New Coralife 150 watt MH clamp on light.

[rig]

Oh, I must be confused, i thought everyone was saying the glass half cylinder that comes with the unit is not UV safe. Which was why people were asking about putting glass in the unit instead of the grate? If the half-cylinder shield thing blocks UV, why does everyone seem to care about whether the bulb itself blocks UV? Sorry if I'm being stupid here.

[lgreen]

sorry, I thought the shield thing on the coralife unit was uv resistant, but I could be wrong.

[DerKomet]

My only problem with the fixture, and to be sure my only one, was that the shield is *supposedly* a splash shield only, according to Coralife. Even so, all glass will filter UV-A, B, and C to the degree that is no longer problematic. The hitch here is, is that the bulb itself is supposed to be UV filtering and *special* :

 

Which I don't believe at face value, especially from most aquarium equipment vendors (definitely not just Coralife.)

Currently the only other HQI bulb that claims that property is by Astralux. I have yet to find a site (even Coralife's) that has information that fact. Hellolights warns against using Coralife bulbs unshielded in fact.

 

So, given that ultraviolet radiation does in fact reflect and that the glass shield that come with the unit doesn't cover the entire exposed area between the grate and the bulb, I optioned to order a new piece of tempered glass from Onedayglass.com to guarantee the safety of my loved ones, my eyesight and all my beloved tank inhabitants against stray radiation. Call me anal, but an ounce of prevention... I figure $21 worth of glass is much cheaper than the horrible consequences of being unprepared.

 

That's just my take on making what otherwise seems like a decent product complete, and finishing up what some putz engineer should have thought of when he hit that last bud of peyote at midnight on the CAD system.

[snostorm]

You know just the fact that its an issue makes me not want to get this light. I have a 3 year old at home and I certainly wont trust the manufacturer with this light. A shame too Its exactly what I have been looking for.

[rig]

Im confused, derkomet, if you're afraid of the uv escaping out the sides and top of the unit, how is putting a peice of glass where the grate goes going to change anything? Or are you putting glass somewhere else? Covering up the holes in the unit? Why is the fact that the bulb is supposed to be uv filtering a hitch? If the half cylinder blocks uv?

[Naperville Reef]

DerKomet.......

 

i thouhgt of doing the same thing, however the tech guy at Coralife that i spoke to said when they were testing this product with a glass shield the lamp became too hot and they were having difficulties with that.

[DerKomet]

rig,

 

it's not that I'm afraid of the uv escaping out the sides and top so much (very low exposure at those areas), as I was that if I change to a bulb that I know for a fact is not a UV coated HQI (i.e. Phoenix DE), that the half cylinder only protects a partial amount and that the amount reflected back from the reflector itself through the ex-grated area (the highest exposed area) would have the most reflected available UV radiation. Thus, the UV glass solution seemed self subscribed for me.

 

FWIW, with the glass installed I see in increase in temperature on the unit over what it was previously. Maybe I just got a good one. I've had no problems with mine other than the noisy fan from the get-go.

 

 

Im confused, derkomet, if you're afraid of the uv escaping out the sides and top of the unit, how is putting a peice of glass where the grate goes going to change anything? Or are you putting glass somewhere else? Covering up the holes in the unit? Why is the fact that the bulb is supposed to be uv filtering a hitch? If the half cylinder blocks uv?

[Naperville Reef]

fwiw......

 

spoke to a guy in product development yesterday and he told me that the Coralife 150w mh bulb is definately made out of uv resistent glass and not quartz. he said that as far as he knows they are the only one that has their manufacturer make them that way.

 

he also said that the glass shield was designed as a splash gaurd only which leads me to beleive that it would not be sufficient in blocking uv rays with a quartz de bulb.

 

i asked about replacing the aluminum grate with glass and he said that temps reached upwards of 160 degrees versus 120. he beleived that the plastic housing would not hold up over time.

[apophis924]

Almost all forms of commercial and consumer glass will block the UV light generated by a DE MH bulb. Paying extra $$ for "UV Glass" is a waste. Plexiglass I am not sure of but even ordinary window glass will reduce UV radiations of any light soruce passing thru the glass. The same properties of glass that allow for the "greenhouse effect" also account for the removal and reduction of UV radiations form particular light source.

[DerKomet]

Sure, window and plexiglass are cheap and will filter UV really well but won't stand up to the temps that MH puts out safely. Trust me I tried. After about 30 minutes that 25 cent piece of window glass I bought at HD went "POP" and I was glad that it just cracked into a few pieces instead of shattering all over the top of my still covered (at that time) tank. The extra money that I paid was for (say it with me) TEMPERED glass.

 

Make sure you have a racesheet before you pick a horse or your'e gonna be out a lotta damn money.

 

 

Almost all forms of commercial and consumer glass will block the UV light generated by a DE MH bulb. Paying extra $$ for "UV Glass" is a waste. Plexiglass I am not sure of but even ordinary window glass will reduce UV radiations of any light soruce passing thru the glass. The same properties of glass that allow for the "greenhouse effect" also account for the removal and reduction of UV radiations form particular light source.

[Naperville Reef]

"Almost all forms of commercial and consumer glass will block the UV light generated by a DE MH bulb. Paying extra $$ for "UV Glass" is a waste"

 

that's great except that almost all DE and SE bulbs are made from quartz. that is why SE bulbs have the extra glass bulb around the actual bulb.

