help, tricky lighting - 3 ft bowfront

[mattgreene22]

Hey, I could use some help. I picked up an Oceanic 46g bowfront and I'm still a bit stuck on how I'm going to light it. Funny, as that was part of the reason I was looking at alternatives to setting up my 30g cube again. As is always the case, budget comes into play with this set-up and I'm trying to be economical. Details...

Tank dimensions:
36"L x 16.25"W x 20"H ....but it's more like 12'' on the sides, the 16'' is in the middle. The set-up came with the oceanic canopy which is exactly 36" on the inside. And note, there IS a center brace on the tank trim.

Intended coral:
Mixed, ultimately I want LPS placed low and SPS placed mid/high. Note, I'm starting from zero again...so my kid will be happy to see a fish swim for a good few months.

Lighting Options:
So I'm working through these, and I'd appreciate it if you have better ideas...

1 - Use an 'old' 20" PC powerquad (96w 50/50) I have on hand for a while on one side of the tank...and pick up a mismatched MH pendant (150w maybe) for the other side. The PC bulb is basically new. This can't look good though.
2 - Move to all T5HO, I should be able to run four 3' bulbs
3 - Move to VHOs for now, then reconfigure with MH DIY and use the VHO as actinics when I start to get SPS.
4 - Pick up a dual MH rig (maybe 175 or 250), and see if I still have room for actinic supplementation or at least moon lights
5 - Use the 'old' PC powerquad again for a while, but pick up an AI Nano for the opposite side of the tank. Later, I'd want to replace the powerquad with another Nano and then get a controller to link the two together. It might take me until the end of year to replace the powerquad.
6 - I guess I could get a SOL white or similar, but the center brace is an issue there in lighting the whole tank. And, this is biggest up front cost.

When I look at these over three years of power use, bulb replacement, etc...the use of all T5HO (#2) and the phased approach to two AI Nanos (#5) look pretty close on costs. I like that I can play with color temps on the Nano, but will I be losing out on yellow/red colors...not sure how I feel about this as I've not seen these in person. And, would 4 T5HO really let me keep the coral I'd like to have some day.

Ok, throw a dog a bone...help me out...bring your knowledge, opinions, ideas...it's appreciated.

 

[swanny]

I had 2x250w mh's over my very first reef which was a 46g bowfront. I've never grown corals faster than I did with that setup. 14k Phoenix bulbs by the way.

 

[mattgreene22]

Swanny, sounds like success in that direction. Were you using se or de? And did you have additional actinic etc? Don't have any pics of that tank do you...would love to see it

 

[jhoff]

I have ATI 36" 6x39w sunpower on my 46gal bow and i can keep sps on the sand bed there are no dark spots in the tank.The light spread is perfect for this size tank.With a 6 bulb unit you can play around with your bulb choice to get the color you want.

 

[mattgreene22]

Jhoff, how did you fit 6 bulbs over the tank? Do you have a pic? I didn't think it would be possible to fit 6 in my canopy because I start losing the full tank length at just over 12" as I come from the back of the tank to where the bow pane begins.

any other thoughts, ideas, or experiences that could be shared? Thanks all

 

[mattgreene22]

ttt

 

[swanny]

Swanny, sounds like success in that direction. Were you using se or de? And did you have additional actinic etc? Don't have any pics of that tank do you...would love to see it

De, I believe the unit was a current outer orbit. No actinics just led's for night lights. Personally I would highy recommend looking into led's for a 46 gallon. I use ai sol's over my 120g and am seeing real nice results, all hard sps are starting to grow nicely and color up real well. All yo uwould need are 2 ai's and a controller, you would have no heat issues in your canopy and it would not cost a lot to run. No bulb replacement either. If you didn't like the look of all led you could add a couple t5's supplementation.

 

[gldnegle76]

I currently have 2 AI SOL Blues over my 46 bowfront. Kinda overkill but with that center brace, I went with two. I have them mounted with the stock rails and legs which put them about 3" above water line. I do have glass below them which covers 12" from the back. The "bow" portion is uncovered but the sols do not project over this area. The sols are mounted in a way to be about 15 degrees from parallel to the 36" width of the tank. This ends up having the mounting rails about 3" apart. My Oceanic pvc canopy fits over this really well. Still using the stock optics, but with 2, I have good spread. I have positioned 2 live rock islands below the middle of each sol, so I can eventually place sps underneath the 40 degree optics. Right now, all I have are softies, but that's fixing to change. Currently running w20 b35 rb35 @ max.
I do think 2 nano's would work well though. Not sure how high they would have to be mounted.

