BB Lighting

[Viv]

Rocks are cooking, again-as the last time I put in a fine sand bottom, which just didn't work, so BB here I come! Question: I've read that BB tanks don't seem to need as much light. Will 250w 10K be alright, or should it be something else? I'm replacing my current fixture so there really are no restrictions. Any help thoughts would be appreciated.

[dobejazz]

Hi Viv! I was just wondering where you have been!! Welcome back.
(I have no idea about your question)

[Wiskey]

What size tank?

Whiskey

[Graham]

250W of 10K would be more than fine for any tank 24" deep or less.
Of course, you'd want to use one bulb per 2' of tank length, up to 2' wide. The XM 10K is the whitest 10K I've seen/used (and that includes most of them) and the PAR is amazing - about as high as you can get at 250W. You'd almost want to consider whether it might be too much for some things. I know certain LPS of mine that need to be completely shaded from it even at the bottom of the tank.

[Wiskey]

Ditto on what Grahm said, I have the 250W XM 10K bulbs and I really love them, but you would need one per 2 square feet of tank.

Whiskey

[Weatherman]

Not sure whether we are discussing SE or DE bulbs (I happen to like DE bulbs), but on the DE side 10,000K XMs are a bit too yellow for my taste. I prefer 10,000K Ushio, 10,000K AB, or, if you can find them 10,000K Geisemann.

Here’s a good reference for selecting combination of bulbs and ballasts:

http://www.reeflightinginfo.arvixe.com/index.htm

On the 250-Watt DE side I look for something with a shielded PPFD close to 100, CCT close to 10,000 (since I am using a 10,000K bulb), and power close to 300 watts.

[Viv]

Thanks for the welcome back, Kelli-just a messed up life for awhile, my house fell in, cracked pipes, broken, mushy ceilings, walls and destroyed floors and carpets....got a lot of work to do, but the tank is my restorer of sanity so I'm spending some bucks there. The tank is 6ftx4ftx2ft, I've had 3 175MH 10k hamilitons with 2 actinics, but of course had this so low over the tank when I first started that the black coating has peeled away from salt creep. The MH are moguls and I think that I've read the DE are now the way to go along with CF. I have been in touch with Doug at Reeftanklighting and I was thinking to go with the Prostar. It has 3 DE 250MH and 4 96w CF actinics...I think this sounds good but I really wanted to check with those of you who have BB because I've read where the reflection off the BB has lead to bleaching in some cases. I'm really not sure if I should go with 250w or 400w, the tank is 24" deep. I'd like to keep Monti's, Acro's, clams, and a few softies under shelves or darker areas. I don't want to do overkill but I really don't want to have to upgrade again-at least not in the near future, if I can help it.

[elephen]

Just remember compact fluro atinics don't have the same effect as T5 fluros, and T5 fluros don't have the same nice pop effect as VHOs. I would ATLEAST do T5's and ditch CFs. If you REALLY want to make your corals pop under a 10k light I'd go with VHO.

[Viv]

Are VHO better? I thought the CF were suppose to better? Are T5's better than VHO? Are DE better than SE? I keep going all over the place with this...and would like to place the order with reeftanklighting.com, but don't want to find out I made a mistake by going with the wrong bulbs just cause I didn't place the order correctly! Any thoughts are still appreciated! And, if you don't mind my further asking, would you go 250w over 400w? I like the 10k, crisp white.

[wigglejaggles]

I know how you feel about lighting choices. It's amazing how many choices we have. I know single ended bulbs spread the light wider than double ended. Double ended more so concentrate the light directly down. The fact that double ended seem to be the way to go is only preference. Both do the job nicely. In my opinion for supplemental actinics they all do a nice job. Its only if you are real particular about your blues and purples. To me vho,cf,and t-5 all give a beautiful pop. I wouldn't struggle over the supplemental choice. Hope this Helps. If you go double ended I think 250watt would be plenty...if single ended perhaps 400 would be the best.

[Viv]

Oh thank you, thats the way I was thinking, but figured I should check twice first!