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#16
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Lighting for a 180Gallon Freshwater tank
Oh, yeah. If you want inexpensive metal halide lighting, don't buy an
"aquarium" setup. Go to a commercial electrical supply outlet and buy some high bay metal halide pendant lamps. I just bought 4 for my shop. That's 400W each. Total cost: just under $600. And each one puts out about 36000 lumens. The inexpensive luminaries (that's the correct term for the fixture, ballast and lamp) cost just over US $111 for a 400W fixture. Granted that's with a 3500K bulb, but a little creative rearranging of the ballast, socket, reflector and voila! an "aquarium" fixture for a fraction of the price. Check out http://www.lithonia.com/Products/Pro... D.%20Lighting for some lights. Jeff |
#17
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Lighting for a 180Gallon Freshwater tank
that and the fact that MH makes a lot of heat compared to tube florescents
or PC florescents, I read that T-8 bulbs are almost the most efficient lighting out there...its just impossible to put LOTS of light over a tank with tubes since they just don't spit out that much light compared to the same sized MH. "Jeffrey Girard" wrote in message m... Chris, I only have 175W of lighting over my tank. I've had the same setup for about 10 years now. The MH kit cost me about $200, including the bulb. I still use the original. Yeah, I know that they degrade over time, but 175W is more than I really need anyway. As for operation use, metal halides are one of the more efficient light sources, when you consider the cost per unit of light output. It's the high initial cost that puts them out of most people's reach. As for what I did when I was "poor" (ie a grad student), do a search on the Krib for me. I've got a posting from 1992 that describes my pre-MH days. Jeff "Christopher" wrote in message rthlink.net... can I ask how you guys afford thousands of watts of lighting over a tank, not to mention the costs of running pumps and other accessories? |
#18
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Lighting for a 180Gallon Freshwater tank
Actually I was more interested in the power bill costs than the initial
setup costs, I really have no way to change the lighting of my tank, and in all honesty no desire to do so. "Christopher" wrote in message rthlink.net... can I ask how you guys afford thousands of watts of lighting over a tank, not to mention the costs of running pumps and other accessories? "James" wrote in message ... Jeff, Thanks for your comments/info. Since I am going to be using the double ended bulbs, I thought there were less bulb choices then they normal Mogul type screw in. As far as being to yellow or to blue, I have a 500Gallon reef tank with 2000Watts of 20K and 10K, Now that is blue.... I don't need to use my atanic bulbs any longer on that tank.... For the plant tank/fresh water i would rather it more on the white/blue then yellow. I realize my primary concern is for the plants and tanks, but also needs to be pleasing to the eyes. So I think with your comments I will start out with the 6000K and then go up or down a little depending upon what I see (which really doesn't count) its what the wife sees..... Again, thanks for your input on this..... James On Sat, 03 May 2003 19:28:05 GMT, "Jeffrey Girard" wrote: James, I would think that even 6000 K would be a bit too blue. The 175W MH bulb I have in my tank is 5500K and it's just about right. I have 4, 400W MH bulbs in my shop (non aquaria) that are 3500K or 4000K. They're rather yellow (as you would expect), but also somewhat greenish. Since it's just general task lighting, it's no big deal. However, 10000K is very blue - you could be deficient in red light. I'd strike a balance and stick with the 6000K (or even a bit lower). I've been using 5500K Coralife MH bulbs for nearly 10 years now and they work great for me. Jeff "James" wrote in message .. . I am replacing my JBJ lighting system that currently has 6 96Watt 10K PC bulbs, to a larger one fixture system that will hang above the 6 foot tank. This new fixture will have 3 250Watt Double ended bulbs, and 2 58Watt fluorescent bulbs. Can you tell me what the best K bulbs I should use. My understanding is that I can get anywhere from 5800K - 6800K MH bulbs, but I think the only one that comes in the double ended style is a 6000K bulb. SHould I mix it up with 2 6000K and 1 10K bulb? I think if I used all 10K MH Bulbs it would be to bright/white. If I use all 6000K bulbs will it be to yellow? I also wonder what Fluorescent bulbs should I get? They are approx 6 feet long but thin. I don't the rating on them other then they handle 58 W bulbs. Any help you can provide on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks James |
#19
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Lighting for a 180Gallon Freshwater tank
Well, consider that a 175W bulb still consumes 175 watts regardless of the
