Lighting change- a couple new pics
 

Current lighting is 1 250w radium (on hqi ballast) and 2 actinics. There is also a 175w 10k that comes on for a few hours a day as a high noon effect. When the 10k is on, this is the perfect combination of light IMO. Enjoy!

http://members.shaw.ca/limestone2/april/042003-01.jpg

http://members.shaw.ca/limestone2/april/042003-02.jpg

http://members.shaw.ca/limestone2/april/042003-03.jpg

Those pics sure show the nice color of the radiums!
Any praticular settings you used on the camera?

Adam, looks awesome man!

Is the 10k 175w on in those pics?

Great tank. Curious, why did you change? Do you like the new setup better than the previous one?

Nice Adam, looks really great! :mrgreen:

P.S. how long were your exposures?

cheers, Rich

thanks guys.. THe shadows do appear dark but the tank is not.. It is very bright and has good light coverage.. The reason I exposed the photo like that is so that the light corals in the top of the tank don't expose as white.. If I can find a way to take photos with not so much shadow I will do it, but this is the best I have found yet. IMO, this is the best success I have had so far..

No this is not with the 10k on.

So did you change lights because you wanted less light or does the HQI 250 give you more light than the 400 or was it to save electricity or was it to save heat or was it because you didn't like they way your corals were growing under the 400's? Still curious thanks.

Oh and which ballast did you get? PFO, IceCap?

I'm kinda curious for the same questions! Didn't you have a 400W radium before? What was it that you wanted to switch to a 250W? And when you say HQI are you running it on a M81 or an electronic? And what is the average wing velocity of a European sparrow? Could a sparrow have the coconut shells from Africa?? Oh so many questions...

He is running it on a M80 ballast, M81's are not for 250 watt bulbs.

Steve

Tony, I have no idea what the heck Adam is doing, but if the sparrow is an African sparrow, it can have coconut shells from Africa. The shells are too heavy to carry back to Europe. Hope that helps!

Are actinics really necessary with the blue Radium, especially the reputed "more-blue" 250-watt? Or is this another personal preference thing?

And, further to the off-topic:

GUARD #1: Where'd you get the coconut?
ARTHUR: We found them.
GUARD #1: Found them? In Mercea? The coconut's tropical!
ARTHUR: What do you mean?
GUARD #1: Well, this is a temperate zone.
ARTHUR: The swallow may fly south with the sun or the house
martin or the plumber may seek warmer climes in winter yet these
are not strangers to our land.
GUARD #1: Are you suggesting coconuts migrate?
ARTHUR: Not at all, they could be carried.
GUARD #1: What -- a swallow carrying a coconut?
ARTHUR: It could grip it by the husk!
GUARD #1: It's not a question of where he grips it! It's a
simple question of weight ratios! A five ounce bird could not
carry a 1 pound coconut.
ARTHUR: Well, it doesn't matter. Will you go and tell your
master that Arthur from the Court of Camelot is here.
GUARD #1: Listen, in order to maintain air-speed velocity, a
swallow needs to beat its wings 43 times every second, right?
ARTHUR: Please!
GUARD #1: Am I right?
ARTHUR: I'm not interested!
GUARD #2: It could be carried by an African swallow!
GUARD #1: Oh, yeah, an African swallow maybe, but not a European
swallow, that's my point.
GUARD #2: Oh, yeah, I agree with that...
ARTHUR: Will you ask your master if he wants to join my court
at Camelot?!
GUARD #1: But then of course African swallows are not migratory.
GUARD #2: Oh, yeah...
GUARD #1: So they couldn't bring a coconut back anyway...
[clop clop]
GUARD #2: Wait a minute -- supposing two swallows carried it
together?
GUARD #1: No, they'd have to have it on a line.
GUARD #2: Well, simple! They'd just use a standard creeper!
GUARD #1: What, held under the dorsal guiding feathers?
GUARD #2: Well, why not?

See? I'm right! sort of.....

It also looks like thread hijacking occurring again. I gotta stop doing that :biggrin:

It was triggered by a moderator though so it's OK.


:biggrin: :lol: :smile:

You're right. It's Tony's fault this time!!

LOL, sorry Sam, I will never forget to answer a question of yours again! What a mess :lol:

I switched becuase I was getting some bleaching (zoox bleaching) from the 400.. I think it was too much light for the corals at such a short depth or the regular ballast wasn't running it at the right spectrum.. It ran great for 2 months with no problems and shortly after that, the bleaching began. I switched to 400w 10k Ushio and Had good success with recovery.

I thought I'd give the 250w hqi a shot.. I know I am taking a chance, but I'm willing to risk it as I have grown quite fond of the look of the radium. To my eyes, the 250 HQI is as bright or brighter then the 400w pfo.

A couple other things to note, yes the 250 is much cooler. I haven't checked my temp (usually don't very often) but to my hand, the water feels cooler.

hey nice tank:)
also 2 questions
1 what size of tank?
2 why is the 250 hqi a risk ?

1, I can't remember but 55 gal seams to ring a bell.

2, Not knowing for sure what is running around in Adam's head you could only guess..

It could be a risk as I found throught my tests that a 250 watt radium on a HQI ballast puts out more PAR than a 400 watt radium on a normal or a son agro ballast. ( I can now test another HQI set up intown to conferm this if I can ever get time to get over to Adam's with my junk. same ballast type, exact same bulb, different reflector. Should be interesting )

I think the other "risk" could be the one that he wasn;t sure if he would like it or not, and there could be other risks so I guess he will have to tell us which ones he is thinking of. :mrgreen:

Steve

steve's pretty much covered both those answers for me.. Yeah when are ya coming by? :confused:

and the tank is a 50g 3'x18"x18"

when life slowes down enuf for me to get some free time :rolleyes: soon I hope.

Steve