Lighting questions

Fishez · 10-13-2004, 10:32 PM

I'm thinking about getting a 2x250 watt MH with 13,000k bulbs and I was wondering if this would be enough light for a 90 gal that is 25" tall and I was curious how this would look or if I would need to add some kind of Actinic bulbs for a good looking color, Or would I be better off going with a 260 watt PC fixture. As always thanks for any info you can give.

Craig Manoukian · 10-14-2004, 03:19 AM

Definitely MHs over PCs for that depth of tank. What kind of corals are you going to keep and 400 watts of 6;500K would be better for SPS? I run 10,000K MHs with actinics as they porvide a crisp cleean look on my soft coral tank.

Fishez · 10-14-2004, 03:47 AM

I havent realy made up my mind exactly what kind of corals im going to keep. The retro kit im looking at gives the option of 10k or 13k bulbs and I was thinking 13K is a little bluer and might look a little better without haveing to spend more money on some type of Actinic .Would the 10K be a better look or would I need some type of actinic light no matter what?

Brian_B47 · 10-14-2004, 04:05 AM

Wouldn't you want to use the Actinic's to turn on first and turn off last to imitate sunrise and sunset.

Thats more a question then a statement.

Craig Manoukian · 10-14-2004, 12:32 PM

Yes BB47.

Actinic supplementation is generally required for corals.

reiple · 10-15-2004, 03:40 PM

Craig is there a ratio for actinic to other spectrum? Is 50/50 ok (I got 50/50 now).

Fishez · 10-15-2004, 06:19 PM

Ok I think Ive made up my mind now , Im getting 2 x 175 watt MH with 13K bulbs and a 65 watt Actinic 03 . The 2 MH's will run for 10Hrs a day and the actinic 03 will run 11 1/2 Hrs a day, would this be enough light for a 25" tall tank ?

Matt Rogers · 10-19-2004, 10:32 AM

2 x 175 isn't a lot of a 90 especially since it's a deep tank. Also there are not as many good bulbs in the 175 watt size as the 250 watt. I'd go with 2 x 250. My 2 cents.

Craig Manoukian · 10-19-2004, 10:43 AM

If I had it to do over again I would go with 250 or 400 watt MHs on my 80 gallon. 400 watts if I was going to have SPS corals.

Fishez · 10-19-2004, 11:08 AM

The only reason I changed my mind from 2x250 to 2x175 was the heat issue , I just built a canopy for the tank and i have 2 fans built into it , Im just worried about it not beeing enough becouse if i mount the lamps to the roof of my canopy the bulbs will only be 8 or 9 inches from the water. Is 8 or 9 inches going to be far enough away from the water to use 250 ?