sunpod hqi metal halide
- Thread starter nycbob
- Start date
nietzsche
Active Member
Originally Posted by nycbob
anyone currently using this light? i am thinking of getting he 48 inch for my tank. its on sale for $499. wanna see the pros and cons b4 buying.
is that the 500w or 300w? only has LEDs and the MH. sunpods are good though, but you wont have any actinics or any supplemental lighting
anyone currently using this light? i am thinking of getting he 48 inch for my tank. its on sale for $499. wanna see the pros and cons b4 buying.
is that the 500w or 300w? only has LEDs and the MH. sunpods are good though, but you wont have any actinics or any supplemental lighting
mscarpena
Member
Thats why the unit has the LED's. I am thinking of the same unit. LED's will do the same effect as an actinic bulb, but use less energy and need to be replaced every 8-10 years not every 6-8 months. LED's are very intense light and cut through the water better than any actinic bulb will. Also MH light bulbs come in a lot of different Kalvin ratings so actinic suppliments are almost obsolete in my opion.
nietzsche
Active Member
Originally Posted by mscarpena
Thats why the unit has the LED's. I am thinking of the same unit. LED's will do the same effect as an actinic bulb, but use less energy and need to be replaced every 8-10 years not every 6-8 months. LED's are very intense light and cut through the water better than any actinic bulb will. Also MH light bulbs come in a lot of different Kalvin ratings so actinic suppliments are almost obsolete in my opion.
yeah but leds are used at night. my actinics come on at 8am until 12pm when they shut off and my mh turns on, then when my MH shuts off my actinics come back on until around 10pm when they shut off and my lunar lights come on
im not LED expert but theyre wayyy different than just any other light. im not going to get into that at all
Thats why the unit has the LED's. I am thinking of the same unit. LED's will do the same effect as an actinic bulb, but use less energy and need to be replaced every 8-10 years not every 6-8 months. LED's are very intense light and cut through the water better than any actinic bulb will. Also MH light bulbs come in a lot of different Kalvin ratings so actinic suppliments are almost obsolete in my opion.
yeah but leds are used at night. my actinics come on at 8am until 12pm when they shut off and my mh turns on, then when my MH shuts off my actinics come back on until around 10pm when they shut off and my lunar lights come on
im not LED expert but theyre wayyy different than just any other light. im not going to get into that at all
nate0729
Member
i leave the blue LED's on my sunpod on all day and night.
Don't see the need for a timer on them. You can't tell if they're on or off while the halide is on. At night they're really nice though. I hardly ever use the whites. I only turn them on if my power flashes off while i'm home. I turn them on while the halide cools off enough to kick back on. Then back off they go. The white's just seem to bright for me at night.
J
jamparty
Guest
I use the 72" 3x250 watt sunpod with the 24 blue/white LED's
I love it..
and you don't need the actinics for the corals or clams.
actinics are generally used if you're using a more yellowish primary bulb to help fill in the blue part of the spectrum.
my sunpod uses HQI bulbs that are 14k so they're between the yellow end and the blue end but you can definitely see the blue.
As far as the LED's go, LED's are generally only 1 watt per bulb, and you can leave them on day in and day out, you don't need to turn them off. They do have a long life time and are eventually going to squeeze out normal bulbs for every day use (not talking aquariums).
They however, are not a replacement for actinics. Simply used to help create that lunar effect that corals and fish experience in the wild.
I love it..
and you don't need the actinics for the corals or clams.
actinics are generally used if you're using a more yellowish primary bulb to help fill in the blue part of the spectrum.
my sunpod uses HQI bulbs that are 14k so they're between the yellow end and the blue end but you can definitely see the blue.
As far as the LED's go, LED's are generally only 1 watt per bulb, and you can leave them on day in and day out, you don't need to turn them off. They do have a long life time and are eventually going to squeeze out normal bulbs for every day use (not talking aquariums).
They however, are not a replacement for actinics. Simply used to help create that lunar effect that corals and fish experience in the wild.
J
jamparty
Guest
btw, the way I have them set up on the timers is as follows
11:30am - middle MH and Fans go on
12:15am - outer two MH's go on
9:30pm - outer two MH's go off
10:15pm - middle MH and fans go off
and for the rest of the time I just have the LED's running.
