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LordMaximo 
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 Topic: Twin post halogens
Posted: November 30 2007 at 11:59am |
Who uses the twin post halogen light fixtures, and what type of fixtures are in use?
Just being a new guy to growing reefs, I like to understand more on the subject on comparison with everything else?
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Trigger Master
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Adam Blundell
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Posted: November 30 2007 at 12:02pm |
Halogen or Halide? Big difference. Halogen = probably no one, Halide = dozens of people here.
Adam
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LordMaximo
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Posted: November 30 2007 at 12:17pm |
Halogens......and what would be the reason to why no one would use a halogen? It is a very bright light and puts off a great amount of heat.
I see many rate the bulbs by the actual heat factor they emmit.
Wouldn't a Halogen do the job for less dollar?
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Trigger Master
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Adam Blundell
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Posted: November 30 2007 at 12:37pm |
Well heat is a big no-no. If I could find a bulb that was cooler I'd buy it. Heat is basically wasted money. You just paid for electricity that didn't convert into light.
The major problem with halogen is the color. It is easy to find them in really yellow color 6500 K or even 4000 K but it is really tough (like I've never seen one) that was more blue like 14000 K or 20000 K. So you have this really yellow washed out bulb.
Does that make sense?
Adam
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LordMaximo
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Posted: November 30 2007 at 2:36pm |
So the "K" rating is the color spectrum?
I have seen some with a new blue coating on the bulb to give it a more natural white light. But the "K" was not anywhere like the MH lites up around 15K or more.
I am still not understanding of why halogens are not used. I never gave any deep research to reef tanks....this is why I am just a newbie with all the special lighting requirements.
I figured a 12V dc light would be more efficient then a regular 120 Inca light. It would offer brighter light, and is able to be cooled just the same as the MH units are.
I understand somewhat about the color spectrum needing to be of a more certain intensity to penetrate into a tank for the photosynthesis of the marine life. So what is the required magnitude of such lighting?
Or are we looking for a specific color frequency/band/spectrum to be focused into the tank?
If so, could it be focused with a filter/difusser/ magnifier?
Just my analytical part going in extreams to understand?
Maximo
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Adam Blundell
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Posted: November 30 2007 at 4:06pm |
Wow, that is a lot of questions in a short post....
In general we want a ton of light... of the blue spectrum... and some of the rest. The K if it is capitalized is for Kelvin, and yes it is a measure of temperature... which in light is color. If it is a little k it is used for "thousand". That is confusing when someone wants a 20 K bulb. We tend to drop the little k and just assume you mean in thousands. Do they want a 20k or a 20 K or a 20k K bulb. So 6 K is really yellow, 10 K is white, 14 K is "crisp white" or a littel blue and 20 K is very blue. It is just excess aquarium talk, and that whole last part I typed can be ignored.
So yes, with a really bright light (of any type) you can put a blue filter on it and get what you want. Some people do this, and if I can find the link I'll show you pics of halogen bulbs behind a blue plastic film.
However, these bulbs are still not as efficient as halides. Bang for your buck the halides are still the top lighting system. That doesn't mean the best system, just best for the dollar. I'll say it again (just for Scott) the prettiest tanks I've ever seen were vho tanks. Also probably the healthiest and most real tanks I've ever seen. And then... as hard as it is to believe maybe pc tanks. Not trying to tick off anyone, just being honest there.
I take that back, obviously sunlight kicks the crap out of halides.
Adam
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LordMaximo
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Posted: November 30 2007 at 4:56pm |
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So now is the next one.......what is a PC tank?
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Trigger Master
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Shane H
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Posted: November 30 2007 at 5:00pm |
My very first reef tank used 150w halogens and 40w actinics. The color was ok. I was able to keep all the soft corals I tried as well as a very nice LT anemone - but every sps I purchased quickly died. The bulbs were approximately 4500K - very yellow. I contact GE and asked about higher kelvin bulbs, but they did not have any nor did they seem to care.
Realize, this was in the day of $1000 MH setups. Today, MH are cheap and with electronic ballasts, much more efficient than 10 years ago.
If I can find some pics of my halogen tank I'll post them up. But, this was also before digital photography was reasonably priced!  |
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LordMaximo
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Posted: November 30 2007 at 9:57pm |
Thanks, guess I need to be looking for some deals on MH setups Maximo
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bbeck4x4
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Posted: November 30 2007 at 10:44pm |
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you can use metal halide balasts from a local electrical supply, the 250 watt variety go in the range of $50 throw it into a metal electrical box and hide it behind your tank,
make a DIY reflector and a use Mogal based socket, and then add your choice of 250 watt MH lamp from the local fish store(LFS) or buy online,
Shawn at aquatica has bulbs in the $65 range,
MH in the color temps that we use for reef tanks can be had from the 70 watt to 400, possibly higher? anyone have a 1000 watt bulb?
anyway if you really watt to start off cheep the 250 watt MH bulb also from the local electrical store, goes for $15 and is a 6500K bulb, everything will grow fine, but from the yellow color of the bulb, the corals will be closer to a brown color.
when you introduce more of the blues and some of the reds, then the corals show more colors.
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chk4tix
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Posted: November 30 2007 at 10:57pm |
 LordMaximo wrote:
Thanks, guess I need to be looking for some deals on MH setups Maximo |
check my sig. (wink wink)
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