www.aqualight.com / Cooltouch Lighting

[Captainhemo]

Has anyone had any experience with the MH/VHO canopies ? I've been looking at their 36" 150W MH/Dual VHO Reef Canopy . just wanted to see if there were any opions/general comments out there regarding this company' s lights

-captainhemo

[Reefhawk1]

I have been running a 175 watt system by cooltouch lighting. My first ballast box burnt out due to assembly problems, but they replaced it with a brand new setup and it has been running strong everyday for two years.

[Samw]

Well, I ordered my custom fixture 2 weeks ago from them. They didn't have the ballasts in stock at the time. But they should be shipping my order out this week.

http://www.canreef.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=19158&highlight=cooltouch

[Captainhemo]

Thankds for the link to your thread, lots of good info . I see some of these canopies come just with dual MH but no vho/pc . Do I need to run VHO or PC bulbs with a MH or dual MH setuup ? Many of hte canopies I see out there come with a pair of bule actinic bulbs (either VHO or PC). I've always been looking at single mh with dual mh or pc canopies, but if i dont need them I could be looking at a dual mh swtup :question:

[Samw]

I personally don't like the amount of blue actinics put out. It isn't necessary in my opinion for your reef animals based on measurements I've taken related to photosynthesis. If you like a bluer tank visually, then get it. I prefer clear water and more intense color on the corals and fish rather than everything looking blue including the water. So I'm adding my own 55W 9325K PC into my custom fixture since I already have an existing 55W PC kit.

If you want to see what I mean by more intense color, check out this thread. Notice how more contrast there was and you can see the beautiful black angelfish so much better. Notice how colorful the dwarf gourami and red plants became. Notice how the water looks clear instead of yellow/greenish. In the last comparison, the black background actually looks black instead of a tint of green.

http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:lgRSckSIfHEJ:aquaticp.aquaratings.c om/forumapc/showthread.php%3Ft%3D723+9325k+comparison&hl=en

If you search my past threads, you can see photos of my tank with Actinics vs with the 9325k PC. You'll see blue water vs clear water.

I haven't received my dual 150MH yet but when I do, they'll have IceCap 10K on them. I can then see the difference with and without the PC. From past experience, having MH only didn't bring out as much intensity in color as having MH + the 9325k PC supplement.

[StirCrazy]

http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:lgRSckSIfHEJ:aquaticp.aquaratings.c om/forumapc/showthread.php%3Ft%3D723+9325k+comparison&hl=en



so what do green plant domanated fresh water tanks have to do with actinic lighting?

Steve

[Samw]

http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:lgRSckSIfHEJ:aquaticp.aquaratings.c om/forumapc/showthread.php%3Ft%3D723+9325k+comparison&hl=en



so what do green plant domanated fresh water tanks have to do with actinic lighting?

Steve


Clear water vs blue water. More intense RGB colors vs more intense blue color only. All of the examples other than my own are fresh water because more fresh water aquarists use the light. But I don't think it means that the color results are going to be different in a salt water tank.

The question was "Do I need PC with MH? Many canopies come with Actinics". What I'm trying to say is "No, Actinics are useless except to add blue visuals to your tank. I don't like Actinics. I like 9325K. See how colorful 9325K is. Look at the examples. I can only find freshwater examples." I know its a personal taste thing. Actinic PC supplementation isn't needed. However, higher temperature Daylight PC bulbs can add more photosyntheis (depending on whether saturation has been reached with MH alone) and help bring out visual colors that MH alone can't.