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Re: glass over tank when using hood? (A treatise on HO T8 shoplights & dirty glass tops)
>Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1998 13:49:11 -0700 (PDT)
>From: jay dike <jjdike at yahoo_com>
>Subject: glass over tank when using hood?
>
>Is it common practice to keep a glass covering on a tank even when a
>hood is used? It seems worthwhile to keep it in some ways since it
>might help prevent CO2 loss and fish loss. However, it seems like
>unless it is kept quite clean it could cut down on light intensity.
>
>Also, is there a good estimate of how much intensity is gained by
>using a reflector around regular T-12 fluorescents? What is the
>better type - the white metal ones that come with shoplights or
>something like the Triton Britelight, which looks like it has a
>mirror-like finish?
>
>Thanks.
>
>Jay Dike
Jay, Here is my attempt to answer your questions:
When using shoplights over an aquarium, it is common practice to use a glass covering.
The glass protects the shoplight from metal corroding condensation. For "high-end"
(high priced) setups, it's more common not to use glass tops. For some reason, people
believe that a glass top reduces too much light. What I'm going to suggests is that
even a "dirty" glass top doesn't significantly reduce the lighting levels when you
consider other sources of light loss.
I measured the light reduction entering the aquarium water on a "dirty" glass top to
be about 5 percent more than a no glass top setup. (I wipe clean my three-year-old glass
top once a month, but otherwise do nothing special.)
_______________________________________________________________________
Here's a table showing recent measurements using a 55 Watt compact fluorescent
lamp positioned above the aquarium water with a light meter directly below the lamp:
Light Intensity Light Intensity
Cover Just Above Water Surface Just Below Water Surface
------------------- ------------------------ ------------------------
No Glass Top - Open 21250 Lux 19500 Lux
Dirty Glass Top 20000 Lux 18750 Lux
Note: The precision of my "analog" Sub-Lux light intensity meter on the high range scale
is about 1250 Lux. Thus, the 19500 Lux measurement was done by guessing sub-divisions.
Be that as that it may, the light lost due to a dirty glass top is detectable but ,IMHO,
not significantly different compared to either a clean glass top or a no glass - open top.
(Remember don't confuse Lux with Lumens. http://www.frii.com/~booth/AquaticConcepts/Lights/ )
The lamp was positioned 1 3/4 inches about the water surface using a "homebrew"
reflector. I'd guess this reflector is about 60% efficient.
(Efficiency here means % total light exiting the reflector/total bulb light output)
Contrast that to the unavoidable loss of light of 5 to 15% at the water surface for
water with a moderate amount of surface ripple.
_______________________________________________________________________
Now, to answer some of your other questions.
With a fluorescent bulb with no reflector located a couple inches above the water,
only about 25% of the light will make it through the air/water interface. (It's a
critical angle kind of thing. The critical angle for light entering water is
53 degrees. So at the most, 29% of light from a cylindrical fluorescent bulb
(106 degrees/360 degrees) would be incident to the water surface. For a rough
estimation, assume another 15% of 29% of the light is reflected off the surface of the
water and doesn't make it into the water.) For a fluorescent bulb with no reflector
that's located higher than about one half the aquarium tanks width, the light will get
further reduced. As one may see, a light bulb without a reflector is not very efficient
in transmitting light into an aquarium.
A good reflector should at least double the light compared to no reflector.
(The reflector wraps the otherwise lost light towards the water at an angle closer to
vertical and allow more light to enter the water.) About 60 to 65% percent of the light
is transmitted with good LPS "aquarium stock" reflectors like the Triton Brite Lite.
Light attenuation as a function of bulb height is practically zero for a good
reflector since the bulbs light is focused vertically towards the water surface.
Based on some of the light modeling software I've looked at, I'd guess that the
"best" computer designed reflector would transmits about 90-95% of the bulbs light,
which means you get about 80-85% of the light through the water surface. An optimum
reflector requires that the cross sectional area of the reflector is significantly
larger (i.e. > 6) than the diameter of the fluorescent bulb. For a discussion of this
see: http://www.actwin.com/fish/aquatic-plants/month.9512/msg00190.html
Designing an optimum reflector with six T12 bulbs over a 18 inch wide tank becomes
difficult as the bulbs tend to block each others light. Designing with the narrower
T8 bulbs is easier.
