ATI sunpower on my 180 Gallon

[Tom Barr]

I did some more measurements now the light was broken in and the bulbs roasted good.

I estimated about 1/2 the power: 50%, but this looked too high, so I measured and sure enough it was 140umol at the bottom of the 24" deep tank.
450 at the surface.

So now I dialed it down to 30%, or about 190 W over 180 Gal tank.
Still near 100 umol at the bottom.

Nuts........

360umol at the top

I had 45-50 umol with 4x 96W PC's.

I use 1/2 the energy and have 2x the light.
So 4x more light per watt.

ATI vs the The Tek was about 2X the light.

I have a much better color selection of bulbs, as well as more options(8 vs 2) and a much wider even spread of light.

Only saves me about 90$ a year, but the increased light = more plant growth= more plant trimming to sell= 400$ or so more a year I'd say.
So after 4 years, the light should pay for themselves.

[dutchy]

I need around 300 Watts of T5 full blast on my 180 to get 100 umol at the substrate. I'm not sure intensity equals Watts, or percentage on the dial equals Watts. Depends if the dimmer is very linear or not. Also various lamps have various PAR output, which not equals to Watts. Hard to say or conclude from that.

[Tom Barr]

I need around 300 Watts of T5 full blast on my 180 to get 100 umol at the substrate. I'm not sure intensity equals Watts, or percentage on the dial equals Watts. Depends if the dimmer is very linear or not. Also various lamps have various PAR output, which not equals to Watts. Hard to say or conclude from that.

That's what a "Kill A Watt" meter is for

I have watts and I have PAR.

[Gilles]

Do you have reflectors Dutchy? An old saying (old as in; from the older aquarium guys) is that a white canopy equals as much light as reflectors.
If all goes well, i'll get my reflectors in tomorrow (i currently have a white canopy).
I am going to plot what the difference is, in uMol, with the following stats:

1 tube, 10%, no reflector
1 tube, 20%, no reflector
etc.

2 tubes, 10%, no reflector
2 tubes, 20%, no reflector
etc.

and the same test with reflectors.
It will be interesting.

[dutchy]

100 umol with a white canopy here. With reflectors I get 70% more. 170 umol with 300 Watts = 85 umol with just 150 Watts, this is the same as just two bulbs. Close to what Tom says. But the spread would be terrible I think, since European tanks have the lights very close to the water surface. Also what I said before, I've seen big differences up to 30% in PAR output between various bulbs, so it's difficult to compare Watts with PAR. Typically the "plant bulbs" are the worst in PAR, although this might be different in PUR output.

[Tug]

Tom,
I would be interested in knowing what bulbs you use and how far above the tank they are.
I do remember something about a purple bulb.

[Tom Barr]

I did not have my ATI's avail for this tank, so it's heavy on the red side. I have a UVI Red sun which is a freaky red bulb. I suppose a channel with 2 of those would give a nice red sunset appearance. I like a mix of red/blue and white.
I have some green bulbs but only for the 4ft length. Have not tried them yet. The 180 has mostly Zoomed, Aquawave red and Giesemann I think

I was worried the lights would cook my emergent Bolbitus which is quite large now, but it seems fine so far.

[Gilles]

100 umol with a white canopy here. With reflectors I get 70% more. 170 umol with 300 Watts = 85 umol with just 150 Watts, this is the same as just two bulbs. Close to what Tom says. But the spread would be terrible I think, since European tanks have the lights very close to the water surface. Also what I said before, I've seen big differences up to 30% in PAR output between various bulbs, so it's difficult to compare Watts with PAR. Typically the "plant bulbs" are the worst in PAR, although this might be different in PUR output.

Which lamps do you use, how much and all at 100%?

[dutchy]

I think we are hijacking this topic.....

Anyway, I use all Osram Lumilux 865, 10 hours, 6 hours at 100%.

[Gilles]

Well tom doesn't mind
What wattage and how many bulbs?