[chriss]

Back before christmas I finally got the 80 litre frag tank at the top of my sump cupboard up and running and began filling it with 'breakages' from the main tank. Being in a cupboard the height above it is restricted and being enclosed I had to be aware of heat.

At first I lit it with a 150W MH spot which was on during the night. This avoided any heat problems and has been fine, EXCEPT that being a spot, and being so close it only really lit a limited area which, again, was fine for just the first few frags.

Now that the number of frags is exceding the lit area I thought I'd make up a light using four 55W power compacts, but now I'm not sure if that was a good idea or not. Fortunately, it hasn't cost much more than £30 to make up the light hood.

Currently with three lamps, one missing from the order, thats 165W, it doesn't look so bright, I guess it won't because it's about the same wattage over a larger area, also, I'm using 6500K lamps which are a little 'yellow' in comparison, but only cost £3.50 each. I had thought of adding a couple of 26W narva blue T5's as well. That would bring the total wattage up to around 270W.

So, I'm in a quandry, do I....

1) add the actinic and see what happens

2) make up an 'open reflector' for a single 150W or 2x150W or 1x250W, but I think heat will be a problem, just overheating the structure of the cabinet not the water.

3) go back to the 150W spot and get rid of some of the frags

One question I should maybe have asked is 'Do frags even grow under power-compact?'


Any other ideas?

Chris


power compacts...



150W halide...

[chriss]

Actually, after looking back at my post the power compacts look crap, do you think forking out for 10K lamps will make a significant difference or shuold I just revert back to halides?

Chris

[SLAPPY]

Halides is better, however should space become an issue, then T5's are the other option.

Shame as I just gave away my old 150w halide (remote ballast), it had a single ended BLV 150w 10k bulb which had about 3 months use. That would of been perfect for your needs.

[chriss]

slappy, on Feb 19 2008, 09:42 PM, said:

Halides is better, however should space become an issue, then T5's are the other option.

Shame as I just gave away my old 150w halide (remote ballast), it had a single ended BLV 150w 10k bulb which had about 3 months use. That would of been perfect for your needs.

I particularly chose not to use T5's, the dimensions of the tank meant I couldn't get match on tube length, I would have needed at least eight tubes for the same wattage, they are more expensive to buy and require changing just as often as the power compacts.

The halide I was using had a 150W BLV 10K lamp, it's just that it was in a 'spot' rather than an 'open' style reflector. I think I'm gonna ditch the compacts and move back to the halide.

Question is, which? A single 150W, twin 150W (might be good due to the restricted height, give a better spread) or a single 250W? I have spare gear for all these options, tho maybe a 150W lamp short but that's no problem.

Leccy wise, time I got four 55W power compacts plus a couple of atinics, thats easily comparable to 250W of halide power. Over heating the water is unlikely unless the pump fails, and just to the side of the frag tank is a vent straight up thru the garage roof, so that will help as well.

C'mon, somebody push me one way or the other?

Chris

PS Anybody want any 55W power compact ballasts?

[ben]

i would think 2 x 150w 10k halides would be enough in a tank that deep