type of bulb. The ballast adds a bit more. Of course, this is all predicated on the assumption that your 175W light puts out the same quantity and quality of light that mine does. A 175W incandescent bulb is very different from a 175W MH bulb (or a fluorescent). My ballast plus lamp are rated at 1.8 amps. At 110V nominal, that works out to be about 200 watts. I run my lamp 12 hours a day, so that's 2.4 kilowatt-hours. I haven't looked at my electric bill lately, but if you figure $.15/kwh (a highish estimate, but realistic), that's $0.36 per day, or $10.80 per month. Now unless you are dirt poor or are a starving grad student, I don't think $11/month is a big deal. As for heat, MH bulbs *seem* hotter because they are concentrated point sources. The equivalent wattage fluorescent bulbs put out more heat, but because they have so much surface area, they seem cooler when you put your hand near them (you're only sampling a small bit of the radiated heat output because your hand is small compared to the gross bulb area). And some fluorescent ballasts aren't that efficient either. They can put out lots of heat too. Jeff "Christopher" wrote in message rthlink.net... Actually I was more interested in the power bill costs than the initial setup costs, I really have no way to change the lighting of my tank, and in all honesty no desire to do so. |
#20
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Lighting for a 180Gallon Freshwater tank
You are right $11/month isn't that bad, but when you consider the cost to
heat the tank and the cost to run the filters it gets a bit more expensive. I estimate that my setup draw roughly 150W constant or 3.6kwh (32.4 cents a day @ $.09/kwh or $10.04 a month) I guess its not that much really, but it does seem like a lot to light one little area. "Jeffrey Girard" wrote in message om... Well, consider that a 175W bulb still consumes 175 watts regardless of the type of bulb. The ballast adds a bit more. Of course, this is all predicated on the assumption that your 175W light puts out the same quantity and quality of light that mine does. A 175W incandescent bulb is very different from a 175W MH bulb (or a fluorescent). My ballast plus lamp are rated at 1.8 amps. At 110V nominal, that works out to be about 200 watts. I run my lamp 12 hours a day, so that's 2.4 kilowatt-hours. I haven't looked at my electric bill lately, but if you figure $.15/kwh (a highish estimate, but realistic), that's $0.36 per day, or $10.80 per month. Now unless you are dirt poor or are a starving grad student, I don't think $11/month is a big deal. As for heat, MH bulbs *seem* hotter because they are concentrated point sources. The equivalent wattage fluorescent bulbs put out more heat, but because they have so much surface area, they seem cooler when you put your hand near them (you're only sampling a small bit of the radiated heat output because your hand is small compared to the gross bulb area). And some fluorescent ballasts aren't that efficient either. They can put out lots of heat too. Jeff "Christopher" wrote in message rthlink.net... Actually I was more interested in the power bill costs than the initial setup costs, I really have no way to change the lighting of my tank, and in all honesty no desire to do so. |
#21
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Lighting for a 180Gallon Freshwater tank
actually it should be more like $.11/kwh, I forgot about the tons of taxes
on power "Christopher" wrote in message rthlink.net... You are right $11/month isn't that bad, but when you consider the cost to heat the tank and the cost to run the filters it gets a bit more expensive. I estimate that my setup draw roughly 150W constant or 3.6kwh (32.4 cents a day @ $.09/kwh or $10.04 a month) I guess its not that much really, but it does seem like a lot to light one little area. "Jeffrey Girard" wrote in message om... Well, consider that a 175W bulb still consumes 175 watts regardless of the type of bulb. The ballast adds a bit more. Of course, this is all predicated on the assumption that your 175W light puts out the same quantity and quality of light that mine does. A 175W incandescent bulb is very different from a 175W MH bulb (or a fluorescent). My ballast plus lamp are rated at 1.8 amps. At 110V nominal, that works out to be about 200 watts. I run my lamp 12 hours a day, so that's 2.4 kilowatt-hours. I haven't looked at my electric bill lately, but if you figure $.15/kwh (a highish estimate, but realistic), that's $0.36 per day, or $10.80 per month. Now unless you are dirt poor or are a starving grad student, I don't think $11/month is a big deal. As for heat, MH bulbs *seem* hotter because they are concentrated point sources. The equivalent wattage fluorescent bulbs put out more heat, but because they have so much surface area, they seem cooler when you put your hand near them (you're only sampling a small bit of the radiated heat output because your hand is small compared to the gross bulb area). And some fluorescent ballasts aren't that efficient either. They can put out lots of heat too. Jeff "Christopher" wrote in message rthlink.net... Actually I was more interested in the power bill costs than the initial setup costs, I really have no way to change the lighting of my tank, and in all honesty no desire to do so. |
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