Lighting Questions?

[R3]

Hi my name is Ryan and im kinda of new to the world of sps, lps, and other corals. Ive mainly had fish only with mushrooms and polyps. My question was what would be a good tank size ( anything that is 4' long pretty much) and a lighting setup for a basic coral setup. I was looking at Orbit systems with 4x64 PC systems and the 96x4 pc systems. Is PC's even bright enough for most basic corals. Do i need a MH in there somewhere? Im just in the stage of starting another tank and want to get all of the knowledge that i possibly can get. I hope this thread isnt too long but i just have a lot of questions!!

[Illusion]

Well a good size for a tank is one that is wide as well as long.. If going 4' long then 24"w would be very nice... I'd say 48x24x24 would rock... As for lights I would recomend just skipping ahead and getting 1x 250w Mh light per 2'x2' square area of tank and Compliment it with a couple Vho actinics or t-5s... PCs IMO and IME are just way too poor of quality... If going more than 24" deep then I would just the Mh bulb up to 400w... IMO any Mh light under the 250w are just a waste unless trying to light a nano... If you are just going to for sure have LPS and softies and such then go with some t-5s The more the better... 8x t-5s will really light just about any tank nicely from what I have seen...

James

[wanareef]

Oh no, not another Ryan Welcome to the madness

On a 48 x 24 x 24 that's about 120gals. Great size and deep enough (front to back) for aquascaping. You can use 250's and save yourself some heat -during the summer but 400's do have their place.

Forget about PC's as James mentioned and pass go, to MH's you'll just need 2x 250's and some actinics - but the K rating is up to you. Lighting is subjective.

Here are some links for you to read thru - I highly reconmend them. Good ideas on flow and setup - pix's to me are better than words -

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...hreadid=236668

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...hreadid=371622

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...hreadid=460299

something to remember- for "flow" or turnover rate the return should not be adding in to this equation. You can not get the flow thru the sump without getting those bubbles back into the tank. The best way to get the high turnover rate IMO, is using a CL type system (PH's, Seio's, Streams, Ocean motions or some other mechanical means)

Good luck

[DonJasper]

Originally Posted by ryannat1

Is PC's even bright enough for most basic corals.

Yes. There are some corals that you won't be able to keep.

Originally Posted by ryannat1

Do i need a MH in there somewhere?

MH are great for lighting. And do a pretty good job heating as well.


wannareef makes a good point about water flow. It's physically impossible for us to both (1) simulate real ocean water movement and (2) not break our tanks apart with the force of the water. So we are all lacking in water movement, but the more you get the better.

The tiny areas of supersonic flow from powerheads is not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the over all top-to-bottom movement of your water column from right to left, or front to back. And you can't have too much.

[Krux]

not sure what your budget is looking like, but as mentioned above:

a 4X2X2 120 gallon tank
2 400 watters if you have ac or can afford a chiller, 2 250 watters if not
a really good closed loop with plenty of ports and a 3000 gph+ pump
or an oceansmotions 4 way running on said closed loop pump (www.oceansmotions.com)
huge protien skimmer

of course we are now talking about a tank that is going to run you 1500.00+ new, but hey, as i said, i don't know what your budget is

everything can be done on a budget, it just takes extra planning and a longer project window for some stuff if your budget is smaller.

by the way, when you see people talking about R3, that is you hehe.


i would rather have a thread that is 40 pages long that answers all your questions than have you have a disaster or dissapointment on your hands by doing things less than optimally.

[Nate C]

Ditto James comment earlier - a 48"x24"x24" would rock. I have 48"x18"x24" and the extra front-to-back depth would be nice

I'm running 4x110 VH0s because that is what I happened across at a good price when I was setting up my tank. I may upgrade when $ allows, but for now it seems to work very well. Low power consumption and not much heat output. (with a 48x24x24 you could even increase this to 6x110 VHOs)

I'm keeping montipora caps, montipora digis, several green and blue mushrooms, an enormous xenia colony (thanks James, you want some of that back? LOL), green star polyps, a toadstool leather (sarcophyton, sp?), and last but not least a green bubble tip anemone. Everything is doing well, and growing.

Could it / Would it grow quicker under MH? Almost certainly... but for now its a good setup that you can diy for ~$200.

[Piero]

maybe consider T5's instead of PC's...

[Krux]

i am not sure he will find anyone defending the use of t5s here on this board though.

[Piero]

why?
you guys havin trouble with T5's? I haven't heard anything..what'd i miss?

PC's have been nothin but trouble over the years for me....I can't wait to upgrade to T5's, but I wanna know if there's any prblems with them...

I thought T5 was the new hotness?! Less power consumption, thinner bulb(better light refl) and great intensity! And PC's are so 1998 man.....

[Krux]

because they are just too effecient... i don't want a set it and forget it piece of equipment for my tank, i require things to be underpowered and need constant upgrading to keep me interested

[R3]

Thanks guys for all the info I really appreciate it. Still tons of questions but there's plenty of time for that. One real quick one though can I run 2 250w MH and still have mushrooms, polyps, and other softies?

PS thanks for the R3 nickname Krux

[Illusion]

Yes you can... I run 3x400w and I have shrooms and softies in my tank... You do have to acclimate them to the higher light though..

James

[liquidfunk]

james I dont remember any shrooms in your tank?! although Ive got shrooms only about 6 inches below the 400 halides....

[Illusion]

I actually am watching a few corals for someone and some of them just happened to be Shrooms... I also had a couple Greens and a red thats burried in my rockwork up near the top of the tank.. It never split in my 55 and just now split into 4 Wooo Hooo LOL

James

[R3]

Is there a specific sand to use ? Ive only used crushed coral in my FOWLR tanks