Lighting For 150 Gal Tall

[150TALL]

Hi,

I am new here and was hoping that I would be able to get some good advice from those who don't mind sharing their knowledge and experience.

I am thinking of converting my 150 gallon tall to a reef w/fish. I currently have a 47gal bow front that is a reef w/ fish that is thriving. I LOVE this tank and now want to go larger .

I am very confused about the lighting for the 150 tall though. I was told because of how tall the tank is that the lighting would be a challange.....

I am hoping that someone has a 150 gal tall and has successfully lighted a reef. I have a 55 gal sump with two overflow boxes, two uv sterilizers (an 8 watt and a 15 watt) two protein skimmers (coral life 125 not very happy with) I just ordered an AquaC EV-120 to be added. I have 200lb of live rock and 120lbs of live sand.

I do have a canopy on this tank and really like the canopy. Is is possible to have the correct lighting and the canopy for a reef on this tank???

Thanks for any advice

[Loverotties]

What are the dimensions of the tank?

[motorslave]

Welcome to TRT!
There is no easy answer here. It depends on depth of the tank and what types of coral you plan of keeping. I have a standard 150 (24" tall) and have two 250 watt MH. This allows me to keep anything I want. If the tank were taller then 400 watt would be a consideration. I keep SPS though and they are very light hungry. You could go with T-5 lighting and be just as well lit as MH as long as each tube had a quality reflector.
In order to get better suggestions please let us know what you plan on keeping..

[Fat Tony]

For a 150, you are going to want MH if you plan on keeping clams or SPS.

My suggestion is 250w with Lumenbright or Lumenmax Elite reflectors. They will give you the light penetration to reach the bottom in that tank with good PAR. Add a couple of matching electronic ballasts and your GTG.

[150TALL]

Thanks for the replies!!!

The tank is 48Lx24Wx30H

I am very new at this so I am not set on any certain type.....I have been going to my LFS and asking question about the corals that I like. They have been really good about directing me. I have only lost one coral, an elegance that a Heniochus picked on. (I took him back)

[Fat Tony]

For that depth, you are definitely going to need MH, with one of the reflectors I listed...

[150TALL]

Originally Posted by Fat Tony

For a 150, you are going to want MH if you plan on keeping clams or SPS.

My suggestion is 250w with Lumenbright or Lumenmax Elite reflectors. They will give you the light penetration to reach the bottom in that tank with good PAR. Add a couple of matching electronic ballasts and your GTG.

Thanks so much for your reply but since I am so new at this do you mind explaining what PAR and GTG are.


I am in NC not to far from Greenville. What LFS to you use??? I have been making the drive to Nemo's in Charlotte, NC. I am going to Atlanta,GA next week and hope to visit the Nemo's there. I have heard that it is nice.

[Fat Tony]

I shop at a couple of the LFS's namely, Oceans Floor in Greenville, and when I get the chance, Sandlapper Aquatics in Clemson.

PAR, Photosynthetic Active Radiation... it is what is used to determine the actual available "light" that the corals use. It's actually more of a determination of the radiation levels that make photosynthesis possible and usable for the photosynthetic corals in our tanks.

GTG.. good to go


Remember just a couple points, lighting is not cheap if it is high quality. Reflectors make a huge difference in efficiency of output of the available of PAR from our lighting. Lighting is simply the most important item that you will purchase for your tank. That is followed closely by a good skimmer. The best rule of thumb I can give you is to research and setup a quality system, good equipment is not cheap and will determine how your experience in the hobby is. Happy reefing and welcome to TRT!

[150TALL]

PAR, Photosynthetic Active Radiation... it is what is used to determine the actual available "light" that the corals use. It's actually more of a determination of the radiation levels that make photosynthesis possible and usable for the photosynthetic corals in our tanks.

GTG.. good to go


Remember just a couple points, lighting is not cheap if it is high quality. Reflectors make a huge difference in efficiency of output of the available of PAR from our lighting. Lighting is simply the most important item that you will purchase for your tank. That is followed closely by a good skimmer.

Thanks again....I just ordered another skimmer I do not like the one that is on it now, a coral life 125. I ordered an AquaC EV-120. I was planning on using them both. What is your opinion on the AquaC skimmer???

The tank is a trigger tank now....my son gave it to me he got tired of dealing with it. I know that I am going to have to return most of the triggers but he has a male Blue Jaw and a Sargassum that I would like to keep. I have been told that these two are reef safe.

If anyone has had these fish in a reef tank what has been your experince?

[Fat Tony]

For me personally, I do not like the AquaC skimmers, they use old technology and there are better more efficient skimmers available today. The Coralife IMO is really not worth the purchase at all, not powerful enough and touchy at best. The EV120 is a far better skimmer than the Coralife is though.. so you did get an upgrade.

The two triggers you want to keep are a fish by fish basis on reef comaptibility..... people get mixed results out of them, but the general consensus is that if you keep them well fed, they will generally be reef safe.

[quader94]

hey welcome to TRT!

+1 on what tonys been saying

[150TALL]

Hi again

Well I am getting there.....time to purchase the light. I am considering a current sunpod 2x250 14k HQI-MH w/18 lunar lights.


I would like to be able to keep clams as well as corals.

Thoughts and/or suggestions....it needs to come from marinedepot

Thanks

[Fat Tony]

Not the best choice, but it is better than others It will certainly work for your application though

[150TALL]

Originally Posted by Fat Tony

Not the best choice, but it is better than others It will certainly work or your application though

Thanks for responding . What would you recommend??? I followed your advice on the better skimmer and it works great. What an improvement. I value any advice you might give .........

p.s. It needs to come from marinedepot

[Fat Tony]

Well it depends on your budget, the height of your canopy (if you are using one)

There are better lights available than the Currents,but it is an ok unit to use. It just isn't that efficient when comparing it to a modern reflector (light output) and the ballasts are kinda sketchy at best.