par question

[timsVw]

Would 2 175 watt bulbs throw off more par than 1 250 watt? Or does par not work in an additive manner?

-Tim

[CurvBall]

Good question. Was wondering the same thing... was going to go dual 150w DE instead of 1 250w DE... hope somebody can answer this question.... however I think the more wattage, the greater the 'punch'.

[Orion76]

If both bulbs are focussed on the same area then their PAR should be cumulative.

[timsVw]

thanks orion

-Tim

[scottw]

if you want par which seems to be what everyone thinks there is all to lighting go to Lowes/Home Depot if in US and get there 5000k venture bulbs or there in house brand and your par will be higher then any bulb on the market that are sold for fish stuff. You are going to have to add 600 watts of VHO or 6 t5's so it doesnt look like pee but then you will have the par that everyone thinks is so important

[timsVw]

heh, I also want nice color. I just have noticed less growth since I switched to 14k. So I was thinking of doing a 175 10k and a 175 14k and then just one pc bulb in the front for color. I know pc's don't carry as much par but I like the way they look better. If you think of a better setup scott let me know, cause I don't know much about lighting. Oh my tank is a 30 gal cube. Also by using all 3 bulbs I was trying to hit all the spectrums.

-Tim

[scottw]

Tim.

hehe I was just messing around, It seems from RC that everyone thinks the only important thing to lighting is par, there are just so many things more to lighting that are equally important.

If I were you I would go with 2 x 175 10k and T5's. You don’t get the heat like you would with VHO and you also get a lot more color then you will with PC's. And the price of PC's is higher then T5's.

I would go with a 2 bulb T5 setup or 4 bulbs if you have the room. More people in Europe are switching to just T5's over MH due to the cost of electricity over there.

I run 10k w/T5's on all my frag tanks (or I will be now I should say) you get almost no heat compared to VHO's.

Have I lost you yet .

[gqjeff]

I would go 1 t5 blue plus and 1 vho actinic with 2 10K... Great setup and color for you also.. With good par from the 10K...

[scottw]

see just like jeff said

[timsVw]

I can only get 18 to 20 inch bulbs under my hood.

-Tim

[gqjeff]

yep no T5 then.. Bummer they REALLY rock too, especially teamed up with the vho actinic.. I think you would be better of then going 250 10K with pc actinic... I think 1 250 will use less energy then 2 175...

[timsVw]

but would I hit more specturm with a 10k 14k and atinics? or would it be over kill for the energy used?

-Tim

[gqjeff]

Wouldn't be overkill at all. I run 4-400 watters 9 hrs a day so 175 would be a dream for me to run hehehehe... If you are looking for growth though go xm10K.. They have a nice color and very brite with good par.. If you can get a vho actinic on the tank I would do that over pc's anyday.. Nothing compares to vho uri actinic...