A good link for light modeling software is:
http://www.interlog.com/~rtqlite/lsoft.htm
One program that does luminare analysis is "Photopia":
http://www.lighting-technologies.com/
For fluorescent lighting, I measured and found that plain aluminum foil will
produce about 10% more light than a clean white reflector. (Less light is
is scattered in a silver like mirror compared to a enamel white reflector. A white
reflector tends to diffuse light in all directions. Ideally, a reflector
should redirect the light so that it arrives vertically to the glass or water
surface. (A silver like mirror does a better job of focusing the light in a
direction vertical {i.e. perpendicular} to the glass top surface and avoids
the inverse distance squared light reduction people sometimes talk about.)
Of course, there are better materials besides aluminum foil to line the inside of a
reflector:
http://www.thekrib.com/Lights/reflectors.html
However, please be careful of using plastics and paper for lining a reflector.
Plastic or paper lined reflectors will thermally isolate the bulbs and may
cause a significant temperature rise. Make sure the reflector and bulbs don't get
too hot, since a bulb light output reduces with increasing temperature.
Any increase in light due to the mirror like plastic may be negated due to increased
bulb temperatures.
Here's my experiment comparing enamel white and aluminum foil reflector material:
Comparison between White and Aluminum Foil lined KMART Liteway Shoplight
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ingredients:
Light Meter - Sub-Lux (the light sensor was positioned about 3/8 inch above
bottom)
Aluminum Foil - Reynolds Wrap "Everyday Heavy Duty"
Black Cloth - Actually a black "Dockers" pants leg placed between the bulbs &
reflector to simulate the no reflector condition.
Bulbs - New GE SPX50 T8 fluorescent 4 ft tubes
Motorola Ballasts - (Used to replace the original shoplight ballasts)
Shoplight - KMART Liteway 4ft shoplight Model# SL240K120
The shoplight is made for KMART by: Liteway (Bristol, PA 19007)
Wooden Blocks - supports the bulbs 6 and 3/8 inches above measurement surface.
Measurement Surface - Dark Blue Towel with markings as shown BELOW:
<------- 1ft -------->|<-------- 1ft -------->|<-------- 1ft -------->|<-------- 1ft -------->
| | |
1L + 5.0 1C + 5.0" 1R + 5.0"
| | |
2L + 2.5" 2C + 2.5" 2R + 2.5"
| | |
---<Center Line>-- 3L + 0"---------------- 3C + 0"---------------- 3R + 0"---<Center Line>---
| | |
4L + -2.5" 4C + -2.5" 4R + -5.0"
| | |
5L + -5.0" 5C + -5.0" 5R + -5.0"
| | |
| ^^^ |
Middle Line
TOP VIEW OF Measurement Surface
-------------------------------
NOTE: The Shoplight fixture was centered & positioned at 6 and 3/8 inches above the
----- <Center Line>. Data Points collected at the "+" symbols. The shoplight comes
with a white enamel reflector. The center to center spacing of the two bulbs in
the Liteway shoplight is 2 & 1/8 inches.
Light Intensity DATA
--------------------
White Alum. Black White Alum. White Alum.
Position | Metal | Foil | Cloth |Position | Metal | Foil |Position | Metal | Foil |
---------|-------|-------|-------|---------|-------|-------|---------|-------|-------|
1L | 2500 | 2750 | 1500 | 1C | 2500 | 2750 | 1R | 2600 | 2750 |
2L | 3750 | 4250 | 2250 | 2C | 3600 | 3875 | 2R | 3750 | 4000 |
3L | 4250 | 4700 | 2625 | 3C | 4250 | 4900 | 3R | 4200 | 4750 |
4L | 3750 | 4000 | 2250 | 4C | 3700 | 4250 | 4R | 3750 | 4000 |
5L | 2500 | 2875 | 1500 | 5C | 2750 | 2750 | 5R | 2600 | 2600 |
---------|-------|-------|-------|---------|-------|-------|---------|-------|-------|
Comparison between White, Aluminum Foil, & Dark Reflectors (All values are in units of Lux)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here's a table that summarizes some of what I've said so far.
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Rough Estimates of Light Entering Water Using a Wide Range of Reflectors and Tops:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Type of Hood %Light Reaching Just
Below Water Surface
------------ -----------------
No Reflector/Open (No Glass) top ~25%
No Reflector/Glass top ~22% (10% of 25% light loss to glass)
No Reflector/Dirty Glass top ~21% (15% of 22% light loss to dirty glass)
Typical Reflector/Open (No Glass) top 50-70%
Typical Reflector/Open - Dirty Reflector ???^*
Typical Reflector/Glass top 45-63% (ditto)
Typical Reflector/Dirty Glass top 42-54% (ditto)
"Best" Reflector/No Glass top ~85%
"Best" Reflector/Glass top ~74% (ditto)
"Best" Reflector/Dirty Glass top ~72% (ditto)
______________________________________________________________________________________________
^* At the risk of starting a flame war, I'd think water condensation and splashing
would "dirty" the light bulbs and the reflector inside a hood that has no glass
or plastic between the light bulbs and the water. Also, It would seem easier to me
to clean a few pieces of flat glass, rather than to keep clean all the bulbs,
wires, nooks and crannies inside an open top hood. Any guesses as to how much
light is LOST due to dirty light bulbs and reflectors inside an open top hood?
