Lighting a Marineland 200g Deep Dimension

[dastratt]

Hi -- Looking for some advice on a match for a 36" deep (front to back) 27" tall (bottom to top) 48" wide tank. Want to keep SPS corals, do want to find a spot for some rics and zoos I'm bringing over from a softie tank. I've never seen this tank or any of the fixtures I'm talking about in person so I have to caveat that.

1) Canopy with retrofit MH+T5. Main problem here is concerns about removing canopy to clean. These tanks are hard to clean. I'm setting up the tank with room to get behind and want to keep the back and sides clean for 3D look.
I like the open top look better too and am ready to pay more, I am not going to skimp this time having saved for years now.

2) Geismann Infinity -- love the look of this fixture, my favorite in terms of looking at the photos. Main concern is the front to back coverage. One thing I don't like about my current 54g is when fish come to the front they are in shadow.

3) AquaPhoton Plus -- had my eye on this one. See this is in reverse order of preference I guess. But mainly Aquaphoton plus would be my preference only assuming it would light this 36" deep tank better than the Giessman. Smaller reflector? Not sure I like it as well to look at *in photos*. But would the 6 T5s give me better coverage for this tank width vs the Giesman? That is actually my main question. The Giesmann is less money and fewer bulbs and I like the black color and cool shape. Somehow the photos I've seen of the Aquaphoton Plus make me wonder if I'll like the look. But the light quality in the tank is my primary concern, fixture appearance second.

Second question is how the lighting would look if I went for the 3 ft 2x250MH AquaPhoton Plus vs 4 ft. Reasons why I am considering 3 ft is, I am going to leave open space in the aqua scape around the sides (or so I say :sad2: no I really want to do a more open, vertical scape this time and am planning for it), less light on the glass; somehow, to me looking at photos of this fixture over people's tanks, it just looks so oversized, maybe its just the few photos I've seen but was thinking a 3 ft would look better; and slightly less power consumption. But an important question is, are the 2 250 MH moveable and surely they're not in the middle because I have a center brace to deal with.
What do you think about this 3 ft fixture idea? Also would the light quality suffer with 3 ft.

Also do you stock these fixtures, what is the lead time?
Thanks for any insights.

 

[Jeremy B.]

Hi Alex,

There are most certainly a lot of options, as you're finding out! I think that if I were doing this you first need to figure out if you want the tank to be open top or not. By going open top you obviously limit yourself just a little bit by needing a full fixture. If you go with the canopy, you have the ability to use some of the best reflectors available, as well as going with VHO supplementation over T5's, which in my opinion blow T5's out of the water when it comes to supplemental actinic / blue.

Assuming you are going open top, which it sounds like that is what you prefer, the two fixtures you are considering really are going to be the two that I would recommend. By going with the Infinity you will have slightly better spread with the halide reflectors, since the AquaPhoton's are pretty small. The T5's in the Infinity don't do a whole heck of a lot though. They are both setting in the same reflector, and you really don't get much punch from them. The reflectors for the T5's in the AquaPhoton are not world beaters by any means, however they do quite a bit better than what the Giesemann's do. The spread of the Aquaphoton would be just fine for a 36" front to back tank in my opinion, assuming you are aquascaping more in the middle, and leaving the front and back open. The same can be said for the Giesemann as well.

Please let me know if you have questions and I'd be more than happy to share my thoughts / input with the direction you are going.

Thanks,
Jeremy

 

[dastratt]

Thanks Jeremy

Is the front-to-back spread on the AquaPhoton Plus a little better than the Gieseman owing to the extra/better T5s? Or not appreciable difference?

Can I adjust the position of the MHs laterally in the AquaPhoton like Gieseman?

Any tricks for how people effectively work inside a tank with a heavy canopy over it?

 

[Jeremy B.]

Hi Alex,

The metal halide light spread of the GIesemann is better than that of the Aquaphoton. However, the T5 spread on the Aquaphoton is much better than the Giesemann, so it all just depends on what you're after. The halides are not adjustable in the Aquaphoton.

As far as the canopy goes, I would recommend having something custom built that in which the front half hinges up and lays over the back half. Or if the front doors are large and open up fairly well that might work.

I've been in the hobby for quite a while, and sps has mostly been my passion that entire time. Of course this leads to pretty big, intense lighting combinations. I have had multiple systems, with many different lighting combinations. This has included retros in a canopy, different hoods hanging over open systems, etc. I think I have personally come full circle and am back to liking the canopy the best. The reasons are as follows for me....

1. No light spillage. (this is huge for me, as I hate having the light spilling into the room without a canopy or skirt)

2. Ability to use VHO actinics. T5's are popular, and a ton of people use them, however when it comes to supplemental actinics there is no comparison to VHO.

3. Choice of halide reflectors that is most suitable to the are you are trying to light for each lamp. With the full hoods you are stuck with that particular reflector.

At any rate, these are just my opinions of course, and every person's goals with their systems will be different.

 

[dastratt]

Jeremy,
Thanks again. You are making good points and I'm rethinking some things putting together my order.

For this tank I will need a wide spread for the MH, if I use the stock Monterrey canopy does that limit my options on reflectors - with that canopy any recommendation? If the canopy had unlimited room what would the recommendation be?

 

[dastratt]

Lumenmax elite mogul ?
http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merc...oduct_Code=SL-904340&Category_Code=Sunpendant

I'm also confused about Mogul vs DE. Potayto Potahto?

 

[chadfarmer]

i just ordered a 200 same tank and have ordered the the lumenmax eltes and for there size they pack a punch


it will be a few weeks until i get my tank so i cant tell you how they do on it

 

[dastratt]

Thanks Chad.

Now I'm even reconsidering T5, 10x54W ATI power module. Jeremy any thoughts about the relative front-to-back spread of this ATI fixture vs. the Infinity?

I would mount it low above the tank to minimize spillage and it would lift totally out of the way for cleaning. Yeah, but its not MH ... :/

 

[Creetin]

I used 3 elites on my 300 deep dimension. Great light packs a hell of a punch. I run 3 and 3 60 inch t-5's on an icecap ballast for extra color.
Chad did you get the stock cannopy? I had one made so i could get extra height. The few extra inches makes a big difference on spread.

Das,, You can go with all t-5's but i would run atleast 10 bulbs, I myself would run probably 12.
I got the DE elites, as i like them a tad bid more and the glass shield is a plus. Easier to clean than the reflector.

 

[Jeremy B.]

The 10 lamp Powermodule would be most preferable, and it would cover pretty well. