Lighting 24-30" deep

[Lightsluvr]

MH and heat

MH and heat

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10598878#post10598878 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by happysak
I run MH over my tank without a chiller and I know a lot of people who runs MH without a chiller, so to say if you have MH lighting, you will need a chiller is a little bit overstated

I was a little concerned about the heat issue in my new tank. However, I find that I have no problem with the 2 - 250W MH over my 95G Oceanic Wave tank. I run the AC in our house at 77 degrees. When I had the glass cover on the tank, the water stayed at 82-83 degrees with a single flourescent tube above the tank. I removed the glass cover when I installed our Aqualight Pro 250, added a small fan above the sump, and the tank stays between 76 and 79 with the MH currently burning four hours a day.
Just my experience...

LL

 

[pwhitby]

you only run lights for 4 hrs?

That seems quite low.

I run for 12 hrs.

 

[captbunzo]

Adding my extra 2 cents in here.....

As anyone who reads through this, much of the decision between T5s vs MH is a matter of preference. Shimmer, no shimmer, etc, etc, etc. What should be understood is that a T5 setup can produce just as much intensity as a MH setup.

Also, I always have to add this...... One thing that should be asked is simply: What do you want to do with the tank? You could use PCs on a 30 inch tank if you kept softies only. And you could use VHO if you kept more light demanding species higher up and less demanding lower down. If you want to be able to keep your most light demanding species CLEAR on the bottom... THEN you need to make sure that you have enough intensity to light all the way down at strength.

But, again, refer to 2 cent tip #1 - T5s are more than capable of pulling it off. I think they are a good choice as well as I believe you can get similar PAR with fewer T5 watts then MH. That's great as it saves energy, $$$, etc.