Home biult lights

I was looking at lights. I am in the process of building a fixture any thoughts? I know I need 3 to 4 watts per gal to hit bottom so that puts me around 400 watts. But after reading many threads big issues in watts per gal. Any info would be a big help.

 

Amount of watts does not really affect the depth. Type of lighting, with bulb/ballast combination is what will give you the good penetrating PAR values.

 

So you have around 100 gal. tank..? 90 gal..?

It depends on what you want to keep.. The Watts Per Gal is a good starting point,
BUT doesn't always work..

I have a 60 gal. with 476 watts.. thats 7.93 watts per gal....
Yet I wouldn't try to keep SPS Corals. Due to my bulbs... And type of lights..
I have 260 PC, and 216 T5 HO... My colors don't even show up right..

There will be some people that will really help you on here..

Do it right to start with.. I know you will or you wouldn;t be here..
And you'll never look back..

Good Luck, Larry

And Welcome to 3 Reef.. !!!

 

Lets start with tank size and what you plan on keeping....

Many are content on keeping LPS and some softies, others want stags and millies to grow from the sandbed of a 24" deep tank!!

What do YOU want?

 

Thanks so far for the info. The tank is a 90 gal. I'm looking to keep hard corals. I was just able to get a hold of a fixture the has 2 metal halides and 2 Actinics. How well will this work on a reef?

 

You can keep just about anything under halides.what wattage are they?

 

They are 175 watts each and to VHO's

 

Also I need to know do have the fixture above the tank and how high if I do. At this time I do not have a chiller and I know the lights give of heat but the fixture does have built in fans.

 

Most MH fixtures are 6" from the water's surface, if you see that your getting too much heat(temp), just raise it another 1"-4". I also have a 90g DT and I use a (2) 250w MH with (2) 96w PC(actinics) light fixture. If I remember correctly, a 150w is for a depth of 15", a 175w is for 20", a 250w is for 24" and a 400w is above 24" in depth. Luna

 

Thank you very much that helps the most. So 7" above tank will be ok. 6" above water and another 1" for for tank lip and hood. Now if the lights are all built in a case can I put the hole case on tank if the lights are 6" up?