Approve or Disapprove

[Old Man Of The Sea]

OK ladies and gentlemen, its time now to agree or not, thumbs up or down on this lighting spec for my to be SPS reef tank 8'x2'x2' with a DSB of 4" to 4.5"
　
The light quote is: for the metal halides - 3 250 watt (Screw in bulbs) (Retrofit reflectors with Reef Optix 1 ballasts. These reflectors allow the heat to dissapate. These lights will be spaced out to equally cover your aquarium, placed in the middle of the tank

For the T-5's: for the backround fill lights I recommend putting 6 48" atinic lights. Placing 4 lights on the front and 2 on the back. These will give you very good fill lights to complement the metal halides. The ballast ( 3 of them) are IceCap units. The end caps are waterproof and also by IceCap. I'm not sure who manufactures the reflectors are by, but they are highly polished units from I think IceCap. The bulbs I was thinking about are 48" 54watt atinic.

Buddy

[ckusnierek]

Well.....
yes and no...
The standard recommendation is (1) lamp for every 24square inch. So that means you would want 4 of the 250w halides. Not sure exactally what you are referring to "Reef Optix I Ballast" I googled it and got nothing. I use the Sunlight supply Reef Optix II reflectors. The SLS ballasts are called Blue Wave I think. Either way I would highly suggest Electronic Ballasts for the Halides. I do love Icecap.

For the T5 (HO?) If there not HO they will only be cosmetic and have not impact on photosynthetic organisms.

Again Icecap ballasts Rock so I assume they are HO.
What is your intent with the T5? If your looking to bring out the florescence in the corals you can also consider bulks in the 12K-15K range. If your looking to simulate dusk/dawn then a even combo of actinic and 10/12K will work just fine.

HTH.

[Fat Tony]

ALso, yes and no. I would suggest you spend your money on a reflector that is much better than the Reef Optics, they are not a very good reflector, and PFO is bankrupt from what I hear. As I suggested in you other threads, the Lumen Brights or the Lumen Max Elites would be a much better choice for your tank based on the dimensions. I would go with 4 of the T5's int he front and 4 in the back.

[ckusnierek]

Reef Optix are made by Sunlight Supply...

But yes there are many better reflectors..

[Fat Tony]

Yep... sure are.. and I knew that... don't know why I was thinking PFO..LOL

[Neuticle]

I think you could be just fine, depending on what your rocks are going to look like. Not all your corals will need to be right under a halide lamp.

I have a lower light tank*, and I keep the same corals as everybody else, they just don't grow as fast. You could easily start with three lamps and go to four if you want another area for sps. Three 250w halides is still a lot of light compared to my tank.



(*48" tank with 4x 54w T5 and 2x 150w HQI)

[ckusnierek]

I think with only 3 bulbs over a 8' tank it will look:
dark:light:dark:light:dark:light:dark:

Kinda like spot lights unless they are mounted very high...

[crvz]

Agreed with the idea that you should consider better reflectors. I'd also point out, though it appears youre really just looking for input, but seeking "approval" from strangers on your decisions definitely throw up a few flags. The intent of forums such as these are to share ideas and to research, but too often folks are looking to get "approval" for what are often bad decisions. That's only for your to decide, so while we encourage research, I wouldnt expect to get a blessing from a broad community of people you've never met.

[Old Man Of The Sea]

You want better reflectors, I told james already, and he wasnt too happy of it but I want to do this only once without requiring any upgrades later on.

I hope this decision now reach will be well enough suited for my goal. Also, the SPS corals that require stronger lighting, will be position right under the three MH in the area of 24" square area.

So on the lighting specs, the only change made is the MH reflectors to the large LumenBright (20" x 20" x 9") and all will be completed on light selections for the 240.

Thanks

Buddy

[Fat Tony]

Good choice.

Look at it this way, it is your tank, you have to make the ultimate decision on it and you have to live with it and pay for it.

The basic rule to reefkeeping is to do it right the first time. Quality equipment is worth it's weight in gold and will pay for itself in no time.