Lights for a 45g reef

freeflyer · 08-03-2003, 12:17 PM

Hey Everyone- I have a quick question. I have a 45g tank with a 3 PC 96w 10,000k, actinic, and 50/50. I am finding that this is still not enough light, due to the tank being 36" high and only 12" deep it is hard to build rocks to the top of the water. I am thinking of switching to MH with PC actinic and was looking for some advice. I plan on making my own hood and I want to get retro kits for it. What brands should I look at? What brands should I shy away from? Should I use a 175w, 250w, or 400w setup? My master plan is to move these to a 125 gallon tank I will be getting when I save up some loot. Thanks for the help!

squid · 08-03-2003, 02:43 PM

Freeflyer.. gerneral rule of thumb:

MH should be placed every 2 feet for maxium coverage. Then for depth:

up to 18" deep tank = 175 Watt MH
18 -24 " deep tank = 250 Watt MH
24" and deeper = 400 Watt MH

If you are going to go to a larger tank, you might want to take the above in consideration before purchasing for this tank.

hope this helps

Geoff · 08-03-2003, 10:05 PM

i am a little confused by your dimensions. your 45g tank is 36" tall! wow, that is a tall tank. you also did not say what you eventually wanted to keep in the tank, or what you wanted to keep when you upgraded to a 125g. when going up to mh's you will also need to think about keeping the tank cooler.

G~

freeflyer · 08-04-2003, 02:41 AM

Sorry, it is 24 tall, and 36 wide.

freeflyer · 08-04-2003, 12:12 PM

What kind of balast and lights should I get? I am thinking a dual 250w mh with a 96w PC atinic- now what brands and types???

squid · 08-04-2003, 12:16 PM

e gads...there are so many different ones on the market.

Do you have a canopy? If so, you could do a retro kit. PFO, Hamilton, CSL... Ice Cap, etc..there are many. Maybe others could post pro's and cons of each

If you don't have a canopy, are you willing to build one? If no canopy and you don't want to build one, the you would go with a pendant style...again, the list is long,....

freeflyer · 08-04-2003, 12:17 PM

I plan on building a canopy w/retro kits. I am more wonding about the best balasts and bulbs.

squid · 08-04-2003, 12:21 PM

IMO...Ishio 10K with actinic VHO's ...if you wanna do 96 Watt PC's then get the 96 03 true actinics Nice light again, just my opinion

squid · 08-04-2003, 12:22 PM

Aqualine Bushke also makes a nice 10 with a 13 K look

freeflyer · 08-04-2003, 09:21 PM

I saw a 36" retro kit on reeffanatic.com that has 1 MH bulb and 2 55w PC atinics. My questions are, is 1 bulb ok for my tank (36 wide, 24 tall, 12 deep), and if it is, should i do a 250w or a 400w? Thanks for all the help

squid · 08-05-2003, 06:26 PM

Fore the depth of the tank mentioned, I would go with 250 Watts, and I actually like the looks of VHO's over PC's but that's my personal preference.

If you do with one MH bulb, it does give the tank a different look. You will have like waves down in the water...like a shimmer effect.

freeflyer · 08-05-2003, 07:31 PM

Cool, thanks for the help!