Time to light it up

[Franko]

Looking for suggestions.... doing away with the pc's, I have no coral yet
I want coral lighting so i can get this reef rolling.. I am shy with the MH because of heat and power consumption... I was thinking T5 tek set up but dont know what lights it should have in it. I was planning on the 4ft w/ 6 bulbs any suggestions? will this be good enough?
my tank is a 6ft 110gal
thanks......

[HD Fatboy®]

Originally Posted by Franko

Looking for suggestions.... doing away with the pc's, I have no coral yet
I want coral lighting so i can get this reef rolling.. I am shy with the MH because of heat and power consumption... I was thinking T5 tek set up but dont know what lights it should have in it. I was planning on the 4ft w/ 6 bulbs any suggestions? will this be good enough?
my tank is a 6ft 110gal
thanks......

Them are in good choice in my opinion, however not sure about the 4 foot length over the 6 foot tank. That leaves a foot on each end with no direct light above. So I am not sure how it will look with no corals on each end. Maybe someone else will have a thought on this also.

[Franko]

was also looking at the Maristar HQI/T5 but it is a little spendy for me at the moment

sorry it is 5ft

and the top is not a full open top..clear acrylic two openings

[aquawolf]

Welcome to TRT Franko!

You just said the magic word that is going to drive everything with your lighting decision.

Lighting is one of the most important purchases you are going to be making for the life of your reef. You first need to look at what types of inhabitants you want in your system. Then you need to determine what amount of light it is going to take to make those inhabitants thrive. Then you research the various lighting options you have, which is what you are doing by posting questions here.

The final step is to buy the best lighting you can possibly afford that will do the job for you. If you do not make the right decision the first time, then you will be like a whole bunch of us who have been through multiple light fixtures and spent 3 times as much on lighting then if we would have done it right the first time. You obviously started on this road already as you have PC lights that are not doing the trick for you anymore.

So, let's start with the first question. What types of creatures and corals do you want to keep in the system?

[Franko]

Originally Posted by aquawolf

So, let's start with the first question. What types of creatures and corals do you want to keep in the system?

PC's were a freebe and were good on the fish only set up but now converting to reef. I want to be able to stock it with stonys (I know they like halides) and also include some soft corals I guess I can place things in the tank according to their light demand under ledges in shaded spots or right in the most lit area. basic question is the T5 (6 bulb) good enough for all around purposes. or just suck it up and buy a couple 150 wt halides
and some atenics. if that is the case please give me recomendations so i dont end up with junk thanks all

[aquawolf]

You can grow sps corals with T5's, although it is recommended to get the individual reflectors for the bulbs. You can look at the thread The VZ Reef for a very good example of what can be accomplished with T5 lighting.

Do you have a canopy and DIY skills that you can use to build the lights into it? That would be your cheapest way to go. If not, then you are like me and basically forced to buy a pre-built fixture.

You have already seen that the fixtures are pretty pricey. My recommendation would be to check the classifieds section on this forum, Craigs List for your area, and any other sales areas you might now of, for a used fixture. There always seems to be someone getting out of the hobby and if you are patient you can get a really good deal on a fixture you never thought you could afford.

On the other hand, if money was no object then I would want to look at the Solaris LED fixtures as they add no heat to the tank, are fully programmable, and only use a fraction of the electricity. The bulbs are also supposed to last more than 11 years which is something else to consider in the long term cost of your lighting.

If you want to see the Solaris in action, check out the thread Bittner's Salty Madness.

HTH

[Franko]

Yup plenty of diy skills I am actually rebuilding the canopy now to make it 2 x as tall so I can hang lights from it.. I like that hqi set up too dam expensive tho I will just look for MH I already have some atenics
that i can mount under the canopy. so what kind of wt's should i be choosing I have heard there is a wt per gallon ratio?
thanks for the replies

[aquawolf]

In that case, you can go with either metal halide pendants, or get your own reflectors and use single ended bulbs. You could also buy the individual reflectors for the T5's or get a retrofit kit. Retrofit Kits come with the same components as the fixtures, but are much cheaper.

The watts per gallon theroy has pretty much fallen out of favor and use. I have dual 150 watt mh with dual 96 watt actinics over my 75. You should be able to run dual 250 watt metal halides with actinics without any problems, except of course the expense.

Best of luck and hopefully someone else will chime in here soon.

[crvz]

I don't think the retrofit's are much less expensive, but you do save some money.

In my opinion, I don't think the amount of heat spit into the tank with MH would be prohibitive, and due to the length of the tank I think it may be a good choice. Leaving a foot without light on each side may be too much.

[Franko]

here is what it comes down to I have made the decison
2x 250w MH with some atenics I will have this sorted out with inthe week
I will post what happens

[Bluespot]

Take a look at the Aqua Medic pendents. They are very easy to install into an open hood and have the remote ballast.

[marineduud]

Sunlight supply has the Tek 2 retro kits in a 60in which would work fine on 72in tank.just an option for you to look at.

http://sunlightsupply.com/product.cf...s%3D%26pgi%3D1

[Franko]

well I have extended my canopy for lighting purposes it makes the tank appear larger too....can I get away with just 10k t5's and atenics?
gonna wrap the wood with black psv tonight (stuff they wrap busses with for advertisement)

before it had a 6" height


now it is 12"

[Loverotties]

All depends on what type of coral you want and if you want them to thrive or not.

[crvz]

yeah, you can do just 10kK and actinics, but how many of each bulb are you talking about?