Lighting ?'s for the Pros

azreefer · 09-02-2002, 11:52 PM

Good evening to all..

I'm in process of upgrading from my current 40 gal acrylic to a new 240 gal acrylic ( 8' x 2' x 2' ). Needless to say I couldn't be more excited. My question is this...what lighting combination would you suggest for good growth rate and incredible colors. I was thinking about a halide/vho combo but recently have been thinking about an all halide combination. What do you think about using 3 400 watt radiums and 4 250 watt 10k's? Any and all suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Also, does anyone know of any good links to a DIY skimmer that would support a 240 gal tank?

Thanks!!

mojoreef · 09-03-2002, 12:09 AM

hello again

Lighting is a pretty tough subject and thier are many different combinations that work. You will have to know what you want to keep before you can make a good choice. On the choices that you have listed I would say you will be fine with either, but weither you go 400 or 250 you will need 4 lights (MH lights will only cover a 2 foot area. To make a choice you will have to put a few things into play. what do u want to keep, how deep is the tank and so on.

If you go onto my website and go under the lighting section of the links pages thier are quite a few articles, pictures of tanks under different lighting, testing and so on. I think it will help u make a good choice

hope it helps

mike

thebigblue · 09-03-2002, 08:45 AM

i didnt wanna mess with alot of different ballasts etc in my stand and canopy...so i went with 3-250w MHs...10K USHIOs...over my 6' 125 gal...

im really happy with the nice crisp white look...

i didnt go with the 400w because of heat (no chiller) and additional cost per month to power...

like mojo said you gotta decide what your gonna keep and light accordingly...i dont even keep any SPS or even LPS yet, but if i want to down the road i can...i didnt wanna have to buy lights twice...

HTH

brad

npaden · 09-03-2002, 11:33 AM

Heat will be an issue with 7 MH over the tank depending on how your cross braces are setup. John Rice had a disaster with an acrylic tank and MH lighting mounted over some braces when his fans quit and the braces cracked due to the heat.

I think 4 X 250W Iwasaki's or the AB 10K's would do well for a tank that size if you are using a deep sand bed. I'm using 4 X 400W Iwasaki's and 760W of VHO on my tank and like the look personally. (my tank is 28" tall so I went with 400's)

When it comes down to it most of lighting is personal preference IMO. Cost is a little bit of a factor for the higher K bulbs, but really most of the typical options availabe today are going to keep your corals happy, you just need to decide what is going to keep you happy.

You can check out some of the pics on my site to see what the Iwasaki setup looks like with VHO supplementation.

FWIW, Nathan

balakoth · 09-03-2002, 12:29 PM

Im so jealous of you people. how in the world do you feed your family's

hehe

- Joe

thebigblue · 09-03-2002, 12:49 PM

"honey, what do ya mean the kids are sick of mac-n-cheese!"....

azreefer · 09-03-2002, 03:02 PM

hehehe.....I don't have a family....I traded them for the new 240!

No, I'm 27, no family yet, just plently of girlfriends and a big a** tank!

Thanks for the ideas guys. Npaden...your tank looks great man! Hopefully I will be puttong up some pics like that. Are your bulbs 10K? Has anyone got any experience with Radiums? They sure do have a nice look.

npaden · 09-03-2002, 03:15 PM

I'm using 4 X 400W Iwasakis and 4 X 110W VHO supplementation. I also have a 160W actinic & 160W 50/50 bulb running on it, but they are getting nearly 3 years old so they might not count anymore.

FWIW, Nathan

Hommeworks · 09-03-2002, 04:25 PM

I'm new to this hobby myself. But I read alot. The big 400w 10k MH are great for deep water penetration. They also do some dazzling stuff with the illuminated surface ripples.

But I heard of MH giving coral a good sun tan. Meaning they loose color because of the intensity. If your tank is less than 24" deep, a good mix of VHOs or PCs can bring in some good results. Also the heating and subsequent evaporation are reduced as well as your utility bill.

npaden · 09-03-2002, 04:30 PM

Hommeworks,

Typically most people think the intensity of the lighting is actually what gives the corals the best coloration. There is little scientific proof for this, but I've never heard that corals would loose color under MH lighting vs. VHO or PC.

As far as the myth that MH heats the water, all lighting generates pretty much the same amount of heat per watt. On VHO & PC the heat is just spread out over a larger area where on MH it is concentrated right around the bulb.

FWIW, Nathan

thebigblue · 09-03-2002, 04:34 PM

i know alot of guys like the look of the iwasaki 6500 bulbs with actinics...these (i guess) give you a better PAR value than the 10Ks and are alot cheaper than the 10Ks ($65 vs. $100)...but then you have the cost of the actinics...

my best advice for lighting would be to check out some friends tanks in person or go to any LFS you can and get a feel for what YOU like best...

HTH

brad