Lighting a 600G HELP

[jmhart]

The type of lighting that you use will make a difference too a MH will put of more light that a CFL and so forth besidese the data has gallons & watts it does not tell us what type of lighting he was using much less k rating ...

K rating has very little due to with how much light you need over the tank. We all know it needs to be "Daylight", so anywhere above 6500k will. Messing with color temp will alter the color of the plants.


Also, it's safe to say Amano doesn't use CFL's. Most Amano tanks I've seen use MH, but I think I've also seen T-5.

 

[Sicklid111]

Any way you slice the lghting issue, I am fascinated to see where a 600 gallon planted tank leads! Please upload a photo thread.... we want to see the beast LOL Sorry for hijacking the thread, but what kind of stock were you considering? I (and we) envy your flexibility

Its a Native tank. Scroll up for the stock list.

Here is the LINK to the site I put up on the build.

How many people have actually used Overdriven T8's? and by shortened life of the bulbs how much shorter are we talking?

 

[cap1384]

K rating has very little due to with how much light you need over the tank. We all know it needs to be "Daylight", so anywhere above 6500k will. Messing with color temp will alter the color of the plants.


Also, it's safe to say Amano doesn't use CFL's. Most Amano tanks I've seen use MH, but I think I've also seen T-5.

Your right JM I phrased that all wrong I meand lumens and lux. the type of light will depend on how much actually penetrates that deep into the water, and with out a lux meter you will never know how much light is actually there. If you look at the chart it doesn't tell you if its a T8, T5, MH.. it doesn't tell you much just the wattage and the gallons... I'm going to drop this tho this isn't the thread for this dicussion......... isn't there a way of using the lumens to determine how much light you will need. could this possibly be a better way? i'll try to find that link

 

[Sicklid111]

Pricing the T8 ODNO thing now, ballasts, bulbs, sockets etc.

Light Bulbs Etc
B432I120RH-A B432I120RH-A Ballast 6 x $19.56 $117.36
F30T8-D T-8 Lamp Medium Bi-Pin Base 36" Daylight 12 x $7.16 $85.92
L23651 Slide-On Low Profile Lamp Holder / Rated 660W-600V 24 x $0.91 $21.84
Total: $225.12

 

[Sicklid111]

OK I cant edit the last post anymore but after more research I went to 1000bulbs.com and found the following:
>Item: BF-WH5120LC
Name: Fulham Workhorse 5 - Fluorescent Ballast - 120 Volt - Long Case - Fulham #WH5-120-L 6 @ 24.13ea = $144.78
>Item: F-32T8GSP6530GE
Name: F32T8/SP65/ECO - 4 ft. - 32 Watt - T8 Linear Fluorescent Tube - 6500K - GE # 16091 1 Case (36 bulbs) @ $104.01
>Item: T8/T12 Socket SOCK-526RW
Name: T8/T12 Medium Bi-Pin Lamp Holder 24x .40ea = $9.60
Total = $258.39 + 24.41 Shipping = $282.80

Its actually cheaper in the long run than the other place since I'm getting the bulbs in a case (36) so each bulb ends up being $2.89!
36 Bulbs and only using 12 at a time theoreticly I have 3 years worth of bulbs if I change out every 12 months or 18 months if I switch out every 6 months either way its a heck of a deal. Now the cost will go up since I need reflectors but I thought maybe get a sheet of Mylar. It has 98% reflectivity Aquatic Eco sells it for $19.27 for a 4'x25' roll.

Now according to a post I read overdriving a 4 bulb ballast into 2 bulbs wil have a 50% increase in light output giving me 576W using only 384W assuming that it is actually a 50% increase. The other thing I like is the GE bulbs give off a nice 84 Lumens per watt.

Another option would be just to get retro kits from AH supply a 6x 96W bright kit is $299.99 + 6 x 96W bulbs = $173.94 + $31.95 shipping = 505.88. A bit to much for my wallet.

MH are out, way to much in inital cost and bulb replacement.

More to come later.

 

[Sicklid111]

Your right JM I phrased that all wrong I meand lumens and lux. the type of light will depend on how much actually penetrates that deep into the water, and with out a lux meter you will never know how much light is actually there. If you look at the chart it doesn't tell you if its a T8, T5, MH.. it doesn't tell you much just the wattage and the gallons... I'm going to drop this tho this isn't the thread for this dicussion......... isn't there a way of using the lumens to determine how much light you will need. could this possibly be a better way? i'll try to find that link

LOL I got waaay off track with my original train of thought in regards to using those bulbs. So thanks cap1384 for getting me back on track. It was suppose to be more towards the lumen out put of the bulbs. I also posted the question to Tom Barr on his forum and he suggested using 2 banks of 8 4' T8 32W bulbs over the tank (16 total) spaced out from front to back. Interestingly enough with a calculator I found on here that takes into consideration lumens per gallon. The amount of light those put out will give me moderate to high lighting according to This thread. And also VERY close to another calculator thats trying to debunk the old T12 based WPG rule as well.

 

[duke33]

I put a $45 (lowes) cf streetlight over a 300g 30" tall. It's rated at 500w and does a good job lighting. With the stock I cannot plant though. Hope this helps.

 

[Sicklid111]

Was it the whole fixture or just the bulb?

 

[Riiz]

LOL I got waaay off track with my original train of thought in regards to using those bulbs. So thanks cap1384 for getting me back on track. It was suppose to be more towards the lumen out put of the bulbs. I also posted the question to Tom Barr on his forum and he suggested using 2 banks of 8 4' T8 32W bulbs over the tank (16 total) spaced out from front to back. Interestingly enough with a calculator I found on here that takes into consideration lumens per gallon. The amount of light those put out will give me moderate to high lighting according to This thread. And also VERY close to another calculator thats trying to debunk the old T12 based WPG rule as well.

Tom Barr is wise in selecting T8, even though they need to be replaced every 6-9 months, 16 bulbs cant be more than $50 if they are bought in bulk.

And 6x96watt CF bulbs costs are about $200 including shipper per year.

 

[Sicklid111]

Scroll up. @ 1000bulbs.com a case of 36 bulbs is $104.01 which is $2.89 a bulb. they also have ballasts with a 5 year warranty for $15.66 that runs 4x T8 32W bulbs, then the sockets are .40 cents a piece. I was originally looking at the Fulham ballasts but that was because I was going to OD them but looks like I don't need to. so the total with shipping went from $282.80 to 202.34 shipped. Hell of a deal if you ask me. :headbang2: