New Tank! Need lighting Ideas.

Discussion in 'Reef Lighting' started by Chris Jones, Sep 13, 2004.

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  1. Chris Jones

    Chris Jones Feather Duster

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    Well, someone had this tank in their back yard, just sittin, so they gave it to me and now I can go larger on my tank. ;D It is 72"x18"x21", I think that is about 150 gallons. What kind of lighting should I go with for good coral and anemone lighting?? :huh:

    I have seen 72" PC's with 6x65W ::)

    I have seen MH/PC combos in a light strip, :p ;)

    and I have heard of MH pendants with PC actinic for color correction and day/night transition, I am trying to be inexpensive as I can both in the initial purchase, and in the subsequent areas such as power consumption ( do MH's use much more than PC's???) and the possibility of a chiller if they are too hot.

    How many pendants would be needed to effectively cover a 72" long tank? 8)

    also, the tank has no top whatsoever. Should I build a canopy, or just put hinged glass lids on top?? Which would keep temp lower vs evaporation??? :-*
    thanks.
     
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  3. JohnO

    JohnO Moderator

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    Well, just a few points.

    Firstly that is a NICE size tank, I'm envious :)

    If you are thinking of keeping SPS ( like acropora ) then use MH lighting. You will also need some vigoorous water movement as well.

    With the lighting I am not sure how you can incorporate MH pendants and then suppliment them with strip lighting, but others are probably more familiar with the terminology than I am.

    With the MH, there is no need to completely cover the whole surface, if you plan the tank a little bit and keep the corals that need the brighter light in one area and the corals that need less light in another you can get by. For example a colony of acros in the middle, some LPS corals towards the ends with some soft corals right at the ends will look spectacular. You would still need to light the whole area but the ends wouldn't necessarily need to be lit by MH.

    Personally I would not bother with a glass cover, and would have some sort of canopy. The glass cover will reduce evaporation, or at least the water will condense on the cover and drip back in, but will increase temperatures and also effect gas exchange.

    John
     
  4. Chris Jones

    Chris Jones Feather Duster

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    TY John. Would you know how many and what intensity I would need?
    I read that I should have one every 2', which would mean 3. but I am just learning about MH and don't know if there are different beam patterns or what.
    so a link to explain a little better MH, ( but not that highly technical) would be helpful.
    i also am having a little prob. figuring what size I need as I have also read, and it makes sense, that it's not the watt of the bullb, but the light output,aka PAL, that i should be figuring with for the tank depth and not overall gallon size.
    for if I had a 8" deep 30' long tank 250 MH would boil my water.
     
  5. shawnz28

    shawnz28 3reef Sponsor

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    In my opinion to keep it simple and get plently of light with a pleasing color I would get 3 HQI pendants such as Aqua Medic Ocean Lights or PFO Mini Pendants and use Hamilton 14K bulbs. With this would would have plently of light for just about anything you would like to keep, and only have 3 bulbs to deal with. And with the 14K Hamiltons many people including myself don't feel they need any kind of actinic supplements to look great. They have a nice ice blue color, much bluer than a 10K but brighter than a 20K.
     
  6. Chris Jones

    Chris Jones Feather Duster

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    I understand that pendants hang over the tank, but where do you put the hamiltons??? do they loom over the tank like a light bar?? or do I have to build a canopy and install them there?? and also are they like PC bulbs???
     
  7. shawnz28

    shawnz28 3reef Sponsor

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    No actually the Hamilton 14K bulbs I was referring to are the metal halide bulbs that would be installed in the pendants. I would get something like this Ocean Light or the PFO Mini Pendants and get or substitute Hamilton 14K bulbs to run in them
     
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  9. Chris Jones

    Chris Jones Feather Duster

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    Boy. shows you how much i know about MH.LOL Thanks a bunch for the links. BION (believe it or not) I have not seen a MH fixture before. I was envisioning that they looked like the conical shaped heat lamp fixtures at an old timey McDonalds, if you can picture that. that is why i had slight confusion about MH bar configured hood.

    MH to me evoked a big sodium street light looking bulb for some reason. anyway, Input much appreciated. 8)
     
  10. hottielover14

    hottielover14 Torch Coral

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    if u really want a cool MH pendant get the coralvue pendants. there awsome they have built in electronic ballasts and they have fans in the pendants. there about $285 each but there awsome. u also can get a 14K bulb with them too. those are the kind im getting.
     
  11. reefman_MC

    reefman_MC Aiptasia Anemone

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    Three MH pendants with 14K bulbs. You decide what brand. I personally have a Coralvue fullsized hood with supplemental T-5 actinics. Got it from Darin at http://www.captivereefs.com.
     
  12. Birdlady

    Birdlady Finback Whale

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    I would not get the built in ballasts....heat can be an issue with MH's and having the external ballast means one less heat source in the canopy ;D

    I have one 175 W MH with 2 VHO's on a 36" tank. While I do not need a chiller, the MH does kick the temp up a little.