1000 gallon reef planning, need lighting suggestions for 56" deep

[noobtothereef]

ok, tank dimensions are 120"x32"tallx 48" wide, the end 3' is stepped down 24", making a depth of 56", was thinking about 2-1000w mh's for this section and 400w for the rest, i was contemplating 48-60"t5's but thats not gonna happen. the deep end is the end of the penninsula. Any thoughts on this? Any suggestions would be appreciated

 

[lastlight]

Holy cow we need pics. Sorry I'm not of more help.

 

[noobtothereef]

no pictures as of yet, still waiting on the decision to go 56" deep on the end, were designing the house around this tank, and also including it in the construction loan lol

 

[noobtothereef]

Im also trying to figure out how to add 2 surge tanks, with a peninsula style its going to be hard to have an overflow that will be able to handle that much flow. If i do the surge device im going to try to find a way so that they dont make a storm of bubbles hen they go off by not draining the surge device all of the way via a toilet seal and plunger and the "flush" mechanism will be a small container that gets filled slowly with a small water pump and hen full it opens the toilet seal and also dumps itself and starts the process over again, i was looking into the electronic ball valves but would have to find some sort of programmable controller that can be programmed to the 10th of a second to shut the valve before it empties the surge tank so i dont get the rush of air making bubbles and keeping the surge pipes full of water..... and also for the surge device to be worthwhile in a tank this large im thinking it would have to be around 100 gallons, and if thats the case the return section of the sump is going to have to be massive...

 

[Bax]

Sounds like a great project!

Reefski's 700 g thread has some good discussion on the practical application of surges. It's worth the read.

And as for lighting, at those depths, I'd agree that at a minimum you're looking at 400 MHs and a 1,000 over the deep area. T-5 supps will still help too. I love the T-5 MH combo.

 

[reef_shadow]

For the lighting on the deep end, take a look at plasma lights. They penetrate the water better than any other solution out there. They are energy efficient and the bulbs last 40,000 hrs

http://www.straylightoptical.com/product-details.jsf?productId=2

 

[dave.m]

would have to find some sort of programmable controller that can be programmed to the 10th of a second to shut the valve before it empties the surge tank so i dont get the rush of air making bubbles and keeping the surge pipes full of water

Couldn't you accomplish the same thing or similar with a float valve inside the surge device's reservoir?

For your lighting, is your tank located in such a way as to take advantage of Solatubes? This could make for a big cost savings over electrical lights.

Dave.M

 

[noobtothereef]

Couldn't you accomplish the same thing or similar with a float valve inside the surge device's reservoir?

For your lighting, is your tank located in such a way as to take advantage of Solatubes? This could make for a big cost savings over electrical lights.

Dave.M

nope its going in the basement

 

[skanderson]

the choice of lighting for the deep section will depend on what you want to keep in it. if you want to keep sps at the bottom you will need those 1000 watters you mentioned. if you area going to zone the deep end you could probably get away with 400 on lumenbright fixtures. the reflectors you chose will make a huge difference in light penetration and spread. i plan on having an area of my next tank being 42 inches deep. i am going to build a test refugium of that depth so i can run different wattage and reflectors over it and use my meter to test the light levels throughout the tank. im still at least 3 months from having that tank built so it will be a while before that info is up.

 

[slief]

Depending on the footprint, I would suggest 1000 watt Metal Halides for a 56" deep tank.. I dont think a 400watt bulb will give you good enough par levels even at 36" for corals unless they are ones that dont require much light. If you decide you want to go this route, I have a pile of new 1000 watt electronic adjustable Lumateks..

 

[bohlke]

Wow thats a huge tank. Ching uses 400W lights with the lumen bright pendants on his 48" tank and he has SPS at all levels. Read through this over and over again and we want to see the snorkeling pics when you aquascape as well

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1640915

 

[mprygh]

Oddly enough, for something like that I would recommend LEDs.
The reason being that you can get tight focus beam optics for them.
A tight grid of 5W LEDs, with 15 degree optics or so, will definitely get light to the bottom.
And save a ton of power in the process.
But not "easy". A major DIY task.
Plasma lights would be a fit, if you can get them. Seem to be out of stock every time I look. Those (theoretically) come in a tighter beam pattern as well.