MH & LED Mix Help with par/photo period

[minus9]

Nice! looks really blue, I thought the 14k hammy would be whiter or you have the bars on? any chance of a pic without the bars on?

Pictures will always look bluer, but they are pretty crisp white in person.

 

[wrassie86]

Pictures will always look bluer, but they are pretty crisp white in person.

I also have some hammy 20k that run pretty blue. My monitor made your tank look bluer than those! Do the 14k have a slight purple tint to them? I've never used them.

 

[The Farmer]

I’m running 300+ par on my sps. I acclimated them up to that par slowly

 

[wrassie86]

I’m running 300+ par on my sps. I acclimated them up to that par slowly

what kind of lights?

 

[The Farmer]

I have a kessil ap9x on a 20 long as my frag tank at the moment

 

[oreo54]

I also have some hammy 20k that run pretty blue. My monitor made your tank look bluer than those! Do the 14k have a slight purple tint to them? I've never used them.

From the spectrum I suspect they do.
Either a lot of red or a lot of < 430 nm " blue " will look purplish .
Healthy spike at 410-ish.
Nothing in red.
YMMV.

Phoenix 14K Lamps Phoenix 250W Double Ended Lamp

Phoenix 14K HEXARC marine blue metal halide lamp, MH 150W MB, MH HEXARC MH-250W/TD/B, MH 250W MB, MH-150W/TD/B, MH-250W/TD/B

www.viclite.com

 

[minus9]

I also have some hammy 20k that run pretty blue. My monitor made your tank look bluer than those! Do the 14k have a slight purple tint to them? I've never used them.

I would describe the 14k SE as crisp white compared to LEDs, they have a very natural shallow water look to them, which I love. Here’s a quick pic of my temp tank with the 14k’s and Meso Blue bars.

When the halides go off and it’s just the Quanta bars, you see all of the colors that the halides render/produce. True blue and purple are the colors that really shine. The confetti in the foreground looks washed out under halides, but when they turn off, those colors pop. I could get that pop from my Kessil’s, but not like this. It’s hard to see with pictures from an iPhone, but in person, you get it.

 

[minus9]

Just bars with filter.

 

[wrassie86]

I would describe the 14k SE as crisp white compared to LEDs, they have a very natural shallow water look to them, which I love. Here’s a quick pic of my temp tank with the 14k’s and Meso Blue bars.

When the halides go off and it’s just the Quanta bars, you see all of the colors that the halides render/produce. True blue and purple are the colors that really shine. The confetti in the foreground looks washed out under halides, but when they turn off, those colors pop. I could get that pop from my Kessil’s, but not like this. It’s hard to see with pictures from an iPhone, but in person, you get it.

That looks great! just the look I like also.

 

[minus9]

That looks great! just the look I like also.

Thanks! It's a holding tank while I reboot my 90g, so it's quite the mess in here. It's really for the fish, clams and a select group of corals that I'm going to keep. A lot of rock and corals will find new homes. I might try the 20k hammies when these 14k's are ready to go, but I have a year to decide as these bulbs have only been in use since last week. I should've bought more during the Marine Depot going out of business sale, I think these were $35ea? Maybe less? I'm not worried, as Hamilton is a 30-40 minute drive from me.

 

[wrassie86]

As o

Thanks! It's a holding tank while I reboot my 90g, so it's quite the mess in here. It's really for the fish, clams and a select group of corals that I'm going to keep. A lot of rock and corals will find new homes. I might try the 20k hammies when these 14k's are ready to go, but I have a year to decide as these bulbs have only been in use since last week. I should've bought more during the Marine Depot going out of business sale, I think these were $35ea? Maybe less? I'm not worried, as Hamilton is a 30-40 minute drive from me.

As of yesterday I think I saw Hamilton had there 14k bulbs on sale. $35 would have been a great price. 50 on sale so 9 bucks off.

 

[wrassie86]

So I was playing around a bit after seeing Minus9 par reading
I set 1 250 watt odessea 15k DE bulb 32 inches above my sensor in air.
Ballast 255-260 watts average power pull
Par is 190
Lux 15500
sensor at 23 inches was 320 par

In testing the hammy 20k I got 80 Par at 32 inches . So not sure what to think about that.

Do the readings from the 15k bulb seem Low? The reflectors are PFO 6x12 inch DE

 

[minus9]

So I was playing around a bit after seeing Minus9 par reading
I set 1 250 watt odessea 15k DE bulb 32 inches above my sensor in air.
Ballast 255-260 watts average power pull
Par is 190
Lux 15500
sensor at 23 inches was 320 par

In testing the hammy 20k I got 80 Par at 32 inches . So not sure what to think about that.

Do the readings from the 15k bulb seem Low? The reflectors are PFO 6x12 inch DE

The reading seems about right, remember, the sensor was in between two fixtures and the Quanta bars were on when I took that reading. I think 320 micro moles is about right with the 15k. Also depends on bulb age or if it’s just burning in?

 

[wrassie86]

The reading seems about right, remember, the sensor was in between two fixtures and the Quanta bars were on when I took that reading. I think 320 micro moles is about right with the 15k. Also depends on bulb age or if it’s just burning in?

The 15k has about 6 hrs on it. same for the hammy

 

[minus9]

The 15k has about 6 hrs on it. same for the hammy

I find after about a week, they settle in, but each light may have a different burn-in period. The other thing to consider, is spectrum, 320 micro moles of full spectrum lighting is pretty good and I'm guessing that your measurement is the sand bed?

 

[wrassie86]

I find after about a week, they settle in, but each light may have a different burn-in period. The other thing to consider, is spectrum, 320 micro moles of full spectrum lighting is pretty good and I'm guessing that your measurement is the sand bed?

No, 32 inch air test was around 190-200

But on my tank 180g with the 3 lights on and flow on at 33 inches above the sand 16 inches to water I get 249 par at sand and a pretty even 360 par across the top on my rocks.
So if I lower the lights down 6-8 inches I assume it would be around 460 maybe more at the top of rocks.

 

[minus9]

No, 32 inch air test was around 190-200

But on my tank 180g with the 3 lights on and flow on at 33 inches above the sand 16 inches to water I get 249 par at sand and a pretty even 360 par across the top on my rocks.
So if I lower the lights down 6-8 inches I assume it would be around 460 maybe more at the top of rocks.

Gotcha! My pendants are 12” above the tank and roughly 13” above the water line. How high are they mounted now?

 

[wrassie86]

Gotcha! My pendants are 12” above the tank and roughly 13” above the water line. How high are they mounted now?

16 inches to the water line

 

[minus9]

16 inches to the water line

You can definitely move them a little closer. I think 12" - 14" should be fine.

 

[wrassie86]

Well, I guess I know why the hammy 20k par might have been so low... My 10-year-old Eletronic ballast just went up in smoke. big pop and she was done. guess testing bulbs was too much for it. I did notice one of my other ballast was running a bit yellow and down to 248 watts, they normally around 260 the last time I tested. So time to find 3 more ballast.