halides.......finally!

[OCDP]

wow, after months of playing games and trying to find the perfect light, etc, etc, etc.... I finally got my halide light

It's a 150w HQI in a floodlamp .. 20k bulb. I am in love with the penetration and color, and everything about the halides. It makes my PC's seem so dull.

Anyhow, just wondering how many inches from the water surface I should keep the light, also.. are floodlamps safe to use? I am shocked with the heat it gives off already, I just plugged it in for 5 minutes and its hotter than my whole PC fixture .

anyways.. I'll be looking to find some clams and SPS now that I have proper lighting . If anyone can help me out, let me know :smile:

Scott

[Beverly]

Pics, so we can see your new lights in action :biggrin:

[adidas]

cool....

I would put the light about 1 foot above water, or about as high you need it so evaporation won't be too intense. Get a fan, point it at top of water if the temp is going up too high.

[reeferaddict]

As stated earlier ... fan etc... but I think you'll be OK down to 8 inches, down to 4 inches if there's no splash or salt spray as long as you can transport the heat. I would see to it that none of your corals are closer than a foot to the light itself. I see no problems with using a halogen fixture retrofitted as they get quite hot as well. One thing to make sure of though is to use the glass as a UV shield as HQI bulbs aren't UV shielded.

[OCDP]

So I am going to shoot for 4 inches... I want the most light I can get out of it. And because it's a flood lamp, the light does not disperse throughout the tank that great.. but still fairly well.

I have a fan in my room which I will keep running while the lights are on, it seems to make a difference. If that doesn't work well enough I will get a clip-on fan definitely.

There is a glass cover, but I dont think it's a UV shield... is this okay? Or am I going to run into problems?

Lastly, switching from 2x65w PC's to 150w HQI , are my corals going to get PO'd? When I was testing it out my zoanthids popped, they loved it.

Scott

[muck]

I would acclimate your corals to the new brighter light.
Mounting it up higher for now would be a good way to go.
Then slowly move it down to your desired height.

or

Use the screen over the tank method.

[OCDP]

Thanks Muck

I wasn't so sure becuase the initial reaction of the corals was good, they seemed to love it.

But..... I'd rather not burn and melt my corals.. so I'll try either of those methods.

How about the UV shield? Is it bad if I don't have one??

[Bob I]

As far as I know all glass filters out UV. :biggrin:

[OCDP]

Ohhh hahah

You learn something new every day.... :redface: :rolleyes:

Thanks Bob

[danny zubot]

As far as I know all glass filters out UV.

Is this a good thing or a bad thing for corals?

[rickjames]

If the bulb is a true HQI bulb (double ended) then it must be shielded as the high quartz glass casing of the bulb lets a crazy amount of UV's out, enough to harm most living things. Plus the UV's can cause damage to your eyes, like a welder.

[adidas]

If the bulb is a true HQI bulb (double ended) then it must be shielded as the high quartz glass casing of the bulb lets a crazy amount of UV's out, enough to harm most living things. Plus the UV's can cause damage to your eyes, like a welder.

SE bulbs are ok tho right?....dont want skin cancer or someting :eek: :razz:

[OCDP]

It's most definitely an HQI (double ended) Ushio 20k bulb.

The floodlamp has a sheet of glass covering it, so the bulb is not exposed.

Will the piece of glass suffice?

[rickjames]

Yeah. Single ended bulbs are made glass that filters out most UV rays.

[OCDP]

So your saying the sheet of glass covering my DE bulb will be good?

Sorry, so new to halides.. so much more complex than I ever would have imagined.

[rickjames]

I am saying that if you have a DE bulb you will absolutely need a UV shield. The pendants usually come with them.

EDIT: seen your other post OCDP, sounds like you are setup ok.

[OCDP]

cool :cool:

thanks a lot guys

[Invigor]

yes glass will be fine.

[StirCrazy]

Ok few things, a few tests have shown the UV output is not as bad from a DE bulb as we though, it is slightly higher but it is not going to cause skin cancer for the amount we are in there. yes glass as thin as 1/16" of an inch will take care of this.

is it good for the corals to filter out this UV, well this is debatable, UV will cause the corals to release pigments which help "color" the corals, but to much of the wrong type could cause tissue damage. so how do we go about regulating this. well glass will remove all of the "harmful" UV rays (can't remember the names either UVa, UVb or UVc) and will reduce the ones we want so the trick would be to figure out a way to measure the ones we want and vary your UV shield thickness to allow how much UV we wan t through.

Oh and where are the pics :mrgreen:

Steve

[shotzee]

Is that the halide from Chris? If it is it was originally mine. Its made from a halogen fixture so the glass will protect from UV because the halogen lights that would normally be in them also emit UV. That's the reason I chose to use these fixtures when doind my DIY. I did the same thing with my DIY 250W DE halide set-up I have now and it works great.

[OCDP]

Thanks for that info Stir... pretty neat stuff...

Shotzee... yes I have Chris's 150w ! I never knew it was yours before that.

Pics when I FINALLY get it setup.. which should be soon.. getting the parts to hang it tonight

[Funky_Fish14]

Yep, thats it, haha. Yeah as Rory said the glass is fine, if it wasnt I wouldnt have used it over my tank! :mrgreen:

Chris

[shotzee]

That, or you could be using it to get a nice tan :cool:

[Funky_Fish14]

How did you know! :question: :eek:

LOL. :lol: :mrgreen:

Cheers,

Chris