help with large tank

[fwd4g63]

i have been a member for a while. i currently have a aga 210 tank with some angels but a few corals as well, a 29g biocube and a 150gallon aga fowlr tank. I just purchased a 600 gallon 96" x 48" by 30" tank and need some help or suggestions with a setup. What kind of lighting if it will house mainly live rock, mushrooms and a few soft corals? i was thinking 4 48" vho actinic tubes run front to back rather than side to side with 6 250w or 400w metal halides 20k on top of it. I really like the bluish color of the 20k mh lights. it is acrylic so i only have 3 openings to work with. any suggestions would be great. i would like newer electronic ballast if someone could recommend a brand and i dont know what is better mogul base or hqi. which one is better. then based on its depth would 250 be fine or do i need to go with the 400w. then on the tube lights, vho, t5, power compace, what is the best way to go. brands sizes and any other info would be greatly appreciated. one day i may decide to do more difficult corals so i dont want to be buying twice if you see where i am coming from.

thanks

 

[SeanT]

If you are just going to run soft corals for now stick with VHO's or T5's.
Don't waste your money on the hardware and electricity bills with halides.

Sean

 

[fwd4g63]

not really what i was after

not really what i was after

i understand that i dont NEED metal halide bulbs. i have vho now that i run during the day and mh bulbs that come on when i get home. the fish, rock, toadstools/devils hand, everything look a lot better under the mh lighting. I dont see it as a waste so i am just asking about what wattage would be necessary to get the best function and look as well as hqi vs mogul. i have used both but dont know if one is better than the other. I have never used t5 also only regular vho so i dont know if one is better than the other. i like the vho but i am assuming its technology has gone at this point and better newer stuff is out there.

thanks

 

[FishTruck]

The nice thing about halides is less bulbs and wiring to deal with versus an array of 20 or 30 T5 tubes. T5s do great for PAR and can produce any color spectrum that you want... but... no shimmer. Also, managing a whole lot of those little tubes was a pain for me when I ran only six on a sixty gallon tube. So... I have moved on to halides.

Regarding Halides...

If you want to "spot light" certain areas in your tank... consider lumenbright reflectors. If you want more even dispersal, look at Lumenarcs or Sfiligoi twin XRTs.

Here is one suggestion....

I use two of the Sfilogoi twin XRTs (two 400 watt se bulbs in each pendant) to cover an 84 x 30 x 30 inch tank. You could use three of those to cover your whole tank (six 400 watt MH bulbs). With dimmable ballasts you would be covered for whatever your light needs may be now or in the future. For my tastes, reeflux 12k bulbs look good without supplementation. When I dim them, they turn more blue, and when I turn them up, they are more white. If I overdrive them (115%) they get yellow looking. The pendants are silent (no fans) and look good if your tank is without a canopy.

Are you going to have a canopy or open top? If your top is open, I would really consider the Sfiligois. If not, it is probably not worth the money to have a pretty looking pendant, just to hide it in a canopy.

Can't wait to see your progress!

 

[fwd4g63]

very helpful

very helpful

thanks i will look into those. i think i may be going the mogul route versus hqi. i do not want to spotlight i want fairly equal light throughout the whole tank. so do you not have any other lighting than mh right now on your setup?

 

[FishTruck]

Re: very helpful

Re: very helpful

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12912071#post12912071 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by fwd4g63
thanks i will look into those. i think i may be going the mogul route versus hqi. i do not want to spotlight i want fairly equal light throughout the whole tank. so do you not have any other lighting than mh right now on your setup?

Nothing but four, 400 watt MH bulbs. I really like the simplicity.

I run just two for 12 hours at about 80% output on the dimmable ballasts. The other two kick in at 100% for three hours. I planned to mix 20k and 10k bulbs, but, right now I am running four 12k bulbs. When dimmed, they are more blue in color.