new lighting set up
If I offer a prize, which I did think about... then one of the two people that know what it is would probably be posting fast :D
Anyways the way I did it was by running two 36" Uri super actinic VHO's in series using the full amperage of the Workhorse (so they are being driven at full VHO levels) also there are two 10000 K 96 watts PC's and finally one 10000K 175 watt MH on the one end where it is brighter...
I am going to add another MH on the other end in the near future.
The main part of this was to show how you can get better results from your actinics and still increase bulb life by using WH ballast instead of IceCap. The fact you are using a Electronic ballast alone will increase bulb life over a tar ballast... with my experience with florescent tubes in fresh planted tanks... you double the useful life of your bulb just by switching to a electronic ballast, for icecap they claim 6 times the life because in addition they under drive the tubes.. So cool your tubes last 3 years... but at 30ish a tube... I think it is fine if you have to switch them once a year... after all I am pumping a full 95 watts into a 95 watt bulb... not 64 watts as you would see by using a electronic HO ballast such as IceCap, but if you are happy with that amount of light a IceCap puts out you can split the WH to two wires per tube and you will get the same power out put.
I am going to let the new actinic bulbs burn in for a week or so then I will do some more tests with my PAR meter to get hard numbers on the increase of light in the tank...
So some of you might ask why run all those different types of bulbs... well this is my theory
I run the actinic for 14 hours a day, so they come on at 7am and turn off at 9 pm
The PC's come on at 8 am and go off at 8 pm for a 12 hour total.
The MH comes on at 10 am and turn off at 6pm for a 8 hour cycle
What my thinking is that the actinic will handle the dawn, daytime and dusk.
The PC's will give the ambient daylight, and the MH will provide the intensity of the hot part of the day. This allows me to run the MH for a shorter amount of time each day (I am thinking of cutting it back to 6 hours a day in the winter to kind of create a season change)
Some people say ahh the PC's are a waste but I don't think that running a MH on for 12 hours is realistic either... I have spent months and months in the tropics and the mornings and evenings are not near as intense as the mid day so I feel my way is closer to the real thing... does it matter???? Who knows but I hope it does :D
Steve
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