light composition questions

[LadyClown]

I've been reading this forum for awhile, and I have a couple of newbie questions:

 

What is a 50/50 light made of (what's the blue part)?

 

How do you know how much Ks your light has?

 

I went to L&M to check out PCs, and I founda couple that were very little in size (less that 6 in long). Are they the ones that some of you guys use (they might look bigger in the pictures)?

 

Would I be able to keep low light corals in my 10g if I retrofitted my current 13W strip light with 2 daylight bulbs, or should I stick to the original plana and retrofit a 50/50 PC?

 

Why are MH better and why are they more expensie? Should I retrofit with those instead?

 

I'm CONFUSED! :*(

[Phish]

If you can swing the extra cost of a 70w MH and a small actinic light, I would say go for it. if you want a PC those are good too.

[RobD]

With a 10 gallon tank, you could get something like the Custom Sea Life fixtures. I have an older one that I used over a 10gal flat back hex, and it worked very well. It was 2x28w bulbs and gave enough light to grow Montipora. I wouldn't expect to be able to keep high light Acropora and have it look like it would under a 400W Metal Halide. But you will also have a lot less heat to deal with, which is definately something to be concerned about.

 

If you go the retrofit route, what I did worked really well. A tip on getting the fixture in the hood, I predrilled pilot holes in some wood plugs, then siliconed them to the top (inside) of the hood. That made it very easy to screw the fixture into the hood without tearing up the top of the hood.

 

I'd shop around before getting a retrofit kit, since you might be able to get a complete hood for a decent price. A couple of sites I'd check would be Marine Depot, and Hello Lights. I've ordered from both of them and haven't had any trouble.

[LadyClown]

What if I bought a 10,000K fluorescent bulb?

Would it be as good as a 10,000K PC?

 

What would be the difference?

[RobD]

Do you mean a fluorescent tube or the kind of curly light you screw into a regular socket to replace an incandescent light?

 

If it is the same color temperature (10000k) it should look about the same, there are some variances by manufacturer.

 

If it's the same color temperature, the same intensity (the rough way of measuring this is wattage), and it fits under your hood, then you could use the one you prefer. Sometimes, if you buy bulbs that are made for home lighting, it will say something to the effect that it is "the same as" a 60w lightbulb, but this is actually a 13w bulb.

 

If you think you might go to a bigger tank in the future, you might want to buy a ballast that will drive more watts as well.

 

So what are the options that you are considering, at this point?

[LadyClown]

Right now I'm torn between keeping my hood set up with just a fluorescent strip light and changing the bulb to a 13W 10,000K coral life fluorescent bulb, or taking the hodd apart and installing 2 PCs one 50/50 and the other 6,500K or more.

 

I think the first option would be the easiest for me because I've never done any DIY lighting, but since it would be so much cheaper I'd install the Pcs myself.

 

What do you think? My hood come with the tank in a walmart bought kit

[RobD]

Some of it will come down to $$ and what you want to keep in your tank.

 

This 50/50 retrofit might be a better fit, if you are going to retrofit your hood. http://www.hellolights.com/14nanretkit.html

 

This replacement hood would be a good choice, for the long term success of your tank also. I'm not sure what the width of your tank is, but it would be one of these. http://www.marinedepot.com/a_lt_pc_csl.asp...sp?CartId=#pcml

 

My opinion would be that 13 watts of light would really only work for a fish only tank. You'd likely end up with (non corraline) algae growth that really doesn't look good. The green or red micro algae that you see in the typical big box pet store tanks.

 

I think you'd be happy with a 28w 50/50 retrofit into your existing hood, but then you'll also need to fit some kind of cooling fan in also or you'll likely end up with temperature problems that cause the organisms in your tank stress that will eventually lead to a meltdown of your tank (If you scan these boards you'll see the sad posts about this kind of thing )

 

Good job on putting the thought in up front, btw.

[LadyClown]

uhm.. if I had 2 13W lights I wouldjhave a total of 26W, though. Wouldn't that be good? I could always build a custom canpoy later on and then get more light.

 

I have 1 year left in college, and then I'm moving to graduate school, so I don't have the money right now, nor will I be keeping a lot of coral (I think I'll get some shrooms for now) befor eI move again.

 

Do you think I should still go with the 28W? (just cuz 2 13W are 1/4 of the $ than a single 28w retrofit)

I guess I will go it the 28W if needed

[RobD]

I thought of the single 28w retrofit as a better option is because it is simpler wiring and also would allow you to upgrade to 2x28w in a custom hood in the future, if you want to keep higher light corals. If you had 2x13w, you'd need to go to 4x13w to get close to the same light which would be a mess of wiring and ballasts.

 

Another suggestion would be to take a look around at tanks that are the same size as yours that you like and see what kind of lights they have. This might help you feel more certain about your choice.

[LadyClown]

I guess it makes sense!

Thank you so very much for your help

[jflysmooth]

If you want to keep corals, get at least one of those PC retrofits. On my 10 gallon I had a 32 watt CSL 50/50 retrofit and it worked well. I eventually added another one to the system as I wanted to keep more light demanding coral. I think Lunchbucket had a 400 watt MH over his 10 gallon at one point. The little flourescent strip light is NOT enough lighting. I dunno how much those CSL retrofits are anymore, but I got mine for 40 bucks each and they're awesome.