though
Justin

[VickiG]

Finally had a chance to log back on and I wanted to thank you for you advice Justin.   I do think I will want SPS and clams down the road, so am working on a design idea for the lighting.  Well, I am trying to FIND time to work on the idea, is more like it.  Darrel is working 7 days a week, so I am busy holding down the fort, getting stuff for the tank so he can fiddle with it a little in his very l limited spare time, etc.  I will have to noodle on that design over the week-end and run it by again...I am surprised with all the various opinions held by the club members that more people didn't reply to the post with lighting advice!  Thanks again Justin.

[Ed]

I always wanted to pretend to be a marine biologist" - George Costanza


Vicki,
    This is George(lmao).    How about a reflector from PFO with full ends to reflect as much light as possible.   Sanjay said a lot of light gets lost on the end of reflectors.   I remember his charts showing PFO as a second best.   Kevin at Aquatic Dreams usually has PFO reflectors on hand.  I hope to see that tank going soon..
wishing you a Happy Mothers Day Lady!
Ed

[VickiG]

Hi Ed.  Well, contrary to popular opinion, I didn't fall off the face of the earth.  Haven't been on the boards much lately though, so figure you guys may have given up on me!  Truth is, Darrel is working ALL the time and I am busy trying to do all my chores plus all his chores = no time for working on the tank.  It sits, empty, in the garage.  Darrel says this is his last outage (thank goodness) - should explain, he wants to retire before the next one! (in case you thought foul play was afoot!) :twisted:

Anyway, guess I've gotten pretty discouraged with no progress on our tank, so I haven't been able to bring myself to look on here lately - it just makes me more discouraged.    But, I need to start working on the lighting again - so I appreciate the advice "George" (ha ha - got me on that one!).  I'd like to talk more about your ideas on that.   I also need to figure out the overflow - the Durso or Duraso?? Any ideas on that?  Still don't have a sump either...like I said ZERO progress for several weeks.  I will get back in the groove with the club, so please forgive my apparent lack of interest as of late.  I'm hear, just not much to say (BIG surprise for me!!). :shock:   Talk to you soon!