I've heard that a dirty white hood would lose less light than a dirty chrome mirror
lined hood. Also, I haven't tried it, but I would not use aluminum foil to cover
the inside of an open top hood, since I would think that the aluminum would get
tarnished & dull due to repeated exposure to condensation.
Besides the light over glass top or over open water, there are some other, perhaps more
important sources of light loss that one needs to consider:
According to Sylvania's Engineering Bulletin 0-362 a 40 Watt lamp can loose
a third (33% - 3000 lumens to 2000 lumens) of its light output when the bulb
temperature increases from 100 degrees F to about 160 degrees F. I've
measured temperatures in the 150 degree range inside a good LPS aquarium trade
twin tube reflector. One need to consider heat removal in designing a hood.
Also using an excessive number tubes can cause heat build up, and thus, increasing
the bulb temperature and thereby reducing the light output. Its possible to design
a three bulb hood that produce more light than a six bulb hood:
http://www.actwin.com/fish/aquatic-plants/month.9511/msg00134.html
Another consideration is the light loss do to bulb aging. A loss of 10% to 15%
over a year (5000 Hours) is not too unusual as shown here:
http://ecom.sylvania.com/osicatalog/docs/pib/Image207.gif
Higher operating tube temperature makes the aging rate considerably worse.
How often a bulb turns on and off is another variable. The quality of the lamp ballast
(cheap electronic {coil & cap}, magnetic & electronic) also effects lamp aging loss.
See "Light Fixture Effects" in http://www.frii.com/~booth/AquaticConcepts/Lights/
IN SUMMARY, there are several important factors that determine how much light enters
an aquarium. A dirty glass top doesn't contribute to as much light loss as one
may think.
Jay, you didn't say what kind of tank you have, but as an example, this is how
I would light a 75/90 gallon 48" wide aquarium. (Inspired by Erik Olson in 1994.)
http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/People/Olson/#Lighting
Note: The Lights of America model that Erik mentions and the KMART Liteway are not the
same shop light. The "Lights of America" model has a cheaper coil & cap ballast.
Setup A.
--------
1. Glass top (cost $30US to $50US)
2. Three Liteway brand shoplights from KMART (cost $8.00 each on sale,
and about $12 otherwise)
3. Six T12 bulbs of your choice. ($2 to $30 each)
4. Aluminum foil to line the inside shoplight reflectors
I found that the KMART Liteway brand shoplight had a decent magnetic ballast in it.
This ballast is better than those cheapie light coil/capacitor ballasts. With this setup,
you don't have to buy water resistant end caps or other moisture resistant hood materials.
The shoplights reflector is only about 3 1/2 inches wide. You could enclose them inside
a hood. On the other hand, without a hood, I found that the shoplights don't look that
bad. They have a fairly low profile.
Another possibility is to use T8 lights as inspired by Karen Randall:
http://www.actwin.com/fish/aquatic-plants/month.9512/msg00224.html
("Lighting for a 29G", Aquatic-Plants Mailing List, Dec. 29, 1995)
Setup B.
--------
1. Glass top (cost $30US to $50US)
2. Two Liteway brand shoplights from KMART ( $8.00 on sale,
and about $12 otherwise)
3. Four T8 bulbs of your choice. ($4 to $20 each)
4. Aluminum foil to line the inside shoplight reflectors
5. Two Motorola High Output Electronic Ballasts ($30 to $40 each)
For T8 bulb & ballast selection try: http://www.thekrib.com/Lights/fluor-walters.html
and for Motorola ballasts: http://www.mot.com/AECS/MLI/
I like the Motorola Ballasts in that they have these nifty "wiretrap" connectors that
makes swapping out the original magnetic ballast relatively easy to do.
The HO T8 ballasts are highly efficient - up to 90 lumens per Watt. Four High Output
T8 lamps provide more light output than either six T8 or six standard T12 lamps!
