Age old question...lighting

[Willistein]

OK, so I've tried just about everything except VHOs, and I'm really undecided about what lighting to do on my upcoming 4' x 2' x 2' (120gal) tank. I've had good success with metal halide, but didn't love the heat. That was over a 20 gallon and then a 30 gallon tank though and a bigger tank with a basement sump should have no heat issues. I tried T5s, but wasn't really super impressed. The bulb cost is about the same and the TEK retrofit parts rusted apart and the reflectors look like crap a couple years later. I do like that you can play with the spectrum with multiple bulbs. So what do I do?

I want to be able to keep any coral including light hungry SPS. I like the blueish-white look but not too blue like straight Radiums. I like the shimmer you get from Halides. Maybe what I should do is check out a couple systems to see what I like.

Option 1: 2x 250W 14K bulbs with no supplement.

Option 2: 6 or 8 x 54W T5s.

If you have anything for sale let me know.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Option 3: LEDs. :lol: They will solve your heat problem, consume less energy, give you great shimmer, and allow just about any combination of color and intensity you could ever dream up.

Getting off my soapbox,

Be ready for a can-o-worms. It's highly personal, so go with your gut. Choosing from traditional lighting, MHs are my clear favorite. I think my all-time favorite would be 10kk XM MH lamps with URI VHO actinics - there's nothing out there that can compare to the URI VHO actinic IMHO. I love the shimmer and contrast from MH, which you'll never get from T5 - I find that T5's give a "washed out" appearance because the light is so non-laminar.

The only MH lamps I like "on their own" i.e. without actinic supplementation are Radiums and 20kk XM lamps. I find that the majority of 14 - 15kk MH lamps are either too white, too dim, or don't create enough pop.

 

[Willistein]

I'm kinda leaning toward MH + T5 actinic. I have the ballasts to run 2 48" T5s.

 

[sg1838]

FWIW (nothing), I did a WHOLE bunch of reading before I did my lighting on my new tank. I was going to go with T5s across the board, but the overwhelming consensus was that VHO actinics were far superior to the T5 actinics (particularly the URI VHO actinics, as Der Wille mentioned). So, I went with the T5s with the VHO actinics.

I had a slight advantage as I had run VHOs on my old 29g setup, so I already had everything I needed to run the VHO actinics except the new longer bulbs. But, since everybody RAVED about the VHO actinics, I probably would have gone that route regardless of whether that was true or not.

Overall, I would say that I'm happy with my setup. I like the canopy look, and didn't want a bright MH fixture hanging from my ceiling, so my choices for the main lights were T5s or VHOs. Maybe in the future I will switch out the T5s for LEDs once there is a larger selection of off-the-shelf units available (I can do some electrical stuff, but I certainly would not feel comfortable doing what Der Wille is currently doing on his new tank).

 

[Willistein]

Anybody run SS Galaxy E-ballasts?
How about Blueline E ballasts?

 

[Henry Colf]

I'm running 2x175 watt xm15k with 2 super blue ho T-5's on my 90 gal. and am getting great colors and good growth. On a 120 you could run 4 T-5's and 2 x 175 watts and would have more than enough light. JMO

 

[pimpinitup6969]

I personally like the look of 250w 14k phoenix with no actinic supplementation

 

[Willistein]

So I think I've decided to go with 250w 20,000K radiums on HQI ballasts. Anybody got this setup that I could check out before I take the plunge?