Heres my dilema, I am planning a 90 gallon setup and I am not sure what to do about lighting. I original thought 2 250w Iwaski 6500 MH's and 2 110w VHO actinic. After doing a lot of reading I am concerned about the disadvantage of MH's. I am planning to keep a variety of corals because I like soft corals as well as SPS corals but would like to emphasis SPS/Clams. Has anyone experienced problems/disadvantages with MH's such as too much intensity. My alternative to MH's would be 660w of VHO lighting. The VHO's would only be 2" above the water as opposed to 10"-12" for the MH's. I know heat will also be an issue and I only plan to use fans in the hood for cooling. The cost is not really an issue however, I am not sure that the Minister of Finance would approve a disbursement for a chiller.
2 400W halides on your tank would never in a millon years even begin to match the power of the sun on the surface of the water on an actual reef. 2 400W halides dont even match the intensity of the sun on the surface of the reef on a CLOUDY day!!!!! Your corals will not bleach as long as they are acclimated properly. Now grow out of the water???????? thats a different thread. Good luck!
Go with the 400 watters and you will thank yourself at some point in the future. Your original idea of MH250X2 with VHO110X2 would also work just fine and look spectacular. You might, however, find yourself needing a bit more punch than the 250s provide and end up upgrading anyway. Don't worry about watts per gallon. MH and heat is not an issue. Very easy to install cheap fans. You won't need a chiller. HTH
If emphasis will be on SPS ie Acros- Monti and such. Then the only real choice will be 2 400w MH. Anything else and you will find yourself upgrading after you are really into it.
I would suggest 400w -65k Iwasakis w/ as many vho actinic as you can squeeze in the hood - 3 would do but 4 would rock.
I tend to disagree w/ the heat being no problem - if you live in an area w/higher humidty- all the fans in the world won't get evaporative cooling when it's 90%+ humidity out. But i don't have A/C.
Ssince you mentioned clams and SPS I would say get the 400w Iwasakis, the 250 may do in a pinch but with a 26" deep tank why short yourself. You want PAR and intensity, not watt per gallon.
I assume Maryland has a high humidity problem at times but it sounds like with an open back that vents out of the room you can deal with heat. Think about an enclosed hood with one or two 4" fans sucking heat out and up to the space above the ceiling. I have a friend that sometimes post here that did that with his 75g tank 4x110 vho and 2x400 MH, tnak stays in low 80s. This is a single 4" AC fan from an oxygen machine that I gave him. Personally I would use 2 fans, 1 that came on with catinics and a second that came on with MH. His fan is mounted in the ceiling and is feed by dryer hose setup
Thanks for all the input. I still have some time to decide as I am still in the planning phase but it sounds like 400w MH's with 2 or 4 VHO actinics is what I am looking for. Now if I can only find some way to fit them in the every increasing budget for this new setup.
If you want to keep clams and SPS, MH is the way to go. Chillers don't have to go hand-in-hand with MH. If you keep the ambient room temperature down to a comfortable level and install fans in the hood, you shouldn't have a problem. You can cut back on the use of MH if you get a short hot spell of weather, you can also get gadgets that will turn the MH off if the tank temperature gets to a certain degree.
Sdbdrz,
IMHO, you are on the right track with the Mh/VHO setup. Since you want the potential for keeping very light demanding corals and clams, MH will give you the most PAR for your buck. In fact, with the extra depth of the 90, 400w MH would be appreciated by your clams down toward the bottom of the tank.
There are lots of reefers who go with VHO's for even SPS but the predominant view seems to favor MH.
With a well-ventilated hood, fans, and keeping the house temp. in the cool comfort range, you might very well be able to avoid a chiller. Sometimes, a separate fan blowing over the tank top will beat the heat as well. If not, you can always add a chiller later. It would be important to keep the ballasts out of the hood and in the stand with sufficient openings for ventilation.
If it were my 90 with your coral plans, I'd opt for 2x400w MH.
Dick
I thought about 400w Mh's but WOW! that is a lot of wattage. 11.33 watts per gallon. I know watts per gallon isn't everything but with that much intensity would I have a problem with corals near the top of the tank bleaching, etc? I am also not sure if the Minister of Finance will appreciate the electric consumption. As for heat the the setup will be mounted flush against the wall. The back of the canopy will be open and there will be a passway cut in the wall. I plan to mount the ballasts in the filter room behind the tank. Thanks for the input
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