Lighting help

[Fly Guy]

Sorry to be redundant as i posted soemthing similar in the general forum but looking to really do the right thing here.

My vho's ballasts just went and i want to replace my lights with whats best.

Money not an issue and i amd not partial to vho's, i just realy want to do what is best for my corals.

Mixed tank softies and sps, really not planning on adding anything else but a few sps, some sps, and maybe a BUNCH MORE sps!!!!

My tank is 18" deep and my MH are 250 watt 14k coralvues.

So...knowing those facts and a working with a blank sheet of paper......

WHAT should i buy?!?

-oh, one more thing...The only restriction i have is that my canopy is 49" I.D. so ideally it will be a 46.5 inch bulb as the 48" i had been using are a TIGHT fit.

[Casey]

How many 250s? Any Vhos?

[Fly Guy]

Originally Posted by Casey

How many 250s? Any Vhos?

80 gallon tank.....2 250 watt mh 14k coral vue ballasts and bulbs

my 65 watt vho's just went out and i dont care why as i want new lights.

thanks

[Geoff]

unless the colour is not exactly what you are looking for, than i would just leave it the way it is. no flourescent supplementation. 2-250w MH's should be plenty for a 24" tank. those actinics are only for colour shifting for your benefit. not much use for the tank. so if you like the colour without the actinics, do not sweat it and leave it the way it is now. go spend the money on some more carbon, to keep the softies from killing your SPS.

personally i would do 2-250w iwasakis and 2 110w VHO's. pretty much what you had before the ballast blew. this combination is not for the blue tank liker. this i have found is the perfect colour rendering combination i have ever seen.

G~

[Casey]

I would run the vhos and mhs well heck I do 2 250 watter and 4 vhos and my corals look great a 24" tank with only 2 20k bulbs like mine would be to dull for me or my corals.

[Fly Guy]

Originally Posted by Geoff

now. go spend the money on some more carbon, to keep the softies from killing your SPS.


G~

Well, my tank is plenty blue as is and this statement you made iskind of the writing on the wall to where im heading isnt it Geoff?

Regardless of THAT little detail, i just bought a set up that is 4x 110 vho.......not sure on the bulbs yet but i think with 4 bulbs i can get my color how i want it.


So......new question..........I will not be allowed to buy another tank for some time..............In my process of changing the 80 to a sps only tank can i leave some non aggressive softies such as mushrooms and zoos(anything else) in with the sps or if im going to do it.......should i just do it......and go truly SPS ONLY????

[Casey]

True SPS all the way,if thats what you want,that way you wont have any battles between the softies and SPS I had that before it was a tuff battle.If the tank is blue enough for you dont add any more for sure,I dont know the par on them 14ks but can tell ya on the xm 250 20ks it is bad thats why I run the vhos also.

[Fly Guy]

Yeah, being as i have been going 1000 mph getting into this hobby i am just now really understanding the battle. I have a tank full of healthy, yet p***** off corals right now.

I think im going to get 1 cool predatorial fish to have solo reign of my 46 with all of my lps and softies.


So to be sure........nothing as far as lps of softies can be peaceful in a tank full of sps?????

[Casey]

Yep if I was to redo mine I would go all SPS totally,stopping the battles and moving stuff all the time is hard on the back.

[Krux]

zoos and mushrooms are more aggressive than pretty much any softy out there, they win with territorial overgrowth instead of chemical release is all.

you can also look at doing a single wh7 ballast with 4 t5's, which would let you play with any colors you want. i like a couple of blues, a white, and a pink, which makes all the stuff pop out, even the oranges and yellows which are hard under just actinics, but that is just me.