Still learning..help please.

[bluegrasssweety]

Thank You Dave! You and everyone else have been a big help!

[tdwyatt]

65 watt bulbs are probably the PC (Power Compacts) type of fluorescent bulb. These are usually long, small-diameter tubes bent in a "U"-turn at the ends. All four pins for the tubes are on one socket fixture. VHO bulbs are around 1&1/4" diameter and are straight bulbs, usually in lengths matching the length of the tank where there are pins on both ends. VHO stands for "Very High Output", and these bulbs require specialized ballasts to drive the bulb at the frequency and wattage needed to fire these bulbs correctly. Diameter differences in the bulbs account for some of the differences in irradiation and PAR transmitted for these bulbs. PAR stands for "Photosynthetically Active Radiation", and is a measure of the amount of energy a particular bulb will produce that autotrophs (organisms that use light to make food) can utilize. When comparing bulbs for different uses, it is important to consider which creatures are the most important for you to curate, then consider the biotope from which these creatures are procured and match the light energy accordingly.

Corals like Acropora spp. and Pocillipora spp. are the "fuzzy sticks" that are the bulk of the fast-growing species that make up the hermatypic (biogeological reef builders) corals collected and propagated for the reef hobby trade. These usually come from the top of the reef or from areas of the upper fore reef. Conditions in these areas involve high energy currents; very clean, uncontaminated, low-organic water (oligotropic water); and high-energy, high-intensity light. Choosing creatures that come from this biotope will assure that the conditions you set for your most desired coral acquisitions will pretty much match the requirements of all the specimens that you collect for your little slice of the ocean. The lighting of choice for this biotope would be 250 to 400 watts of metal halide lighting in the 6500 K to 10,000 K color range. These colors of light (K is for Kelvins, a standard used to measure the wavelength of the light alluding to the color of the light of a black body object at a particular temp, a short answer for what K is... ) are in the range for the wavelengths of light that corals can use most effectively, and correspond to the wavelengths of sunlight as it passes through the depths of the seawater column*.

Organisms that need less intense lighting are more often found under conditions where water turbidity or depth attenuate the light to a less-intense energy level, This most often corresponds with biotopes associated with lagoonal conditions. In the lagoons, water current is less intense, lighting is blocked somewhat by suspended matter in the water column, and the biochemical conditions of the water column are more nutrient-enhanced (read this as higher nitrates, phosphates, and organics). The light energy of this biotope is usually attenuated more so than the reeftop, and although still relatively high-energy, is often much more diffuse, and the corals are most often found in more shaded areas due to the topography of the bottom in such areas. Specimens taken from this area most often include what the hobby calls "LPS" corals and softies (Octocorals), and their requirements for slower, more laminar current, diffuse strong to moderate lighting, and tolerance of higher nutrient loads match the conditions of the lagoons and quite tidal flats ion which these organisms are most often found. VHO and PC fluorescent lighting and lower wattage MH bulbs will supply the lighting needed for such tanks.

If you decide that you want to mix biotopes, tanks of less than 24" depth usually will do well with 175 MH lamps located within 6 to 8 inches of the water column's surface, and placement of very light-needy specimens near the surface will allow for such condition-mixing within a single tank. However, keep in mind that mixing specimens from differing biotopes compromises all the specimens involved, and may result in occasional loss of specimens. In addition, stony corals will morph to meet the conditions they are kept in, so the resulting colony in your tank may not match the shape, color or overall morphological characteristics of the original specimen.

A lot to consider, you should to a Google and look up information posted by Dana Riddle, Richard Harker, and Sanjay Yoshi on the subject of lighting. All of these folks have done much work in the area and have published volumes of information on the topix (on equipment and bulbs in particular, see Sanjay's work)

For a great supplier and overall nice guy, check with Doug McIntyre at aquatico.com (I think this changed to http://www.reeftanklighting.com/ ), Doug's shop is located in the NW metroAtlanta area (Woodstock), and he is a TRT sponsor as well.

A lot to cover, HTH.





*As sunlight passes through water, different wavelengths of the light are attenuated by the water itself, starting with red (3000K to 4000K), yellow (4000K-5000K), Green, and Blue as the photosphere is broached. For this reason, corals are limited to the shallows of the ocean for the most part, near the equator where the light irradiation is the strongest and temperatures are appropriate for the corals and their biochemical needs.

[dme330i]

Yes, the 65W are probably PC's. If you want to buy locally, you might check out www.atlantaaquaria.com and look at their monthly specials. Chris is currently running a specials on Lunar Aqualights (one is 48" - 260W). If you want to take a chance, go on eBay and get the JEBO unit for about $80 - 260W also. Also, you should consider www.ahsupply.com . They seem to have good prices. Another good deal right now if you're open to retrofit setups is www.premiumaquatics.com . Look at their closeout section. They have CSL retrofits with bulbs for $39/each (65W each).

HTH

Jon

[tdwyatt]

Originally Posted by dme330i

...if you're open to retrofit setups is www.premiumaquatics.com . Look at their closeout section. They have CSL retrofits with bulbs for $39/each (65W each)...

sold out, check Champion's clearance site at http://www.championlighting.com/e/en...clearance.html. They bought up the last of these units, when they're gone, I doubt that they will be available anymore.

[Loverotties]

Also PC give off less heat which means you mite not need to by a chiller,were MH usally you need a chiller too.

[tdwyatt]

6 x 160watt VHO on Icecaps(2) electronic 660's on a tank of octocorals in a lagoonal set up with some SPS corals on perch locations.

[Big Dave]

Hey Tom, you think you might get some coralline growth on that LR some day??


Not always true about needing a chiller for MH lighting. Many times just placing little 4" fans at either end (one pulling in, one pulling out of canopy) will keep the tank temp down. You could even put 2 on each end. You can run the fans in sync, or on the same timer as your MHs too. That way the fans are only on when your lights are on. I like to put mine on a seperate timer so I can run the fans longer on hot summer days, since we don't have AC in the house. HTH

-Dave

[tdwyatt]

Originally Posted by Big Dave

Hey Tom, you think you might get some coralline growth on that LR some day??

Heh! No supplements, just IO with 10% changes every 2 to 3 weeks and VHO lighting (seems to stimulate the purple varieties best). The coralline spp. in that tank like to grow in columns as well, so long as the Ca is in the 400 range, it grows on EVERYTHING.

Ditto on Dave's chiller remarks with MH bulbs, systems located in homes with AC during the summer will do fine with appropriate use of fans, in particular if the sump is the same surface area as the display and a pair of 6" fans blow on them during the photoperiod.

[Doug1]

4' tank VHO on an electronic ballast is a better bet than Power compact. PC maxes at 36" 96 watts and cost more to replace than VHO(available in lengths up to 8') Also you can run normal output 40 watt bulbs on an eballast( handy if one burns out late on sunday)

[Loverotties]

That's cool(no pun intented)I guess also were you live ,cause the summers here are HOT & HUMMID.My CP has two fans in it and it still raises the tank temp in the winter with the house temp at 67 deg. Thanks Dave

[tdwyatt]

Originally Posted by Doug1

4' tank VHO on an electronic ballast is a better bet than Power compact. PC maxes at 36" 96 watts and cost more to replace than VHO(available in lengths up to 8') Also you can run normal output 40 watt bulbs on an eballast( handy if one burns out late on sunday)

Totally agree, lighting is much better from VHO bubs for coral growth. Only advantage for PC bubs is when fitting pc's into very small spaces (you can really pack those little bulbs into some small spaces...)