400watt ice cap metal halide

[sandshifter532]

Hey everyone i was wondering how long of a photo period i should have with a 400watt metal halide on my 22gallon zero edge tank. I have it it about 6 inch above the water. i know the light is over kill for my tank. But the best sps colors i have ever seen were from 400watt metal halides. Thanks

 

[Ehaze]

ehh, 6hrs? not sure, that is a ton of light.

 

[sandshifter532]

yeah i was thinking 6 hrs also.. i think ill start slowly i would like to be able to keep the lights on for 8hrs.

 

[sandshifter532]

anyone else running 400watts lights on a small tank?

 

[IslandCrow]

Man, 400 watts on a 30g. You sound like a friend of mine. I think he's running an 8 hour photoperiod on his 60g (with a second 400 watt bulb coming on for 3-4 hours). Truthfully, though, except for any heat issues, for the SPS, I don't see why you couldn't use the same period as people with bigger tanks. Think of it this way. Granted, a 60g tank (for example) may be deeper than yours, but at least some of the corals (those at the top of the tank) are going to be no further underwater. Now, if you have less light demading corals as well, I can certainly see the issue, in which case, I'd find a nice shady spot for them, start with 4-5 hours and work my way up from there.

 

[sandshifter532]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14201052#post14201052 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by IslandCrow
Man, 400 watts on a 30g. You sound like a friend of mine. I think he's running an 8 hour photoperiod on his 60g (with a second 400 watt bulb coming on for 3-4 hours). Truthfully, though, except for any heat issues, for the SPS, I don't see why you couldn't use the same period as people with bigger tanks. Think of it this way. Granted, a 60g tank (for example) may be deeper than yours, but at least some of the corals (those at the top of the tank) are going to be no further underwater. Now, if you have less light demading corals as well, I can certainly see the issue, in which case, I'd find a nice shady spot for them, start with 4-5 hours and work my way up from there.

Thanks for the reply man! I think im going to start out with 6 hrs see how the corals react. If all seems well ill bump it up to a 8hr photo period. With the zero edge tank i have no heat issues it doesn't hold heat very well. i have a 200watt heater on the tank and it can only keep it at around 78f. With the lights on it stays around 79 no higher.

 

[IslandCrow]

Sounds like you have the beginnings of a pretty awesome tank. Be sure to share some photos. If you aren't into photography yet, I'd get right on it. Those zero edge tanks are a photographer's dream, and with 400 watts over it, you'll have no shortage of light.

 

[sandshifter532]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14203534#post14203534 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by IslandCrow
Sounds like you have the beginnings of a pretty awesome tank. Be sure to share some photos. If you aren't into photography yet, I'd get right on it. Those zero edge tanks are a photographer's dream, and with 400 watts over it, you'll have no shortage of light.

I think ill take your advice and make my next investment a good camera . I haven't done any photography except for the normal stuff lol. Ill give it a shot though thanks for all your help .

 

[Rhizo]

I think the question should not be how many gallons, it should be what is the distance from the bulb to the tank floor. A tank can be 100g but only 12'' high is that makes any sense?

 

[adtravels]

I have a 400 watt reeflux with a coralvue e ballast with a lumenmax pendant over 60 cube, on for 9 hours a day no problems. I can put monti on the bottom and it does really well.

 

[vetdog]

I don't know about having it that close to the water surface (6 inches?). Is that the distance of the bulb from the water or the bottom of the reflector?

 

[luther1200]

The only reason I might move it a little higher if you can is you might get a better spread of the light. Unless you already have a good spread. How about a pic, I have been wanting to see 1 of those zero edge tanks that somebody actually owned.