Here's a summary of what I measured:
Light Intensity DATA
--------------------
--------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|
| | | |Mirrorlike| | | |
| White | White | Al Foil | Paper | White | Al Foil | AGA^* |
Position| Motorola | Motorola | Motorola | Motorola | Liteway | Liteway |Twin Tube |
| SO - T8 | HO - T8 | HO - T8 | HO - T8 | Mag - T12| Mag - T12| Mag - T12|
--------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|
1L | 2200 | 2500 | 2750 | 3500 | 1400 | 1700 | 2250 |
2L | 2650 | 3750 | 4250 | 4250 | 1900 | 2000 | 2600 |
3L | 3250 | 4250 | 4700 | 5000 | 2250 | 2500 | 3000 |
4L | 2650 | 3750 | 4000 | 4400 | 2000 | 2100 | 2600 |
5L | 2200 | 2500 | 2875 | 3500 | 1600 | 1700 | 2500 |
--------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|
Comparison between various ballasts, reflectors material, and hoods
-------------------------------------------------------------------
(All values are in units of Lux)
--------------------------------
^* Bulb center to center spacing is 3 inches in this commercial aquarium hood.
Note: Measurements taken in open air, so light lost due to heat build up during
actual use was not taken into account.
Materials used in the above comparison:
Motorola SO == Motorola electronic ballast M2-RN-T8-1LL-D-120
Motorola HO == Motorola electronic ballast M2-RH-T8-1LL-120
Liteway Magnetic == Tar magnetic ballast that came with the Liteway shoplight
T8 == bulb GE F32T8SPX50 (5000 Kelvin daylight)
T12 == bulb Phillips F40/50U (5000 Kelvin daylight)
Mirrorlike Paper == From local Art Store - used for posters.
(The paper makes a better reflector than aluminum, but I
haven't used it for aquariums because of the paper/plastic,
acting as a thermal insulator, could cause an increase in bulb
temperature, or perhaps fire hazard???)
Finally, I'd like to do a cost and light output comparison between Setup A and Setup B
for a 75/90 gallon aquarium.
Setup A. Three Shoplights with Aluminum Foil
---------------------------------------------
Note: 5000 hours per year is about 13.5 hours per day. Assume bulbs replaced
at half their rated life.
Equivalent Max light output: 3 x 2500 Lux = 7500 Lux
Fixed Cost
----------
Three Liteway Shoplights 3 @ $10 each = $30
Ongoing Costs (Power is 100 Watts for each shoplight including bulbs & ballast)
-------------
Six T12 Daylight bulbs (replaced every year) 6 @ $5 each => $30/year
Electricity( cost at $0.05, $0.08/kWH or $0.10/kWH - kWH is kilowatt per hour)
($0.05/kWH) 3 shoplights * 0.10 kWatts * 5000 hours/year * $0.05/kWH = $75/year
($0.08/kWH) 3 shoplights * 0.10 kWatts * 5000 hours/year * $0.08/kWH = $120/year
($0.10/kWH) 3 shoplights * 0.10 kWatts * 5000 hours/year * $0.10/kWH = $150/year
Total Cost equation:
($0.05/kWH) $30 + $105/year
($0.08/kWH) $30 + $150/year
($0.10/kWH) $30 + $180/year
Setup B. Two Shoplights with Aluminum Foil & HO T8 Ballasts
------------------------------------------------------------
Equivalent Max light output: 2 x 4700 Lux = 9400 Lux
Fixed Cost
----------
Two Liteway Shoplights 2 @ $10 each = $20
Two Motorola HO Ballasts 2 @ $40 each = $80
Ongoing Costs (Power is 90 Watts for each shoplight including bulbs & ballast)
-------------
Four T8 Daylight bulbs (replaced every two years) 2 @ $8 each => $16/year
Electricity( cost at $0.05, $0.08/kWH or $0.10/kWH - kWH is kilowatt per hour)
($0.05/kWH) 2 shoplights * 0.090 kWatts * 5000 hours/year * $0.05/kWH = $45/year
($0.08/kWH) 2 shoplights * 0.090 kWatts * 5000 hours/year * $0.08/kWH = $72/year
($0.10/kWH) 2 shoplights * 0.090 kWatts * 5000 hours/year * $0.10/kWH = $90/year
Total Cost equation:
($0.05/kWH) $100 + $61/year
($0.08/kWH) $100 + $88/year
($0.10/kWH) $100 + $106/year
According to these calculations, Setup B will be cheaper after about a year or two
of operation while the plants continuously enjoy about 25% more light. YMMV
I'd be glad to try and answer any questions on this posting.
---------------
Ron Wozniak Allentown PA, USA
rjwozniak at lucent_com
AGA member