250W 10K on a 30"H tank

[Elite]

Do you think I can keep SPS with that setup? Can I keep cap or lower light SPS on the bottom of the tank??

 

[northbay-reefer]

YES !!! my tank is 30" deep and am using 250 watt 20k, lots of my sps are 5" from the bottom of the tank and doing well, you'll be supprise how little light some corals need sometime.

 

[Sparkss]

250W 10K off of what ballast Phong ? (and which bulb ?) Just remember that every coral is different in it's need(s) for light, but Sanjay runs 14.5k 400W on IC ballasts, which has a PPFD of about 150 IIRC and he has high light SPS inches above hte sand bed on his 30" tall tank. an XM 10K running on an HQI ballast has a PPFD of over 180 (and on an IC ballast it is around 115 I think).

And what reflector are you using ? That can make all the difference too.

 

[Elite]

IC ballast, reeflux bulb and Lumenarc III ... Thanks guys for the input!!!

 

[Sparkss]

and of course how high above the tank will the reflector be ?

 

[Elite]

7" or 8" above the water

 

[Sparkss]

Wow, that bulb/ballast combo has a pretty low PPFD :

Lamp Name Ballast Name Shield PPFD CCT Power Volts Amps Efficiency
Coralvue ReefLux 250W 10000K SE 1 Icecap 250W Electronic N 86 15953 253 122 2.31 0.3403

Sanjay and I both run our 150 PPFD bulbs in reflectors that are about 9" above the water, give or take. And we are able to keep acros and clams within 24" of the waterline, more or less. Although I see why you likethe REeflux on IC.. 15.9 K CCT

 

[Elite]

hehehe... I don't have a clue what those # are .. I like reeflux because it doesn't have the yellow color. Which bulb would give me a higher # of PPFD?

 

[sfsuphysics]

If you're not going to be looking into the tank, and you can move your reflectors for tank maintenance then I wouldn't keep the reflectors that high off the tank.

 

[raddogz]

LOL - I'm having a hard time trying to understand what all those extra letters are?

 

[Sparkss]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10121103#post10121103 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sfsuphysics
If you're not going to be looking into the tank, and you can move your reflectors for tank maintenance then I wouldn't keep the reflectors that high off the tank.

It all depends on the spread needed. We keep ours high, with high PPFD bulbs to try to light as much of our tank as possible . We would lose quite a bit of area if we lowered our reflectors. I don't know what dimension tank Phong is trying to light, but if it is a standard 2" depth, then yea, lower the reflectors, you will be better off

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10121113#post10121113 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by raddogz
LOL - I'm having a hard time trying to understand what all those extra letters are?

what extra letters ? maybe I am missing something ?

 

[Elite]

Tank dimensions are 56x30x30. I don't think I would want to lower the light though. It's too close to the water.

 

[drdoolittle]

Phong,

I was running 250 10K XM, using Hamilton ballast on my 220. Its 30" height and my sps were growing like crazy.. I think your OK..

Ed

 

[Sparkss]

XM 10K on a magnetic ballast is worlds away from a reeflux 10K on IC... Reeflux gets 89 PPFD and XM gets 137 (go to an HQI ballast and you are talking 187). But from your setup to his proposed one is a 36% drop in PAR (if I did my math correctly )

Lamp Name Ballast Name Shield PPFD CCT Power Volts Amps Efficiency
plot XM 250W 10000K SE 1 PFO 250W HQI (M80) N 182 9921 374 122 3.27 0.4866
plot XM 250W 10000K SE 1 Magnetek 250W (M58) N 137 12083 315 123 2.8 0.4349

 

[Elite]

Uhmm, maybe I will just get the PFO HQI ballast and sell my IC ..

 

[drdoolittle]

LOL..another ballast trade??

 

[Elite]

:lol:

 

[Sparkss]

well, you also need to take power consumption into account

IC 2.3a
Mag 2.8a
HQI 3.2a

 

[Elite]

What is the website to get these info Tom? I had it bookmarked but don't know what happen to it.

Edit:
NM.. found it
thanks Tom!

 

[Sparkss]

NP, hope it all helps... best of luck on selecting your lighting