As I had discussed earlier, I had ordered this fixture to go over my 33 gallon Oceanic Cube.
I promised that since there was not much info out there on the board about it, I would give an overview when I started to use it.
Well,
I must say, the first thing that struck me about this light was the weight. As soon as I pulled it from the box,( the actual light fixture is obviously made of lightweight aluminum), I wondered if I was missing something.
The actual fixture head is so lightweight. I can see how it can be clamped to the side of a tank, and extend out over the surface without putting much torque on the glass.
The multi articulated mounting system is adjustable front to back , up and down, and the angle of the actual fixture head can be adjusted.
All the while the actual bulb remains perfectly parallel to the surface of the water. It basically clamps down to the side of the tank by screwing down 3 nylon bolts with landing pads on the ends that contact the glass.
I adjusted it down to fit my 10 gallon before I fired it up, and I had to insert a piece of 1" board behind the tank to give the fixture something to clamp to. The glass alone was not thick enough to provide a stable base.
There is no noticeable hum from the ballast. I assume it is electronic, although there is no information in the instructions, which I must say are very sparse with information of any kind.
As for the UV bulb cover, I assume the shield that is provided surrounding the HQI bulb, is actually UV coated. Again, there was no information indicating this in the 6 page instruction manual.
Now, for the best part...
I have never seen a 150 watt MH lit up before, and I had not seen a 20000K bulb either so my asessment of the light output may be a little biased.
The light it gives off is amazing. After having my tank under about 100watts of PC, the difference was astounding. The greens were brilliant, the blues were alittle dull, the reds were crisp, the whits were glowing.
I am so happy, I feel like a 6 year old boy on Christmas morning staring at the christmas tree.
I never knew what a difference it could make.
The bad news is the heat. As I said before, right now I am using it over my 10 gallon until I can get the cube back and set up. I plugged it in at about 6:30 and it is now 10:15. My ambient house temp is about 70, and the light ALONE has held my tank temperature at about 79.5* for the last 2.5 hours.
I cannot sit and watch the tank all day tomorrow to watch the temp,so I set up the timers to turn it on at about 9am and stay on for 3 hours, then shut down and fire back up at about 4:30 just before I get home. That way I will not have any suprises when i get home.
Anyway, I will write more as I find out things about it.
I am calling Coralife tomorrow toask them about the UV glass and a couple of other things.
Thanks for reading
-JP
I promised that since there was not much info out there on the board about it, I would give an overview when I started to use it.
Well,
I must say, the first thing that struck me about this light was the weight. As soon as I pulled it from the box,( the actual light fixture is obviously made of lightweight aluminum), I wondered if I was missing something.
The actual fixture head is so lightweight. I can see how it can be clamped to the side of a tank, and extend out over the surface without putting much torque on the glass.
The multi articulated mounting system is adjustable front to back , up and down, and the angle of the actual fixture head can be adjusted.
All the while the actual bulb remains perfectly parallel to the surface of the water. It basically clamps down to the side of the tank by screwing down 3 nylon bolts with landing pads on the ends that contact the glass.
I adjusted it down to fit my 10 gallon before I fired it up, and I had to insert a piece of 1" board behind the tank to give the fixture something to clamp to. The glass alone was not thick enough to provide a stable base.
There is no noticeable hum from the ballast. I assume it is electronic, although there is no information in the instructions, which I must say are very sparse with information of any kind.
As for the UV bulb cover, I assume the shield that is provided surrounding the HQI bulb, is actually UV coated. Again, there was no information indicating this in the 6 page instruction manual.
Now, for the best part...
I have never seen a 150 watt MH lit up before, and I had not seen a 20000K bulb either so my asessment of the light output may be a little biased.
The light it gives off is amazing. After having my tank under about 100watts of PC, the difference was astounding. The greens were brilliant, the blues were alittle dull, the reds were crisp, the whits were glowing.
I am so happy, I feel like a 6 year old boy on Christmas morning staring at the christmas tree.
I never knew what a difference it could make.
The bad news is the heat. As I said before, right now I am using it over my 10 gallon until I can get the cube back and set up. I plugged it in at about 6:30 and it is now 10:15. My ambient house temp is about 70, and the light ALONE has held my tank temperature at about 79.5* for the last 2.5 hours.
I cannot sit and watch the tank all day tomorrow to watch the temp,so I set up the timers to turn it on at about 9am and stay on for 3 hours, then shut down and fire back up at about 4:30 just before I get home. That way I will not have any suprises when i get home.
Anyway, I will write more as I find out things about it.
I am calling Coralife tomorrow toask them about the UV glass and a couple of other things.
Thanks for reading
-JP
