Light recommendation for a 180 gallon aquarium

[KafudaFish]

I use T5 4 x 54 watt retro kit from ReefGeek. You can look and email questions about set up. They have really good customer service. One thing about T5's is that they can be overdriven if you want based up ballast. Since I have a shallow tank and have zoas I don't do this but have Ice Cap individual reflectors. They are cooler than MH so you won't need a chiller, just fans.
There are 3 sizes that would work on your tank: 36", 48", or 60". Based upon what you are keeping would determine your T5 set up. Check out the T5 threads in the equipment forum.
Good luck.

 

[oceanicblue]

It looks like it's going to be the T5's either the Aquactinics or the Tek-lights.

I broke down and purchased the AGA 180. Now the fun begins.

 

[ct_vol]

Its a great size... Good luck!!!!!!

 

[AndynSarah]

We are running T5's with power compact actinics. I will try to get some more rescent pics up soon. I love the growth that were are getting. We are running 2 24watt T5's 12k, and the PC are 55 watts each. I would go with T5's b/c of power bill savings. I haven't ran MH before so I can't compare but for a 3rd floor 1 bedroom apartment we are only using about 60 bucks worth of electricity a month.

 

[ct_vol]

I wish my electricity bill was that low...

 

[RCS]

Not to throw a wrench into the thought process, but keep in mind on a tank that size if you ever decide you do want to step up to some higher-light corals that you'll need to upgrade. With a 24" depth, FL lights may have a bit of a hard time penetrating that deep.

There's no need to go huge with halides either. I was running a 3x150w HQI setup and it was good for a lot of softies and LPS in my 155g bow. SPS growth was much better with 3x250w HQI though.

Either way you end up going, good luck!

 

[Fishboy42]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8616683#post8616683 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ct_vol
I wish my electricity bill was that low...

Yeah, me too!

Andy, I'd love to see some pics when you can get them.

 

[imsqueak]

Looking forward to a T5 thread and user experiences. Before/after pics, growth, heat, +/-, etc.

 

[oceanicblue]

Went to the LFS to pickup some supplies. While I was there we started talking about lights. I told them that I was going to purchase some T5 lights. They said it would be a big mistake. They told me the T5's would not work on a tank that is 24" in depth. What gives? From everything I have read it should. They recommended the PC's at the minimum. This is a place I have know for a long time. Are they steering me in the wrong direction? I like having opinions from people. But I think they are wrong on this one. I currently have PC's on my 110 and don't care for them.

 

[ct_vol]

I can't stand PC's... They might be nice for a FOWLR tank, but thats about it... Everyone's opinions are different though... T5's won't do for a 24" tank with SPS or Clams, but IMO would be fine for softies and some LPS... A lot depends on the setup and look you're wanting though... Thats why everyone is going to have different recommendations...

 

[philagothos]

I ran T5s on a tank for about a year, but recently took that tank down to upgrade, so I don't have and can't take pics. The studies done by GrimReefer show that a proper T5 setup (normally driven, individual reflectors, and proper bulb selection) can easily keep up with most 250w halides. They will absolutely work on a 24" tank without needing to overdrive them. If you got your advice from the Aquarium in Knoxville, they were absolutely clueless about T5s when I talked to them (of course so are my new LFSs up north). The lighting forum on here has a wealth of information on them though. Also, ReefGeek has great prices on them and only sells the good stuff.

As far as user experiences, I am extremely satisfied with them and will only use T5s. I was using 4 24w bulbs over a 29. I had a shroom on the bottom of the tank that ran for cover every time I took it out of the shade. I used two computer fans running the length of the bulbs to keep them cool and my tank never raised more than a degree. I was even able to get a tiny bit of shimmer from them (NOTHING compared to halides, but I was very impressed to see any kind of shimmer from a flourescent). Growth was very good on my zoos (about the only thing I had in there, besides the scaredy cat shroom). The only drawback, I know of, is the lack of great actinic. I've never used the famed VHO actinics, but from what I hear they are supposed to be superior to every other actinic out there. Not being familiar with them, I was more than pleased with my T5 actinics.

There's my opinions on them, but your mileage may vary. Personally I think 4 T5s would be plenty. You could get the 5 footers and stagger them. That would create some lower light areas on the end of the tank where you can acclimate lower light corals to your T5s. It would only be a 6" region on each end anyways.

