What can I keep with this setup?

I just purchased a 125 gallon tank (72 1/2 x 18 x 24). The tank came with 12, 36 inch UV lighting company,T-5s driven by 4 Icecap 660 ballasts. 6 of the bulbs are aquasun (10,000k) and 6 are super atnic.

The man I bought the tank from didn't have time for the tank because of an injury, so the bulbs are 4 years old and all of the live rock was covered in green algae. I've cleaned everything up and now I am looking at replacing the bulbs. What should I do with the lighting? I imagine the lighting is high but I don't know how high. All I plan on keeping so far is some soft corals (mushrooms, zoas, leathers, xenia) and a galaxea coral. It seems a bit of an overkill to use all of the available fixtures. What kind of bulbs should I use? What kind of arrangement should I go with?

 

If you never plan on SPS (yeah right!), I would sell the fixture and get something more along the light levels of the inhabitants you plan on keeping. Buying 12 new bulbs, quality ones at least, will run you upwards of $300.

You could also, figure out which ballasts control which lamps, and only do half of the bulb replacements...and then still have the option of doing SPS later. I recommend ATI or UV lamps. Giesemann's are nice as well, but pricey.

 

Thanks for the reply. I will probably replace half the bulbs and leave the option of upgrading later. I don't really want to spend 300 dollars every 18 months on new bulbs right now. I also don't see myself wanting to keep anything with too much upkeep, but I suppose anything can change.

Will leaving in some of the two year old bulbs hurt anything? I don't know how I will arrange the bulbs without leaving any dark spots in the tank otherwise.

 

If the lamps are that old, you don't want to use them. They have shifted spectrum by now, and will be a catalyst to unwanted nuisance algae. Ask member 2in10 about lamp selection and placement. He is the resident T5 guru.

 

Honestly, with you just starting out and about to dump money into lighting I would go led. Not all are convinced of this yet but the opinions are changing. Plus for 50-100 more than the ~300 you'd spend on all those bulbs you could get 2 reef breeders value series or equivalent which would be more than enough for softies. Plus you never have to replace a bulb! Least till it dies... At this stage I think led is the cheapest safest route to go and could potentially last you years with very minimal maintenence costs. Now later you may decide you want to try something different but most other options will cost significantly more in the long run once you calculate the setup+maintenance costs. In the mean time as mentioned don't use those bulbs at all. Would be better to keep the tank un lighted for now. Is there any live stock in it?

 

You could also potentially start with one raised high enough of the water surface and no optics to spread across the whole of the tank. How long is a 125 again? If it's 6'long you'd actually be better off with three in the end but could potentially start with two. I have 1 running over my 75 which is 4'long and has a center brace. I was in the same boat you were with replacing bulbs. 1 per 2' square I belive would provide much better lighting but even the 1 is much better than what I had previously. Hope this helps. Remember 300 every 8 months or 300-600 once...

 

I don't have anything in the tank yet and I haven't turned on the lights except to test them. The wiring is a mess and a hazard right now with loose and bare wires sticking out.

LED lighting is something I considered but I estimated it at about 1000 rather than the 400 you are estimating. I had looked at the 2 reef breeders photon 32s here. With the LED technology advancing every single day I kind of got the feeling I might be better off waiting. Plus I have 4 good ballasts and fixtures that I would kind of hate see go to waste. If I were starting from scratch I would probably go with LEDs though.

I can get 6 ATI or UV bulbs from marine depot for about 100 shipped and then it is just a matter of finding a configuration that will work with the ballasts. I might do that and look at LED lighting in another 18-36 months.