light solution for 32" tall 70 gal reef

[lucasreefer]

Just upgrade my packed 29 gal reef to a 70 gal. new tank is 32" tall and only have enough live rock to fill bottom half of tank. I have 8 t5 24 watt bulbs on it now but my closest coral to the lights is 16" down. 3 10k 1 18k and 4 actinic. I like the low reef but think i need more light, my danae is losing color. what kind of lighting would be best for deep tanks and how much wattage.

[Neuticle]

That is pretty deep, I'd go with a 250 watt MH.

[lucasreefer]

do you think 1 250 watt would be enough light for 36long by 32high by 18 wide tank. i was thinking it would need more thats only about 3 watts per gallon.

[Neuticle]

It's such a small price difference between 150w and 250w, I'd be inclined to go with the 250. A 150w MH is probably not going to penetrate much further than your t5's.

[lucasreefer]

do you think 250 is enough wattage? also what would be the difference in 200w mh vs 200w t5. thanks for the help

[Neuticle]

A 250 should be enough, I'd still supplement with the 24" t5's until you know you have enough. I don't know what kind of hood you run, it may not be easy to put them all under there.

I'm no expert, but the major difference between T5 and MH is intensity, with T5 you can generate a great deal of light volume, it just doesn't have the intensity to penetrate the water like a MH does. I love t5's and I run them exclusively on my 100 gal, but if my tank was deeper than 26" I think I'd need MH's to see the growth I'm getting with t5's.

[lucasreefer]

thanks i thought mh too. pura vida

[jenglish]

Just keep in mind that a standard MH setup puts a bulb every 2 feet. This may mean your edges are lower light area (though the actinics should help). I would go w/ 36 inch T5 instead of 24s for this reason. I don't know if this will be noticable difference in light but I would avoid light loving critters low and on the outer 6 of so inches.

[lucasreefer]

I used the 8 24 t5s cause they where on my 29 gal and have not upgraded the lights yet. what is the ideal light setup for the tank size and depth i have? i love the t5s but dont think the 36 will be enough to reach the bottom.

[jenglish]

no, I agree that your depth would make a T5HO questionable. Is there a center brace? If not then a centered 250w MH is likely still going to be your best solution IMHO w/ T5 supplementation. I would just make sure you had the T5s going all the way to each edge to help mute out any shadow that might occur from the MH only covering roughly 24 of the 36 inches of tank length.

Of course it also depends what all you want to keep in the tank.

[lucasreefer]

what about using two 150w MH spaced evenly over the tank as there is a glass center brace. will 150 penetrate the same as 250. Also any suggestion on brand?

[jenglish]

Originally Posted by lucasreefer

what about using two 150w MH spaced evenly over the tank as there is a glass center brace. will 150 penetrate the same as 250. Also any suggestion on brand?

No a 150 will not penetrate as well as a 250. 2 250s would certainly be bright but expensive and heat producing. at 32 inches you are sort of at the border of what some folks will run T5s. I would consider getting reefgeek/ aqua illumination or other very good reflectors and overdriving T5s w/ icecaps. I have not ran such a setup so I cannot speak for its PAR ratings at that depth but it is an option to be examined.

[Loverotties]

I'd go two 250!