lighting info PLEASE
 

I am looking at a mh setup is a single pendent better ie (175 or 250).
or hqi lamps ? what would the cost be for a used one(pendent and reflector) and what would a balest be worth ?

and hqi lights what are pro/cons to these vs regular se mh bulbs
are mh alot more expensive to run will my power meter spin off the wall?
:confused:

please and thanks for reponses

Re: lighting info PLEASE
 

Look at this :biggrin:
http://www.canreef.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=19212

depends what you're putting it on. pendants offer good heat dissipation which would benifit having it over a smaller tank, or one upstairs where perhaps heat isn't easily gotten rid of.

HQI refers to the ballast, not the bulbs. You can have single ended bulbs or double ended bulbs...really the only difference is for the SE bulbs, you don't need a glass shield, you can just blast your light straight at the water, ultimately giving you more light to the inhabitants of your tank. I've never used DE bulbs, but I think they offer less heat, and they're smaller, which gives you a slimmer looking canopy...though SE bulbs kick DE bulbs in the teeth when it comes to output :D

HQI ballasts will make your meter spin off the wall, whereas an electronic ballast will offer lower power consumption at the cost of output. both electronic and HQI ballasts however treat your bulb nicely, giving you long life from them. not knowing for sure, but I would give the benifit of the doubt to the electronic ballast getting the longest life from a bulb before PAR values drop and color shifts occur.

with a 250w HQI ballast and the right bulb, you can beat a lot of probe/pulse start 400w bulbs letting your virtually keep any coral you want.

depending on how much you want to pay monthly on your power bill will ultimately be your decision with what you choose, 150w or 250w (or even 400w)

forgot to mention: stay away from probe start ballasts :D

Sorry most of the above is not correct. :rolleyes:

ok now we have lots of info but??I guess when i said hqi I meant the slim type bulbs DE "same" as coralife aquapro series type fixture(slim fixture) and what about the cost to setup say buying used equipment (reflector and mogal, ballast)

thanks

ah, my mistake -- hqi does include bulbs...I guess it's the way they're assembled inside the glass.

however, probe start ballasts still suck, and a good electronic ballast is still the best for lumen maintenance.

and the slim bulbs are double ended, not mogul.

good luck on your search for a used aqualight pro. :D

I'll agree with Bob on this one. just because you have an electronic ballast doesn't mean it will last longer. the part that ages a bulb is the actual starting of the bulb if you start it hard it will get "old" faster and have a sooner color shift and intensity decrease. if you start it nice this will be nice for the bulb. now seeing as an electronic ballast is pretty much the same type as start as either a pulse start and a HQI there is no benefit in bulb life. also a lot of electronic ballasts will run a bulb but not properly or to what the bulbs was designed for so sure you might make it last longer by under driving it a bit but compared to the aging starting does on a bulb that is nothing.

as far as power consumption not to much difference between a 250 watt HQI and a normal 250 watt, maybe .5 of an amp if you are lucky. looking at power savings with a electronic ballast is a waist of time unless you are going to run that ballast for 5 years before even hoping to see a savings due to the increased purchase price.

HQI is not a name for any bulb we use in this hobby, it is a name for a film making bulb made by Sylvana (we do use there ballasts though :mrgreen: ) a true HQI bulb is normally about 4500K and only has a life of about 50 hours.

what we keep calling HQI bulbs are simply double ended bulbs.

Probe starts don't suck if you are using a northamerican designed bulb, just so happens that the bulb we use in the hobby are based of German design.

Did I miss anything? :mrgreen:

Steve

Should I go with a pendent style or a fixture that has hqi style bulbs(meaning slimmer type fixture) pro's and cons to this

You can get both in pendant form. In the end its what suits your needs. Do you have any requirements of the fixture?

Chris

Yes, the benefit of SE vs DE in regards to output or intensity. I seem to recall that the 150W DE had great PAR value. It's been a long time since I've read any of the lighting comparisons.