65 gallon lighting

[Chuck H.]

I have a 6 bulb Tek light that I'm going to put over my AGA 65 as soon as my mounting legs arrive next week. The AGA is 24" deep and I have a shallow sand bed (only an inch in most places), I intend on trying clams at the bottom and definitely SPS up top. Everything I've read in the many T5 threads indicates this will be plenty of light for a mixed reef ( a little bit of everything - softies, LPS, SPS, clams). Just another option for you... lighting is without the doubt the biggest decision you will have to make equipment wise.

 

[werew]

Grand,
(2) 175MH's will work great for a 65gal 36x18x24 tank if you plan on keeping a wide variety of corals. You could even go with 150wtt DE MH's. LPS, SPS and soft corals would do well.

If you want a super bright tank and it to be SPS and clam mainly, (2) 250wtt would work great.

Going with two of any MH's will help get rid of the centerbraces shadow, you just have to play with the height arrangement of the MH's from the waters surface to make the reflector's focal points cancel out the shadow.

 

[LazyK]

As I said earlier, I have been running 4x95w VHO over my 65(36x18x24) for 6 years. I have been able to keep everything including SPS and clams. The only problem with any flourescent lighting is the intensity below about 12" is not adequate, no matter how many bulbs you place over the tank. If you want the light to reach the bottom (clams) you need MH. The guidelines that I have seen state: 150-175w up to 20", 250w to 24", and 400w for greater than 24" in tank depth.

 

[SaltyMember]

Just wanted to chime in...I have a 65 gallon 24" high tank. When I was planning the tank I had a mixed reef in mind and didn't want to be limited in what I could keep. I opted to go with 2 x 250wt 14k MHs (2 because of the center brace otherwise I would have went with 1). I also have 2 x 95wt VHO actinics. I have to say that it is alot of light for the tank. I have had some difficulty acclimating my LPS to this amount of light. For instance, I have a red open brain coral that I have to sit in a cave otherwise it starts to bleach. I also have a trumpet coral that sprouts new heads but does not fully expand, and it sits on the sand. On the other hand, the two montipora frags I have are going quickly.
In retrospect, I think 2 x 175wt or 150wt DE halides would be better for a mixed reef. But the price difference between 175 and 250 is not that different. It all depends on what you want.

 

[Grandfinale03]

Who makes a good setup that has (2) 175 watt metal halides with pc's?

 

[Grandfinale03]

I'd beed it to be a 36" hood