For what it's worth, I think most of us overrate the lighting requirements of softies & LPS. When I moved to IL I met a guy down the street from me with a 36" deep tank using PC and he had one of the best softy/LPS tanks I've seen, including a MONSTER open brain on the sand that had grown ~8 inches in diameter in a year to year and a half or so.

Just my $.02, hope it helps.
-Kevin

PS: Try telling this guy you can't keep SPS & clams with T5s. Also, here is a great example of a softie/zoa tank with PCs & NO.

 

[ct_vol]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8649686#post8649686 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by philagothos

For what it's worth, I think most of us overrate the lighting requirements of softies & LPS. When I moved to IL I met a guy down the street from me with a 36" deep tank using PC and he had one of the best softy/LPS tanks I've seen, including a MONSTER open brain on the sand that had grown ~8 inches in diameter in a year to year and a half or so.

Just my $.02, hope it helps.
-Kevin

PS: Try telling this guy you can't keep SPS & clams with T5s. Also, here is a great example of a softie/zoa tank with PCs & NO.

I agree that Lighting can be overrated, especially with softies and LPS as you've stated... But I can't emphasize its importance to a newby... Intense lighting is not a substitute for proper feeding, but it does give you some leeway... The two examples that were given are far from typical, although particularly stunning... Someone setting up their first tank will not have the same filtration, skimming and feeding schedules as do those tanks... And I'm sure that they were not set up last week or even 6 months before those pictures were taken, and thus have established copepod and other reef life within the system... If someone with inadequate skimming and filtration were to feed as much as those two do, their system would soon crash... Though it is proof positive that lighting is sometimes dwelt too much upon, I'm not sure those two should be looked upon as the norm... Intense lighting lets you get away with feeding less and thus not pollute your system... Just want to make sure that everyone knows that, in particular newbies reading this thread...

 

[RCS]

There's nothing wrong with T5s...but a watt is a watt is a watt...the first example is running 8x54w T5s (or 432 watts) over a 110g tank (just as much wattage as running three 150s, or a pair of 250s almost...).

The second example has 345w of lighting on there as well.

We're not exactly comparing a couple of 40w tubes to a couple of 400w halides...FL need just as much wattage to make things happen as halides do for the most part, and that goes for T-12s, T-8s, T-5s or PCs...

 

[Sir Knight]

a watt is a watt to some extent but not really a good way to judge reef lighting. For example which produces more usable light a 250 watt mogul base or a 250 watt double end bulb. The Double ended which is still a 250 watt bulb would produce more par. How you can also talk about different temp bulbs for example 6.5k bulb produces more Par then a 20k bulb so even comparing two 250 watt bulbs isn't the real picture. Will MH lighting work "yes", will T5's work "yes", but I would highly recommend that each bulb have it's own reflector in either scenario. I ran 4 - 24" - HO t5's over a 29 gallon tank with some of the higher light demanding softies (yes they do exist) and they grow very nicely and had great color. I am currently running 5 - HO T5's over a 40 gallon breeder all but two corals are SPS the color is better than when I got them. So 5 x 39 watt's only equals 195 watts. Which tells me that T5's will work. I could have gone with 150's, 175's, 250's, etc MH and based on the length I would need two bulbs to cover the length of the tank. Would I use T5 on a 30" high tank "NO" I would go with MH HQI lighting. Now lets talk heat. My t5 unit when on for 10 hours does raise the tank temp 1 degree. I am using a light hood that has a fan built into it and a acrylic shield. I started with the hood raised about 3" above the tank, now I have the hood setting dirctly on the tank. I don't think I would be able to do that with MH at least from my experience the MH would raise the water temp a lot more than 1 degree over a 10 hour period running one 3" fan across the tank. Now the big question would I use T5's on a 125 at this is point in time 'YES' but now we are talking 12 - 3' 6 in each hood. For a tank 30" tall most likely not I would use 3 or 4 250 watt HQI and as most of you who know me it would be 20K bulbs. The only real disadvantage to T5's is I can not get the MH shimmer but I guess I will get over that at some point. So long story short T5's will work, MH will work.

I have some pictures in my gallery with the 40 gallon with t5's if you would like to see them.

 

[oceanicblue]

I think I will still go with the T5's. The particular brand T5's I what to go with do have the seperate reflectors.

Thanks for the input.

 

[RCS]

a watt is a watt to some extent but not really a good way to judge reef lighting

Very true...my statement was more in the context of power comsumption, where the only true difference is the effeciency of the ballast.

I run 2x250w HQI over my 65g tank and love them.