Halides over a 58G

[rleechb]

I just bought a 58G (36 x 18 x 20 oceanic), and I'm planning on making this an sps tank. I was considering dual 250's (either se or de) over the tank w/ actinic supplements, but due to the low water volume, and summer heat around here, believe that I'd be better off with a lower wattage bulb. I don't mind spending the extra on pendants, but what do you guys think... should I go with the DE setup, or SE setup? I really want to make sure I have plenty of PAR heading into the water, as I'm planning an sps dominated tank. Also, what size canopy should I get? I'm about to order one, and was considering either 14" or 15". Should I change the height, depending on which bulbs I go with? Thanks.

 

[michaelg]

I have a single 400W SE with a luminarc reflector- gives pretty good coverage. Very heavy with sps in it. I have it open top now. Could do a single 250W with some T5HO supplimental bulbs.

 

[rleechb]

yeah, i wanted to make sure I had full coverage over the tank with the halide though... I don't want any dark spots.

 

[dvanacker]

If you want nice even lighting have you thought about T5. Unless you want to go dual 150de, I think a 58 is a bit small for dual 250's.

 

[rleechb]

Yeah, I had a 55g w/ two 250DE's over my old tank (and t5 supplementation) and it was definitely too much. My primary concern is heat. The tank is sumpless, so I'm afraid there won't be enough water volume to handle 250's. Do you think a pair of 175 SE's (10k) + T5 actinics would be overdoing it?

 

[dvanacker]

I think 150de would be a better fit because of the tighter footprint the DE pendants put out for your relatively small tank. That way you will have less light loss.

As for your suggestion being too much...well depends if you are keeping high light SPS down to the sand. Also if it is too much you could always get a bulb with less par and shorten the photoperiod...or raise the fixture. Lots of options to scale down light but not as many to increase light really besides and upgrade.

 

[chadfarmer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7673228#post7673228 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rleechb
Yeah, I had a 55g w/ two 250DE's over my old tank (and t5 supplementation) and it was definitely too much. My primary concern is heat. The tank is sumpless, so I'm afraid there won't be enough water volume to handle 250's. Do you think a pair of 175 SE's (10k) + T5 actinics would be overdoing it?

T5 actinics would be overdoing it no use the actinic plus


actinic are very dull


i had 1 250 over the 58
than 2 250 over the 58

now i run the t5 6 bulb tek light and like it more (i even bleached some of the corals when i switched over)

 

[rleechb]

T5 actinics would be overdoing it no use the actinic plus

So 175SE's, with no supplementation would be good? I was thinking 10k 175W MH's, w/ 2 x 39W URI Actinic T5's. Overkill?

 

[29reef]

I have a solution HO t-5's

 

[rleechb]

No shimmer lines??? Brian, have you gone mad???:smokin:

 

[chadfarmer]

a friend had 2 400s and 3 vhos over a 58 gallon

 

[rleechb]

oh my lord. Do you think I could keep 250SE's under a non-RR tank without boiling the water? (no chiller).

 

[chadfarmer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7673953#post7673953 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rleechb
oh my lord. Do you think I could keep 250SE's under a non-RR tank without boiling the water? (no chiller).

yes if you were to have a fan blowing across the water and have the a.c. running low

 

[jman77]

I had 2 x 250 14 DE's + 2 T5s and it was too much light for me. I downgraded the 250's to 150's and feel it's a much better fit. Since I'm running a mixed reef my LPS and shrooms look better under the 150's as well.

You can run 250's over your tank, you just need fans like chad wrote. ...

 

[29reef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7673880#post7673880 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rleechb
No shimmer lines??? Brian, have you gone mad???:smokin:

yes quite mad! I have no tank...haha but i am designing a 750g reef for a customer..hehe take that 58 gallon psh!

 

[rleechb]

As long as the 750g reef doesn't have T5's =D

 

[JGoslee]

With a few well placed fans you shouldnt have any problems with 2 - 250de halides. I use 4" fans that blow across my canopy and I have no issues with heat. I also dont have a chiller.

 

[rleechb]

nice. I think I'll go with 250SE's then. Any idea how high off the water I should have them? I'd really like to give the iwasaki 15k's a shot, anyone have any experience with them?

 

[RichConley]

Re: Halides over a 58G

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7672734#post7672734 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rleechb
I just bought a 58G (36 x 18 x 20 oceanic), and I'm planning on making this an sps tank. I was considering dual 250's (either se or de) over the tank w/ actinic supplements, but due to the low water volume, and summer heat around here, believe that I'd be better off with a lower wattage bulb. I don't mind spending the extra on pendants, but what do you guys think... should I go with the DE setup, or SE setup? I really want to make sure I have plenty of PAR heading into the water, as I'm planning an sps dominated tank. Also, what size canopy should I get? I'm about to order one, and was considering either 14" or 15". Should I change the height, depending on which bulbs I go with? Thanks.

Do what I do. 2x250wDE, one phoenix bulb, one 20K bulb. Plenty of blue, plenty of violet, plenty of par.

 

[MiddletonMark]

Ditto, I've run mixed MH over my 58 [one 10k + one 14k, one 10k and a Radium] ... and I really like the mixing.

That said, you probably could go with a 150/175 on one of them with no problem. Considering going from 2 x 250 + vho actinic to 1 250 + 1 175 ... but as that requires effort, I'm putting it off :lmao:

But with a pair of lights - you can run them together, or staggered - a number of ways to play with it.

No chiller here, either. Do run the A/C when it's getting into the 80's [esp with lots of humidity] - but fans, working on decreasing added heat can do a lot.