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Cost - Quality of Light - Safety


Visit My Complete FAQ's About These Lights Now




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People have asked me what are the differences are between my Custom Fluorex lights and the Halides for use on Marine Aquariums. I have put together this page and have taken some comments from postings on the web regarding Halides and then have compared them point by point with my Cool High Spectrum, Low Cost Flouorex Fluorescent lights.

You be the judge on which lights are best for you.

 
Halide Lights Are Hot
"The ballast gets so hot that you can not touch it for more than a second. Put it in a metal box with a fan and ventilation holes. ALSO when connecting wires to the bulb make sure that you use wire that can with stand high heat. A good recommendation is wire that is used in stoves or irons. If you use standard lampshade wire the insulation can soften and melt from the heat that is transmitted from the bulb to the mogul socket."

"Growing under HID lamps requires some thought ahead of time, planning, and a bigger budget. Where are you going to put a 500 watt fireball in your home which is on for 16 - 24 hrs. a day, throws off as much light as 24 regular 100 watt light bulbs, as much heat as a small space heater, and bleaches carpets and fabric and can cause cataracts?"
My Lights are COOL and can safely be used over the glass of an aquarium
Halide Lights Are A Hard Light
As a photographer, I have learned to deal with the amount and quality of light. If I want high contrast, harsh shadows, I would look for a "Hard Light". This is similar to noon day sun shining on your face. You know how awful those photos look because of the hard shadows and washed out highlights. When we want to reduce the contrast in an image we diffuse the light and create a softer light. Similar to daylight with a little cloud cover or the soft light coming into a window with white sheer curtains.

So why does the Halide lights look bright...because it is a high contrast or hard light source. It produces a pinpoint light and lots of shadow and bright spots in a marine aquarium. Many people however, prefer a softer, or less contrasty light and that is what our Fluorex lights deliver. By virtue of how the light is produced (heated gas creates the light and passes it through a soft white glass housing vs. a clear glass with a red hot element burning to produce the light) we end up with a softer, less contrasty light. A light that will show off your aquarium plants, coral and fish softer and better then the halides.

Some customers have written me to ask why our light doesn't seem to be as bright. Well actually, a Halide can output up to 50,000 Lumens of light which is a lot more then our lights. Most aquariums don't need this much light or the heat they produce and the very high cost to buy and operate them. Our lights have a high light output and are a softer more diffused light and relatively inexpensive to purchase and run.

It might take a little getting used to, but I can assure you that once you use these lights, there is no turning back. Remember the Light Output in Lux or Lumens on our lights are is 4550 Lumens per light and when you purchase the recommended number of lights for your aquarium the light output will be sufficient to grow most coral and marine life without the problems and cost of a Halide. So don't judge the light output alone when deciding which lights to use. Further more, the Halides must be hung far enough away from the tank so it does not kill the fish or marine live by the tremendous heat. As a result the light output will weaken the farther away from the water they are. Our lights will sit directly on your glass top and therefore produce a stronger light output due to the proximity of the light source to the water.
My Lights produce beautiful, soft "pictures" of your aquarium...just like those professional photos I love to shoot.
Halide Lights Are Big
Halides are big, heavy and must not be put directly on a tank top. You will need to hang them over your tank. This then becomes a problem with light spread, glare, as well as the excessive heat generated by the lights. Imagine running two of these in the heat of the summer and tryng to keep a room cool.
My Lights are compact in size 12" X 8" and can be placed directly on your tanks glass top. No need to worry about excessive heat, they are just warm to the touch. No glare, because all the effective light will go directly into the tank.
Halide Lights Don't Maintain A Consistent Color Temperature

"Also referred to was the ubiquitous color shift that occurs with time in all metal halide lamps. This is 200K to 300K by the end of their economic life and up to an additional 600K near the end of their rated life. Each bulb type shifts uniquely, although the authors do not elaborate.

For the MPH175/U/5K (5200K) average life was 7500 hours, which means that the economic (useful) life is 4500 hours (60% of 7500). CRI is 75. The initial lumens/watt (measured after 100 hours) is 68,and the mean lumen output is 9000. A year and a quarter at 51lumens/watt. In the horizontal position, a year at 43 lumens/watt.The 250 watt and especially the 400 watt bulbs were more efficient."

Color temperature stays consistent at 6500 Kelvin close to natural daylight while maintaining a CRI value of 84 (100 is sunlight)
Halide Lights Are Expensive
http://www.elights.com/methallam.html or simply do a web search and you will see they can run up to $200 per light.
You can purchase 3 to 4 of my lights for the cost of just one Halide Light.
Halide Lights Can Be Dangerous
The Venture Lighting manual explains that non-passive failure of these bulbs is rare, but that it does occur usually when the bulb is burnt in the non-vertical position or in a position that does not meet with the manufacturer's specifications. If the bulb explodes, I think that the UV radiation would be less of an immediate worry than the hot flying glass and metal particles.

As for the height of bulbs is usually between 6-12 inches above the water surface. Many people use UV shielded glass or Plexiglas's to protect against UV and exploding bulbs (check Deja News for Coral life 10000K bulbs, they had a tendency to explode, I think that they are off the market now). This is the reason for the acrylic lens in the fixture

No Danger of blowing, has been UL Rated for Outdoor Use through heat or snow, plus we have a protective lens cover the encloses the entire light, not just the sides like the Halides .
Halide Lights Can Be A Hazard - PDF Document
http://www.cbs.state.or.us/external/osha/pdf/hazards/metal_halide.pdf
No hazards, no worries, better quality of light
Halide Lights Can Be Expensive To Run
Take a 500 Watt Halogen or equivalent and go to your power bill from your utility and see what they charge you to run it 10 hours or longer per day.

That would be 500 Watts X 10 hours = 5,000 Watts per day X 365 = 1,825,000 Watts of electricity used per year per light. They usually charge you per Kilowatts or electricity used so divide 1,825,000 by 1,000 = 1,825 Kilowatts per year per light.

My electric company charges me .1047 per KW so at this rate, I would pay $191.03 to run one light.


Now compare this with these numbers:


Flourex 65 Watt Lamp X 10 = 650 Watts per day X 365 = 237,250 divided by 1,000 = 237.25 X .1047 = $24.84 Per Light



TOTAL SAVINGS IN ELECTRICITY PER YEAR FOR ONE LIGHT IS: $166.19


Now Look At What the Light Cost You - It Will Pay For Itself In Only 4 Months Or Less
My Lights will pay for themselves in about 4 months in electricity costs. That means over a course of 3 years or the average bulb life of 10,000 hours, you will save about $500 alone in electricity. Many states will give people energy rebates to convert from Halogen, Halide or Mercury Vapor to Fluorescent. There must be a good reason, don't you think?
So Why Should You Buy My Custom Fluorex Lights?
  1. Better Light Quality
  2. Consistent light close to natural sunlight (using our blue/white 6500 K, High CRI Rated Light)
  3. Cool and Safe
  4. Low Cost to Operate
  5. Low Cost to Own
  6. Compact Size 12" Long X 8" Wide X 5" Deep (with lens cover in place)
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