MH lighting config. Q's

zimboy · 06-23-2007, 06:05 PM

Hi all, been away for a bit fighting fires, am back with $$ in my pocket and some questions about lighting configurations..

My tank dimensions are 72Lx22Hx19W (about 125 gallons). I wish to have enough light to keep higher light demanding corals/anemones/clams at all levels of the tank. It is unfortunately center-braced, thus posing problems with a regular 3 mh setup. I plan on using 2 Cool tube reflectors http://www.discount-hydro.com/Images/Sun-Tube-500.jpg with a vortex fan Vortex 6" Fan - Vortex Power Fans attached to help with heat removal. My options are:

1) to use 4 175 w mh bulbs over the tank. these are positioned in the 2 36" tube reflectors one at each end, giving me a bulb at each end of the tank and one on each side of the brace.
This will give me 700 watts (5.6 W/gallon) without actinic supplementation. While this seems plenty of light, will this allow me to grow light demanding corals/clams on or near the substrate level?

2) to use 2 400 w bulbs in the reflectors these are placed in the 24" tube reflectors and hung so that the bulbs are in the middle of each 36" section. This option gives me 800 watts (6.4 W/gallon) without actinic supplementation. I don't think this option will be the best since 2 MH will just not give me enough coverage on the tank.

3) the above option with motorized tracks to allow for better light dispersal. downside to this is it ups the cost, but if i can get away with 2 400W instead of 4 175W i save on ballast and hardware cost...

4) your idea here......

thank you for your response, and i'm sure i will have a bunch more questions for you friendly and knowledgable reefers to answer soon...

off to clean the freshie tank and play with new equip for the tank setup

bluespotjawfish · 06-23-2007, 06:19 PM

I just added lights to my 125 gallon. I started with 150s, but really needed the 250s. Fortunately, my lfs took the 150s back. Everything is growing like a weed with the three 250s now. Two 400 bulbs won't cover your tank (2' spacing) and may be too much for the corals directly under them. What about a modification of the option #1....

I'd go with 250w on the outside, staggered with a 150 toward the center brace on either end (so the mid section gets about 300) That would give you 800w. If you are comfortable with the 175 in the middle you could bump those up to that. Everything in my tank (mixed softies and hard) is happy under the 250s degardless of where they are placed. Not sure if they would like 350 in the middle or not. You could probably aquascape your tank so your most demanding corals are there. I have plenty of heat as it is, so I am happy with where I am on the lights. (BTW, my experience is with the HQI bulbs).

Good luck and keep us posted on what you decide.

zimboy · 06-23-2007, 08:32 PM

Thanks for the reply BSJ, you raise a very good point about balancing the light. Unfortunately, it seems impossible to find 150W MH up here, so i might have to go with the 175W and cluster my high light animals in the center. with 850 watts of mh light would i even need actinic supplementation? I would probably add some just for the dusk/dawn effect anyways, but regular T8s would probably do for that?

If anyone here knows where in Ontario you can get T5's with individual reflectors i would love to explore that option, however my LFS is stuck on PC's and all the lighting stores can only get ballast sets, no reflectors

thanks again all

cioutlaw · 06-23-2007, 09:48 PM

I have a 72" long tank too I have been researching lighting real similar to what you are after & have finally bought (3) 250W double ended metal Halides & am going to use 14k bulbs. the 400W bulbs didnt seem worth the extra electric bill & heat in the tank. VHO is another good actinic suplement bulb. You dont need the actinics but they do give a nice blue tint when the halides are on.

zimboy · 06-24-2007, 08:06 AM

Thanks for the reply cioutlaw. What are the practical differences between double ended and mogul style bulbs? This is probably a moot point as i can only find mogul style up here, but its always good to know.

cioutlaw · 06-24-2007, 12:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zimboy

Thanks for the reply cioutlaw. What are the practical differences between double ended and mogul style bulbs? This is probably a moot point as i can only find mogul style up here, but its always good to know.

DE bulbs of the same wattage will burn brighter because the ballast overdrive them & bulbs have a shorter life. DE also require a UV glass shield because unlike SE bulbs they the glass bulb does not have this. Main reason I went DE is I wanted to use 250w 14k Phonix bulbs & I wanted pendants anyway. Im sure there are more differences.

I bounced around from 250w to 400w, SE or DE & 14k phonix or 20k radium bulbs...best thing to do is see a tank that has color you like & good growth with there corals & buy the same set up.

zimboy · 09-03-2007, 01:29 PM

Update: Have a bit of a break in the fire season, and money burning a hole in my pocket, so I bought my lights. After measuring the kooltube reflectors and bulb placement within them i decided to go with 4x 175w ballasts. The bulb spacing should give an even distribution of light to the tank without any bright spots. If i am wrong the hydroponics store has agreed to switch 2 ballasts for 250 watters. so i will only be out for 2 bulbs. It also seems that Ontario, or maybe all of Canada has pissed off the MH bulb distributor gods, because the only bulbs that i can seem to order are coralifes or moguls (i really wanted the hamilton 14k's). Since i have heard neg things on the coralife and nothing on the Mogul, i decided that no info was better than bad info, and ordered 4x 175w 20k Mogul. has anyone heard of a bulb called Mogul (and no this is not referring to the socket type, it is an actual brand name apparently) if you have share your info, and maybe pics, since i am still waiting for the bulbs (3 week order time, grrr)