 

[mattgreene22]

gldnegle - Yeah, I wish I could just buy one sol white and cut it in two to work around my brace. Buying two plus a controller just doesn't work with my current budget. I need to spread out the cost a little. Have a pic of your set up?

How do you guys feel about the colors you can see in your tank with AI leds....do yellows and reds come through?

Any vho, mh, or t5 users care to chime in?

 

[staninct]

I've been running 36" tanks for years. I've used 2x150w HQI MH at first and have been using T5's ever since. You can get a decent T5 light for not too much $$$ and have the flexibility to play with the color spectrums. I'm running a 5 bulb Aquactinics fixture right now on my 58 and am happy with the results. My tank is 36Lx18Wx24H FYI.

 

[consumed corals]

When I had my 46bow setup I used 2 175 watt metal halides running xm 14k bulbs and had really good growth in that system, then I had to upgread to a larger tank.

 

[xxstephensxx]

The kessil LED light would work great I think.

 

[gldnegle76]

gldnegle - Yeah, I wish I could just buy one sol white and cut it in two to work around my brace. Buying two plus a controller just doesn't work with my current budget. I need to spread out the cost a little. Have a pic of your set up?

How do you guys feel about the colors you can see in your tank with AI leds....do yellows and reds come through?

Any vho, mh, or t5 users care to chime in?

I had a 4 bulb t5 fixture before the sols, and really liked the color I could get better than the ai's. A 6 bulb would be better for color combos, but don't think it would fit inside your canopy. I'm keeping my eye on upgrades to the sol that can add better spectrum.
I don't see any yellow or reds with my ai's.

 

[mattgreene22]

gldnegle - what kind of coral were you keeping with the 4 t5ho bulbs? How did you feel that was working out for growth etc?

xxstephensxx - I thought about that a bit...I did like the shimmer, just not sure about the color. Seems like they'd be great for actinic supplementation if they weren't $200+ a piece...since I'd feel two are needed for coverage.

consumed corals - got a pic of that set up? and what corals were you keeping at that time?

staninct - what corals are you keeping? you're 24" deep, so that really says something if you've got growth with sps on 5 T5HOs.

Great stuff, thanks for the input guys. Others out there care to weigh in? I'm leaning towards 4 t5HO if people think I can keep the coral I'd want under that light.

 

[gldnegle76]

gldnegle - what kind of coral were you keeping with the 4 t5ho bulbs? How did you feel that was working out for growth etc?

Softies and a few lps. Growth was great. Don't know how sps would have fared, but mounted high, I think they would have done fine. I left the top of the canopy off because of the fixture's fans. T5's do produce some heat.
The AI fans don't even come on at my present intensity. The tank has stayed several degrees cooler since I switched to the sols.

 

[mattgreene22]

So i bought a used retro-fit rig with:
-four 36" sunlight supply t5HO (2 ballasts running 2 bulbs each with SLR reflectors)
-two 36" VHOs on an ARO ballast.

I knew going in that the VHO would be too tight a squeeze for my canopy (36" long, but flexible abs plastic) given the end-caps etc. The seller told me these were 37" in total.

However, I didn't take into account the T5's being longer than 36" when you factor in the end-mounted powercord. Any advice on moving the cord's exit point on the ballast enclosure so that it faces up? Hard job?

My plan *was* to use the four T5ho (for growth spectrums) and then put 24'' bulbs in the vho for actinic supplementation. This will be still be tight, but I think I can squeeze it all in there. Still, I'm now wondering if I should just scrap the plastic canopy and build my own so that I can ensure everything will fit. I was trying to keep from doing a diy canopy on a bowfront...seems like pain. Maybe I should have gone MH or led....hmmm...

 

[staninct]

Matt, PM me if you're interested in a high line T5 fixture for cheap. I have a connection locally I can set you up with.