How would you make this switch (LED to halide)

[Velcro]

I currently run 250-300ish par with SBreef light LEDs. Main photoperiod is noon-6:30. I do have blues on from 9AM-11PM which ramp as shown in this picture:

I am removing these LEDs and adding a cozumel sun reflector with a 400 watt radium. I will use the superlumen setting of an icecap 400watt ballast. This is on a deep dimension 150 (36x36x27).

How should I make this switch? I was thinking of just running the halide for 4 hours the first day and bump it up an hour every day until i'm at about 7-8 hours. I don't have any other lights for this setup yet, just the halide. I will eventually add some royal blue LEDs.

 

[Crabs McJones]

I currently run 250-300ish par with SBreef light LEDs. Main photoperiod is noon-6:30. I do have blues on from 9AM-11PM which ramp as shown in this picture:

I am removing these LEDs and adding a cozumel sun reflector with a 400 watt radium. I will use the superlumen setting of an icecap 400watt ballast. This is on a deep dimension 150 (36x36x27).

How should I make this switch? I was thinking of just running the halide for 4 hours the first day and bump it up an hour every day until i'm at about 7-8 hours. I don't have any other lights for this setup yet, just the halide. I will eventually add some royal blue LEDs.

Run it short and hang it high. Its what I did when I switched over to mine. I started about 14 inches, and worked my way down to 8

 

[Dana Riddle]

Match the new PAR with the old PAR. Run the halides for 4 hours per day and increase 1 hour per week. Shield the halide for UV with an acrylic (not glass) lens. That's what I would do anyway.

 

[Velcro]

Match the new PAR with the old PAR. Run the halides for 4 hours per day and increase 1 hour per week. Shield the halide for UV with an acrylic (not glass) lens. That's what I would do anyway.

the reflector comes with the UV blocking glass cover

 

[mcarroll]

I currently run 250-300ish par with SBreef light LEDs. Main photoperiod is noon-6:30. I do have blues on from 9AM-11PM which ramp as shown in this picture:

I am removing these LEDs and adding a cozumel sun reflector with a 400 watt radium. I will use the superlumen setting of an icecap 400watt ballast. This is on a deep dimension 150 (36x36x27).

How should I make this switch? I was thinking of just running the halide for 4 hours the first day and bump it up an hour every day until i'm at about 7-8 hours. I don't have any other lights for this setup yet, just the halide. I will eventually add some royal blue LEDs.

Is the intention to create approximately the same PAR levels on/in the tank?

If the LED's are for moonlights, I'd add something more white like moonlight....A) more realistic B) lets you see better....almost no brightness will be needed.

But if they are for "pop" or something, I'd worry about that after you've had the Radium up for a while. Their color is perfect and you'll need A LOT of blue LED's to make a difference if you want to anyway...may as well have kept that tank lit by LED's. (I don't think you'll want to add to the Radium....it really is a perfect color of light already.)

 

[Velcro]

Is the intention to create approximately the same PAR levels on/in the tank?

If the LED's are for moonlights, I'd add something more white like moonlight....A) more realistic B) lets you see better....almost no brightness will be needed.

But if they are for "pop" or something, I'd worry about that after you've had the Radium up for a while. Their color is perfect and you'll need A LOT of blue LED's to make a difference if you want to anyway...may as well have kept that tank lit by LED's. (I don't think you'll want to add to the Radium....it really is a perfect color of light already.)

The LEDs will be purely for viewing outside of halide hours.

 

[jda]

I was going to recommend 4 hours and then 30 minutes every few days.

I never run the glass on SE bulb setups. You can poll other people, but I do not know many that do. You HAVE to run them on DE bulbs.

Edit: I run my halides on/off for 10 or 11 hours (tank dependent) on a light timer. No other lights.

 

[Dana Riddle]

the reflector comes with the UV blocking glass cover

That's good. To clarify for others, unless the glass is treated/coated in some way, it *generally* will not block UV-A, which can be used in photosynthetically and will not register as PPFD on almost all PAR meters.

 

[Velcro]

That's good. To clarify for others, unless the glass is treated/coated in some way, it *generally* will not block UV-A, which can be used in photosynthetically and will not register as PPFD on almost all PAR meters.

This is also a single ended bulb so there's a uv blocker on the bulb itself

 

[Dana Riddle]

This is also a single ended bulb so there's a uv blocker on the bulb itself

Not necessarily. I haven't tested all lamps on the market so I can't in good conscience make a categorical statement, but there are instances where the glass of a single-ended lamp can transmit UV radiation (recall that many MH lamps' packaging come with a warning about them being a source of UV.) This can become critical if the luminaire is efficient in reflecting and focusing this radiation. Here's a chart of radiation from an ALS 400-watt single-ended lamp I did years ago.