1st post in new MH forum

Thank you Night - Rida

 

Did some Lux testing today, in order to compare light output ( my meter does not measure PAR or anything of use to corals, but it does tell me how much light is put out over a given area and as such I believe its a good indication of improvement or otherwise)


as you can see, this green plastic stool is about 2 inches short of the height of my stainless steel frame
as such 2 of these would be a reasonable place to put the T5 canopy on test and take readings at floor level


the highest reading I could get 10 inches underneath the T5 canopy with all lamps lit was 9.30 K Lux



a reading under the MH with probe about same distance from middle of lamp was 19.25 K Lux


reading from 3 or 4 inches inside, middle of T5 = 4.72 K Lux


A reading from very edge of tank under MH (not under reflector) 8.47 K Lux


reading from very front of T5 which would be mostly 22K tube = 6.51 K Lux


Reading from front edge of tank with MH , 12.25 K Lux


so it seems to me, in terms of light output, this upgrade was a very worthwhile investment

in fact the only way I could get anywhere close to LUX readings of comparable values was when I did this

image taken with sensor held against Aquablue 14K tube = 15.4 K Lux


My meter only reads up to 20 K Lux
as such I was unable to repeat that test on MH as it would go off the scale as soon as I got to within 8 inches of the canopy

 

definitely a improvement. welcome to the MH club!! you should see a little better growth rate on that tank over the next few months,,

 

Nice update Steve. Look forward to more. 8)

 

Thanks again Night-Rida , I am already seeing signs of growth on a number of corals that did not seem to do much before, I have grow out now on the rockwork from some of the frags that seemed to want to stay within the limits of the plugs previously

Thank you Matt

been updating my tank thread with images of improved color on my trio of browned out purple Acros

I am now up to 10 hours per day of MH
with an additional hour either side of Blue LED spots 3 watts for the dawn dusk effect

I have 1 lamp coming on 30 minutes before the other one, and going off 30 minutes earlier

considering increasing duration or lowering the unit
currently lamps are 14 inches above water surface
I am considering cutting 2 inches out of the frame and then re welding
placing the lamps 12 inches away from water surface

so undecided really
may go for 11 hours of illumination time
or may stay with 10 hours, but with lamps lowered

Steve

 

well the 2 x 250 watt MH installed on 25th July 2011, got replaced today
with 2 new lamps XM 15K

so just about 11 months
I think I left it a bit long, and will probably swap out next time at around the 10 month mark

tank looks much deeper in colour already today, than it did yesterday, and these lamps have not completed their 100 hour burn in period as yet

coralline is looking more purple today, it looked closer to pink yesterday

the change was so gradual over the 11 months it was not noticable
but when the new lamps are added, you can certainly appreciate the difference IMO

Steve

 

Seems that way with T5HO also.