[DUDEFROMRI]

Man, I bought this light back in April. I have been deployed to Iraq/Kuwait for a while. I still havent even seen the light yet. Its sitting at home in a box. Cause I ordered it since ive been over here. Im kinda having second thoughts about this light now. Anyone want it? haha

[apophis924]

Originally posted by DerKomet

Sure, window and plexiglass are cheap and will filter UV really well but won't stand up to the temps that MH puts out safely. Trust me I tried. After about 30 minutes that 25 cent piece of window glass I bought at HD went "POP" and I was glad that it just cracked into a few pieces instead of shattering all over the top of my still covered (at that time) tank. The extra money that I paid was for (say it with me) TEMPERED glass.    

 

Make sure you have a racesheet before you pick a horse or your'e gonna be out a lotta damn money.

 

Why would you spend hundreds of dollars on a light fixture and go cheap on the glass that is going to be protecting your eyes and your tank life? You get what you pay for. Anyone in their right mind would make sure the glass you use over a bulb would be able to handle the temp extremes of heating and cooling, We call it (say it with me) PYREX.

Nothing teaches better and cost more than experience.

[DerKomet]

Why would you spend hundreds of dollars on a light fixture and go cheap on the glass that is going to be protecting your eyes and your tank life? You get what you pay for. Anyone in their right mind would make sure the glass you use over a bulb would be able to handle the temp extremes of heating and cooling, We call it (say it with me) PYREX.

 

It's called "that's what was available at my Home Depot without ordering it from somewhere." The fellow at HD said the single strength glass I was purchasing was well within the temperature range, as I found to my chagrin, he was wrong. As was several people who had posted as much on this and other sites. Thus I bought TEMPERED glass that was fine, not PYREX which is very good but would have cost 3x as much to get the same piece. Why pay more for what works? I personally work for a living and don't blow every nickle if I don't have to. $21 bucks for overnight delivery or $75 for Pyroceram? Why?

[nubie101]

Hi Aqualight advanced owners,

 

Can the light be mounted on the back of the tank which also houses a CPR aquafuge (without mounting on the aquafuge itself)? Might the aquafuge interfere with the adjustable arm on this light?

[ErockZ28]

i have a 10 gal right now because we are remodling the house so i had to mvoe my 34 gal into a 10 gal to get the tank outta the living room ... i know this would be a good light for my 10 gal right now but what about if i get a bigger tank ine the 30 - 70gal range? would it still be fine or would i have to buy a 2nd and space them evenly?

[cokevanilla]

for all the ppl with aqualight mount fixture:

 

b4 buying Coralife MH i had had a pc fixture (1 white and 1 actinic); the colors of my zoas were magnificent under actinic only...very blue tint and the zoas were putting out a nice color

 

after buying the MH ..well the color that the new bulb puts out does not do justice to the zoas:

 

 

the question is what r u doing? do u have an extra light (especially actinic) ... all the corals are viewd best under actinics.. what do we do?

 

 

 

 

thank you and waiting for ur answers

[tmerrick]

Check out my post about moonlights for this light.

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread...&threadid=59613

[rayhwong]

Hi,

Can someone show a picture of how they inserted the supplementary glass cover and what size the glass was?

Thanks!

-Ray

[siren's eye]

I was thinking about buying this light for my ten. Does anyone have any experice mounting it on the short side of the tank? I want my tank viewable from 3 sides.

[leslr]

Hi .

First off you will never be able to please everyone with your tank/lights. You will allways have/get negative comments no matter what system you choose, either too much, not enough, or I would have done this or that. Most, if not all lighting companys take into consideration on where the light/s are going to be used and also "assume" that people will use commen sense when it comes to their uses,ie: you don't look directly at the bare bulb when its on,you don't have a contest to see who can hold their hand under the light the longest,etc.

I have just fitted the clip-on to a 26 gal Bow-front and it looks great,"TO ME". If you can remember a while ago they were telling everyone that you could go blind, get cancer etc, from using Microwave ovens to much.

leslr.

[leslr]

Try #2

http://tinypic.com/992h6s.jpg

[msn711]

ErockZ28, I use this light on my 45g (commonly sold as a 40 breeder). I would say one of these is fine for tanks up to 36" long (with some less bright areas on the sides of course). What I really like about it is that if I move up to a 4ft tank, I'll just add on another one. The only thing to consider is the depth of the tank. I don't think this would work for anything deeper than a 75g, but I did see a TOTM on RC with a deeper tank using 20,000k 150wMH, so I guess anything is possible.

[BJK2]

It is a pretty good light, and I'll be using it in conjunction with a 250 watt 20K mh on a 75gallon real soon.

[tmerrick]

I just emailed coralife about bulb choices, see below.

 

Me:

I have a Aqualight Advanced Series - Hang-on Tank Mount light and I was

wondering if there would be different bulb choices to choose from. The light

is listed as a 20K but isnt nearly as blue as it other 14K bulbs.

Tyler

-----------------------------------------

Coralife:

 

Thank you, for your purchase of our Coralife Aqualight Advanced series lighting system. You would be able to use any HQI metal halide bulb that is double ended in this fixture. Just make sure it is 150 watts.

Hope this helps.

----------------

Me:

I was under the understanding that only the bulb that is included (and replacement) is UV protected. If I use any other bulb I will have to use some glass to surround the bulb to ensure that the UV doesn’t damage anything. Am I wrong in this way of thinking?

 

----------------------

Coralife:

There is a lens that goes in front of the bulb which prevents U.V from going in the tank