06-23-2007, 06:05 PM	#1 (permalink)
zimboy Tuxedo Urchin Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Canada Posts: 296 View Gallery Karma Komment Add yours!	MH lighting config. Q's Hi all, been away for a bit fighting fires, am back with $$ in my pocket and some questions about lighting configurations.. My tank dimensions are 72Lx22Hx19W (about 125 gallons). I wish to have enough light to keep higher light demanding corals/anemones/clams at all levels of the tank. It is unfortunately center-braced, thus posing problems with a regular 3 mh setup. I plan on using 2 Cool tube reflectors http://www.discount-hydro.com/Images/Sun-Tube-500.jpg with a vortex fan Vortex 6" Fan - Vortex Power Fans attached to help with heat removal. My options are: 1) to use 4 175 w mh bulbs over the tank. these are positioned in the 2 36" tube reflectors one at each end, giving me a bulb at each end of the tank and one on each side of the brace. This will give me 700 watts (5.6 W/gallon) without actinic supplementation. While this seems plenty of light, will this allow me to grow light demanding corals/clams on or near the substrate level? 2) to use 2 400 w bulbs in the reflectors these are placed in the 24" tube reflectors and hung so that the bulbs are in the middle of each 36" section. This option gives me 800 watts (6.4 W/gallon) without actinic supplementation. I don't think this option will be the best since 2 MH will just not give me enough coverage on the tank. 3) the above option with motorized tracks to allow for better light dispersal. downside to this is it ups the cost, but if i can get away with 2 400W instead of 4 175W i save on ballast and hardware cost... 4) your idea here...... thank you for your response, and i'm sure i will have a bunch more questions for you friendly and knowledgable reefers to answer soon... off to clean the freshie tank and play with new equip for the tank setup

06-23-2007, 06:19 PM	#2 (permalink)
bluespotjawfish Tridacna maxima Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Utah Posts: 4,668 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: MH lighting config. Q's I just added lights to my 125 gallon. I started with 150s, but really needed the 250s. Fortunately, my lfs took the 150s back. Everything is growing like a weed with the three 250s now. Two 400 bulbs won't cover your tank (2' spacing) and may be too much for the corals directly under them. What about a modification of the option #1.... I'd go with 250w on the outside, staggered with a 150 toward the center brace on either end (so the mid section gets about 300) That would give you 800w. If you are comfortable with the 175 in the middle you could bump those up to that. Everything in my tank (mixed softies and hard) is happy under the 250s degardless of where they are placed. Not sure if they would like 350 in the middle or not. You could probably aquascape your tank so your most demanding corals are there. I have plenty of heat as it is, so I am happy with where I am on the lights. (BTW, my experience is with the HQI bulbs). Good luck and keep us posted on what you decide. __________________ Lorraine To BB and all Bluespots - Journey of the 2nd Year ...The 2nd Year - Photoshow Check out Mr. BJ and friends... Mr. BJ's Aquarium - PhotoShow

06-23-2007, 08:32 PM	#3 (permalink)
zimboy Tuxedo Urchin Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Canada Posts: 296 View Gallery Karma Komment Add yours!	Re: MH lighting config. Q's Thanks for the reply BSJ, you raise a very good point about balancing the light. Unfortunately, it seems impossible to find 150W MH up here, so i might have to go with the 175W and cluster my high light animals in the center. with 850 watts of mh light would i even need actinic supplementation? I would probably add some just for the dusk/dawn effect anyways, but regular T8s would probably do for that? If anyone here knows where in Ontario you can get T5's with individual reflectors i would love to explore that option, however my LFS is stuck on PC's and all the lighting stores can only get ballast sets, no reflectors thanks again all

06-23-2007, 09:48 PM	#4 (permalink)
cioutlaw Elegance coral Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Champaign Illinois Posts: 1,128 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: MH lighting config. Q's I have a 72" long tank too I have been researching lighting real similar to what you are after & have finally bought (3) 250W double ended metal Halides & am going to use 14k bulbs. the 400W bulbs didnt seem worth the extra electric bill & heat in the tank. VHO is another good actinic suplement bulb. You dont need the actinics but they do give a nice blue tint when the halides are on. __________________ My 120gallon chronical My 225 gallon chronical My website

06-24-2007, 08:06 AM	#5 (permalink)
zimboy Tuxedo Urchin Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Canada Posts: 296 View Gallery Karma Komment Add yours!	Re: MH lighting config. Q's Thanks for the reply cioutlaw. What are the practical differences between double ended and mogul style bulbs? This is probably a moot point as i can only find mogul style up here, but its always good to know.

09-03-2007, 01:29 PM	#7 (permalink)
zimboy Tuxedo Urchin Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Canada Posts: 296 View Gallery Karma Komment Add yours!	Re: MH lighting config. Q's Update: Have a bit of a break in the fire season, and money burning a hole in my pocket, so I bought my lights. After measuring the kooltube reflectors and bulb placement within them i decided to go with 4x 175w ballasts. The bulb spacing should give an even distribution of light to the tank without any bright spots. If i am wrong the hydroponics store has agreed to switch 2 ballasts for 250 watters. so i will only be out for 2 bulbs. It also seems that Ontario, or maybe all of Canada has pissed off the MH bulb distributor gods, because the only bulbs that i can seem to order are coralifes or moguls (i really wanted the hamilton 14k's). Since i have heard neg things on the coralife and nothing on the Mogul, i decided that no info was better than bad info, and ordered 4x 175w 20k Mogul. has anyone heard of a bulb called Mogul (and no this is not referring to the socket type, it is an actual brand name apparently) if you have share your info, and maybe pics, since i am still waiting for the bulbs (3 week order time, grrr)

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