New (to me) 300 gll

Hi
Finally got the tank so here we go
I gotta used 300 gl that came with everything Great shape
Came with
250watt HQI (4)
96w Actinic (4)
LED Moon Lights (3)
Light Ballast

So I'm concern about the electrical bill and wondering that if its better to start the set up and change to led and try to sell this ones.
The tank is 96" x 23 d x 32"h.
No experience at all , newbie, and want to have a reef tank with fish
Does the led lights need to be like 14" above the water level?
I see a lot of pictures with the lights hanging .
Thanks
Ed

 

IMO 32in in height is a lot, you would need very powerful LED's to get to the bottom. Look into sola-tubes.

 

As long as you have good reflectors, then 4 x 250W halides will be more than enough.

The good (and bad) thing about LED's is that you can use narrower optics to drive the light deeper. Only problem with this is that it then takes more LEDs to cover the same footprint to keep from spotlighting.

 

I'm curious what the rapid led guys will say... i'd think that you'd still be ok with led but would probably need 80* optics and more of them. Pricy up front but the lack of a huge elec bill and the next to no maint may make it worth while. Best advice i can give you though is to "Go slow and let it grow." Nice thing about Rapidleds diy stuff is you can always start small and scale up as your tank matures and you begin getting more light intensive corals. I started out with just your standard tank light and the mushrooms i had did ok under it, kept them under control at least. Soon as i upgraded my lighting they exploded!

 

Woahwoahwoah.....not trying to be rude, and I'm Usually all for the "bigger is better!". But, did you say, you have NO experience, and you got a 300 gallon tank?! Not that it's too big, but you are aware of what you're getting into, correct?
Pretty sure the least of your concerns is the electric bill....

 

A 300 gllon reef tank will cost a LOT of money. Also there are 1000 watt halides if you want those

 

Good thing is, he lives in the Keys, so water changes will be cheap ;D

(and they can get expensive if you live in Colorado for example)

Welcome to 3Reef.

That's a huge tank. There are a lot of folks that would say to start small, but if you ask others, they'd say they wish they had started out where they ultimately are today. It would have cost a lot less money that way.

So, I see you list the lights, which sound fine for now, but what size of sump do you have, and what kind of skimmer did that tank come with? If it's been sitting for a while, I recommend looking into a new return pump, as those are much more reliable new.

 

Congrats on the tank, and welcome to 3reef.

For a tank that large I'd go with between 100-120 LEDs, depending on how much SPS/clams you're keeping. The 32" depth isn't that big an issue, though you are right it would be best if you can get the lights about 12-15" off the water. The reason for that is it's best if you can use a 40 degree lens to get good penetration/PAR on the bottom of the tank. However, since the 40's are quite narrow they're going to cause spotlighting (basically beams of light cutting through the water) if the lights aren't given enough room to blend before hitting the water. If you can't get the lights that high off the water what's the max distance they can go?