11:30am - middle MH and Fans go on
12:15am - outer two MH's go on
9:30pm - outer two MH's go off
10:15pm - middle MH and fans go off
and for the rest of the time I just have the LED's running.
nietzsche
Active Member
Originally Posted by mscarpena
I understand that, but use the LED's instead of the actinic lights. There are fixtures that only use LED's and are as bright as metal halides. Search PFO Solaris. LED are a very intense light.
have you tried leaving on your LEDs on with the MH? you wont notice the leds anymore, so its useless. i know about the pfo solaris. just becaue they have LEDs (the sunpod) doesnt mean theyre exactly like the ones from the pfo solaris. there's different types of LEDs. if youre saying your LED lighting on the sunpod is strong enough to grow stuff, id like to see you grow stuff with your LED only on the sunpod fixture. and i wouldnt pay that much for that lighting fixture (solaris). yeah they do last a long time but what happens if one of them or a few of them go out?
and i never said you needed actinics. like i said, it gives the tank a cool dusk and dawn effect. my 10 gallon doesnt have anything but a 70w MH light so its not like im trying to convince anyone to get it with actinics????????????? i like the actinics on my fixture because it allows everything to slowly start waking up including the fish. plus i like the colors that some of the corals have under actinics like my zoanthids. but like i said, again, you dont need them.
and as for liking the blue spectrum you can get a MH bulb thats 14k, but its up to you
I understand that, but use the LED's instead of the actinic lights. There are fixtures that only use LED's and are as bright as metal halides. Search PFO Solaris. LED are a very intense light.
have you tried leaving on your LEDs on with the MH? you wont notice the leds anymore, so its useless. i know about the pfo solaris. just becaue they have LEDs (the sunpod) doesnt mean theyre exactly like the ones from the pfo solaris. there's different types of LEDs. if youre saying your LED lighting on the sunpod is strong enough to grow stuff, id like to see you grow stuff with your LED only on the sunpod fixture. and i wouldnt pay that much for that lighting fixture (solaris). yeah they do last a long time but what happens if one of them or a few of them go out?
and i never said you needed actinics. like i said, it gives the tank a cool dusk and dawn effect. my 10 gallon doesnt have anything but a 70w MH light so its not like im trying to convince anyone to get it with actinics????????????? i like the actinics on my fixture because it allows everything to slowly start waking up including the fish. plus i like the colors that some of the corals have under actinics like my zoanthids. but like i said, again, you dont need them.
and as for liking the blue spectrum you can get a MH bulb thats 14k, but its up to you
groupergenius
Active Member
The LED par value is negligible at best in the Sunpods. Simply IMHO a dusk to dawn moon light. They do nothing in these fixtures to help with coral growth. Simply a very "light" source to see into the tank at night. If you look at these new LED only fixtures, there are hundreds of bulbs at huge wattage. Time will tell if they are truly better than MH for plant and coral growth.
mscarpena
Member
I am not saying use the Sunpods LED's to grow corals. What I am saying is instead of PC's or VHO's use just the LED's for an hour or so in the morning for dawn effect then turn on the MH for 8 hours or so. At that point you would turn off the MH and leave all LED's on for the dusk effect then turn off the blue LED's because the white LED's are supposed to mimic the moon lights spectrum exactly. Also I am just trying to give you my opion and save you $$. What you do is up to you.
integral9
Member
I've got an Outer Orbit 150W HQI w/ T5 Act. basically the same light but w/ T5 act. The light is hung from the ceiling about 12" above the tank using the 2 hanging kits it came with. HQI, is well, HQI. I don't believe there is anything better. SPS corals are gowing like crazy. The LEDs on the light are freakin awesome. I leave the white and blue LEDs on all night and the tank is awesome looking at night. The corals and fish all still go to sleep, but you can see very well. There are independant switches for the blue and white LEDs, so one could use them for sunrise / sunset. My only complaint is that I can sometimes hear the ballast for the HQI light; but I have sensitive ears and have been able to hear CRTs my whole life.