Impossible to add more lights?

[tonyg]

The metal halide light that came with my biocube hqi, is very nice. 150w 14.000k, the tank lights up VERY bright. The lamp gives a bit of a yellowish tint to the aquarium and really seems to accelerate algae growth.

I want to add some sort of small lighting fixture to allow me to reduce the amount of time the metal halide runs. Also something with actinic to help with the coloration. Probably some kinda moon lights as well.

The trick is getting some other lighting on there that will not interfere with the metal halide.
Take a look at the pic and you'll see what i mean.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, I've been shopping for days and cant really come up with anything good.

 

[little_fish]

would these guys work?

Stunner LED Strips - 6watt, 12in. - Modular LED Lighting - Products

They will add some nice actinic coloring

 

[Northstar24]

I think some stunner strips would work nicely in conjunction with your HQI

 

[tonyg]

Those look like the best option. Wish I could see them and their reflectors in real life. I might be able to attach them to the existing lamp, or maybe set them right on the glass. I hate to have wires sticking out though. Hopefully I can place the order today.

I sort of passed those up when I first started shopping, didnt know they had a 12" one.

Thanks Again!

 

[NanoReefer]

i think a 453 actinic and a magenta mix would be nice accent lighting...

 

[tonyg]

i think a 453 actinic and a magenta mix would be nice accent lighting...

I'm thinking the same thing, I was just reading about the magenta. I'm about to buy them, one strip all 453 with a dimmer, the other 453/magenta. I'm going to get 2 power supplies so that they can be on seperate timers, and Ill get the reflectors, though I'm not sure if ill need them.

 

[Smitty]

How old is the bulb...you could just replace the bulb with a newer one and a higher kelvin rating to give it a bluer look.

 

[fastrd400]

How old is the bulb...you could just replace the bulb with a newer one and a higher kelvin rating to give it a bluer look.

+1, throw a 20K in that bad mamba jamba! :Cheers:

 

[tonyg]

That was my first idea when I learned that you could get different bulbs.

Besides adding the blue, I really want to have more control over the lights. The metal halide really accelerates algae growth. I want to limit the amount of time I run the metal halide, while keeping my tank lit up 10 - 12 hours a day. I want to set it up so the strips come on a few hours before the halide, leave the halide run for about 6 hours, then keep the strips on for a few more hours before dimming the blue for a moonlight effect, then going totally dark late at night. Kinda trying to simulate sunrise and sunset, while keeping the tank lit longer for everyone to enjoy.

I dont have any corals yet, I need to get more comfortable with my lighting and algae situation before I put any in. When I do, I'm going to go with some easy guys that shouldn't need the metal halide on constantly.

It would sure be cheaper/cleaner/easier to just replace the bulb. But the one I have is fairly new, and I would really like to have more lighting effects going on.

Do you guys see any problems with my ideas? I didn't order anything yet, but I have the checkout screen ready to go!

Thanks for all the help!

 

[Northstar24]

There certainly is not any problem with adding some LED stunner strips to the lighting you already have - but do keep in mind that no matter what you decide to do, the HQI bulb will need to be replaced every 9-12 months regardless. I had some serious cyano issues in my tank, and it was because of the age of my HQI bulbs. As MH and T5 bulbs age, the spectrum of the light they emit moves more into the red end of the spectrum, which does tend to fuel additional algae growth

 

[tonyg]

As MH and T5 bulbs age, the spectrum of the light they emit moves more into the red end of the spectrum, which does tend to fuel additional algae growth

Ive been thinking, the bulb im using is the one that came with the setup. Its only been being used for about 3 months but it accelerates algae growth dramatically.

I started running light at first for about 8 - 10 hours a day near the end of the cycle. within a week I had an even covering of algae on the tops of every rock. I noticed the bits of rock in the shade had no algae whatsoever. I left the light off for 24 hours then started running it for about 3 hours a day. In less than 5 days the algae all but disappeared. Since then I've been running the lamp for about 6 hours and plenty of algae has grown back.

My cleanup crew is a bit light so Im beefing it up with an order from reefcleaners.org, but now im wondering if the bulb that came with my setup may actually be bad. I mean, is it normal to see algae growth change that dramatically with the light?

 

[tonyg]

I ordered the stunner strips, also some more snail. Lots of fish tank fun in just a few days!

 

[sen5241b]

I have a 29 with 150 watts of MH over it. If you have algae try a fuge.

 

[NanoReefer]

i have a 37 which has the same footprint as a 29 with 32 v3 watt cree leds. super bright, my clean up crew is 3 hermits and 2 snails...

 

[tonyg]

Hey guys,
Finally got the stunner strips in, and had time to attach them to the lamp. I got two strips, one blue, the other magenta and blue. Together they add awsome coloration even when the MH lamp is on. By itself, attached to a dimmer, the blue makes a really cool night light.

Thanks for all of the advice!