Advice on purchasing a MH setup

[vietcu]

I have a 75 gallon in wall tank. The tank sits inside two of my closets behind my living room.

The spacing from the top of my tank to the that top board in my closet is 11.5". There is also a wall dividing my tank on the inside of my closet. Right now I have 2 48" T5, and 4 36" T5. I like the look of MH and also think that it might be a bit better for the corals that I have in the tank. I have a mix of SPS and LPS, so I think that either 150w or 175w pendant would work for my setup. What do you guys recommend that I should get? I want to do a DIY setup because I think that buying something that is out there right now is WAYY overpriced. Any lighting gurus out there that would like to send me on the right path to get the right setup?

 

[itZme]

Have you ever read about overdriving your T5's? It makes the normal 54w T5 run at about 80watts output. The 39watters run at about 55watts. You would need a couple of IceCap 660 ballasts to run your current configuration but without individual reflectors you aren't going to see the output they are capable of anyway.

If you went with a couple of 175w bulbs in Lumenarc reflectors you would cover the tank nicely. I know they have the Lumenarc Mini that is a smaller version.

MH bulbs should be about 8" off the water so figure that into your space and decide from there.

250w would be great too but probably more than necessary. Either way you will have to acclimate your corals to the new lighting setup. The 175 MH is probably intense enough to bleach out any SPS near the surface if you go from those T5 fixtures you have there now.

Hope that helps,
-- Kevin

 

[Burgman]

Hi,

I have a 75 gal reef with LPS/SPS/Softies and I run two 110W VHO's and 2 -175WMH mogal base. The MH bulbs run parrallel with the length of the tank. Things are growing in my tank but I think I loose some of the vivid SPS color due to the lower light levels. In the photo what is the gray object above your lights?

Dave

 

[CleveYank]

That's how all of my bulbs are run...just like yours Dave. The SE's at least.

With posts in SPS forum Leonardo's reef, and recent Gent from Poland (don't recall his name) I'd be temped under your space limits to just put in as many of 55 watt T5's that Kevin mentioned overdriven on the 600 or A4's and be done with it.

The colors on some of these tanks are just bonkers.

 

[vietcu]

Burgman- the grey you see is the backside of the front piece of drywall to the living room. I know I should have it a bit neater back here, but time was limiting during the build so I had to make do with what others can't see. I cut it lower so that it would cover my tank and that the frame did not have to hide much once the tank was in place.

Cleveyank- I was thinking of ordering some 55 T5, but after going to some other reefer's tank and seeing how the metal halide shine in their tank, I decided that I must have some MH.

 

[CleveYank]

Well Like you Vietcu, I must have shimmer and I'm a slave to the Metal Halide.
My frag bank tank however, will be lit by T5's truth be told.

 

[Burgman]

Hi,

It might be pretty tight putting MH bulbs in that location. You should have around 12" between the water surface and the bulb.
Do you have that much room? The open area might help get rid of some of the heat from the MH's with a couple of well placed fans.

Dave

 

[serpentman]

I agree with Dave's assessment. You will want to make sure you have around 12" from the bulb to water. Depending on the reflector, you may even want slightly more.

 

[vietcu]

well its 11.5" from the bottom of the board to the top of my tank. But my water is about 1-1.5" from the top of my tank so I think I have just enough room.