Actinics for 75 Gal?

[kindafun]

Hi,

I've got a 75 gal with 2-250W 10K MH lights. I'm looking to put actinics on it but don't know what's best or how many watts of them I should have. The tank is 4' long so do I need 2 rows of 4 footers, 1 row, multiple 2 footers, 3 footers... what? I know I want a nice dispersion of the light but I don't know how much I really needs. BTW, I am price sensitive!

Recommendations are appreciated!

Thanks,

Dan

 

[Codeman00]

Usually people go with (2) 46.5" VHO Super Actinics. They are best at flourescing your corals, but the bulbs will make the tank look purple. I prefer (2) 48" T5 Blue Plus bulbs...because they do a decent job at flourescing, but they cast a blue light over the tank instead of purple. The purple light for dusk to dawn doesn't look natural enough in my eyes. But either the T5s or VHOs would work fine.

 

[kindafun]

Thanks! Suggestions from anyone else?

 

[Entropy]

With the 250's I would run as many actinics as you can. The more blue you want the more actinic you need to overcome the bright white of the halides. I had 220w of VHO (46.5" URI super actinics) and it did a decent job of balancing my 175w 10k XM's, but it could have used more. Funny enough, I swapped one of them for a actinic white, so when the halides are off the tank is not so purple/blue. Maybe a combo of what Codeman00 suggested would work best? Can you squeeze a set of VHO's and T5's in there?

 

[Codeman00]

I actually have a pair of both T5s and VHOs in my canopy with my XM175s. I rarely use the VHOs though...maybe only if company comes over. The T5s are my choice since they flouresce pretty decent and cast the blue light.

 

[kindafun]

Interesting, I do like the idea of the white actinic. I'd have a hard time fitting both T5s and VHOs in though.

 

[Entropy]

I switched to the actinic white on one bulb to make the tank brighter because it is on 4 hours without the halides and it is really blue. I end up watching the tank at night after the halides are off, so this makes the tank a bit easier to view. I like the all purple/blue as well, but this is a bit better.

 

[kindafun]

Thanks again.

Anybody have a recommendation on a good T5 retrofit kit and bulbs. Are reflectors needed for T5's?

 

[Entropy]

Reflectors are a must for T5. Don't even bother running them without good reflectors. You can get a good kit from www.reefgeek.com or several other online retailers.

 

[Codeman00]

Im going to agree and disagree with Entropy...

Yes, if you are running T5s by themselves, you absolutely need reflectors with them to give the PAR that they are supposed to.

However, I wanted to put both VHOs and T5s inside the canopy with the halides and I only had so much room. So I put the VHOs outside the halide reflectors since they were such a large diameter and then put the T5s without the reflectors inside the halide reflectors next to the halide bulbs. The T5s use the halide reflectors in some places and work fine as actinics this way. I can post a picture if you need it.

If you have room, use the T5 reflectors..if you don't you will be okay without them as long as you are not depending on them for the high PAR they can put out.

I suggest Reefgeek also...you want ATI Blue Plus bulbs.

 

[kindafun]

Thanks, makes sense.

Codeman, what kind of engineer are you? I'm an ME but got into software development and love it. I like the ME stuff too (particularly thermal sciences) but didn't like the work environments. Sorry about the off topic (hey, it's my thread), just curious about fellow engineers.

 

[Codeman00]

I'm an ME also...I do the cube thing like a normal engineer I guess. I design air compressors.

 

[kindafun]

Very cool. I like the equipment part of this hobby almost as much as the biology (there, back on topic, kinda).