yet another MH question

thanks everyone, this site is awesome ;D


i calculated the amount of watts need for my 180 gallon tank at 10 watts per gallon to be 1800 watts, thats seems to be a lot of power, my tanks is 30 inches tall i don;t know if i want that much lighting any suggestions?


Peter

 

if u wanna keep SPS corals or anemones or clams then u need too. It sounds like a lot but because u have a deeper aquarium it's perfect. That would be a lot for my aquarium but now for a 180 gal.

 

[quote author=Ice link=board=lighting;num=1099320951;start=30#40 date=11/01/04 at 22:27:02]thanks everyone, this site is awesome ;D


i calculated the amount of watts need for my 180 gallon tank at 10 watts per gallon to be 1800 watts, thats seems to be a lot of power, my tanks is 30 inches tall i don;t know if i want that much lighting any suggestions?


Peter[/quote]

Peter, That's why the whole watts per gallon thing really is a lot of BS in my opinion. I had a 30inch deep tank and used a 400w MH unit and the lighting was ample

John

 

The watts per gallon is BS. You need to look at depth. With this size tank you are gonna probably want 400 watt Mh. A Mh will cover about 2 feet in lenth. This means you need 3 with a 6 foot tank. That takes you to 1200 watts. Now you will probably want some VHO's of PC's in there also. Two 6 foot VHO's are 320 watts. That puts you at 1520 watts and I would consider that pretty damn intense.

Please note I am pretty new to this and have never owned a 100 gal tank. So take this information and throw it down the toliet. Oh wait that can't be good for your hard drive

 

Hmm, my understanding was one MH every 3 feet.....

anyone else???

 

BL, I would suggest that it all depends on the MH reflector and the height of the MH unit above the water level.

John

 

no they say one MH every 2 ft. I would get either 3 MH which would be 1200 watts. Or get 2 MH and 2 6ft. PC or VHO. which would be 1120 watts.

 

actually u might just wanna get 3 MH at least.

 

[quote author=hottielover14 link=board=lighting;num=1099320951;start=45#46 date=11/03/04 at 18:41:06]no they say one MH every 2 ft. I would get either 3 MH which would be 1200 watts. Or get 2 MH and 2 6ft. PC or VHO. which would be 1120 watts.[/quote]

HL14,

My apologies, but that is just another one of those stupid rules.

Please explain to me what wattage has got to do with light and how you can determine how much light is required when you have no clue as to where the light is going.

Does the same rule apply to a tank that is 12 inches deep?
Does it apply to a tank that is 36 inches deep?
What happens if you decide on pendant lighting and the pendants are 24 inches above the water?
What happens if you have a proper parabolic reflector or if you make your own metal box and the photometrics are bad?
Who are 'they"?

Too may people following too many general rules. You will end up with a heap of useless light and a huge unnecessary electricity bill. More is not always more you know

John

 

i'm not saying that u just have to follow the wattage rule but it's kind of a start as too the lighting u want. It's just a general rule and not the only factor. it also depends on how far from the water surface u are and also what kind of corals u are keeping.