has anyone used mercury vapor bulbs on a reef tank?

[stevemcadoo]

Standing at the lighting display I can see that 175 watt MV bulbs look bright with a blue tint. It looks like 12000k metal halide only brighter. Seems like it would work on a reef tank. Has anyone ever tried? Done a test on that? Anyone know the PAR and kelvin temp? I do know they are very inexpensive and do last longer than many other types and dont use very much electricity. If anyone has some honest info or tried them let me know. If they do work in combination with actinic fluorescents they would be an inexpensive light source, espcially for people that need many lights,like coral farmers.

 

[Reefer Dude1]

Iwasaki bulds are mercury vapor, and I have four of those on my tank.

 

[MattM]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Reefer Dude:
<STRONG>Iwasaki bulds are mercury vapor</STRONG><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Actually, no, they're not. The Iwasaki "Clean Ace" brand bulbs normally used in aquarium lighting are a "Mercury Vapor Conversion Lamp". That is, they are a metal halide lamp that is designed to work on a mercury vapor ballast. The original purpose is for people that already have a mercury vapor fixture installed, but want a whiter light - like a car dealership's outdoor lot.

The also make a "High Pressure Sodium Conversion Lamp", this is a metal halide that runs on an existing high pressure sodium fixture.

Full info on Iwasaki's web site: http://www.eyelighting.com/mhconversion.html

FWIW, true Mercury Vapor lamps, although they appear blue, have a color temp around 3200K. It's just another example of why color temps don't really apply to HID lighting...

[ September 10, 2001: Message edited by: MattM ]

 

[dbman]

I did in fact run Mercury Vapor bulbs over my reef for about 2 years; I had two 250s. They worked pretty well, the color is VERY yellow in reality however, and you really need a pretty good amount of actinic to balance it. I was running 4x40W actinics and it still looked a little off-color. However it IS a cheap solution, my corals DID grow, and I had no real problems. I switched to a single 400W 6500K halide and it was significantly "whiter" light and my corals are showing substantially better growth, so I think it's worth it to go to halides if you can. If you find a cheap industrial ballast, using Iwasakis is not much more expensive than mercury vapors and much more pleasing to the eye and to your inverts.

 

[KenH]

I have also run true MV lamps over a reef, It was a 175W lamp over a 29 gallon tank. In fact I am running a 175W over a 20 gallon tank right now as an experiment.

The light of these lamps is quite green/yellow when put over a tank even though it does not look very yellow in the store. This can be toned down somewhat with some actinics. I had great success with soft and LPS corals under this light for about two years. I even kept a Maxima clam for about a year under it which I still have 5 years later. I have always used the clear bulb and I have not tried the normal frosted white bulb.

The reason I am running the experiment now is that I have had a large green sinularia for about 5 years. It started to fail about 3 months ago for an unkown reason. I removed it from my main display tank to prevent causing problems with my SPS and put it into a 20 gallon lit with only the 175W MV and it appears to be recovering quite nicely. This coral was one of the original inhabitants of the 29 and I knew that it did quite well under that lighting before and thought it was worth a shot. So far it seems to be working.

While I can't really recommend this light over a display tank for cosmetic reasons, it does seem to have some value in special applications and well grow macroalgae like mad. It would be a good light of a refugium in my opinion.

--- Ken

[ September 10, 2001: Message edited by: KenH ]

 

[petpoor]

I also tried them on my tank they looked great in the store but on the tank YUCKEEEEE!!!! Took them back the next day isn't HD great?
Tom

 

[dbman]

Just so you know, the frosted white bulbs give a MUCH MUCH nicer color than the clear ones. You lose the MH-style shimmering but the color is much more palatable.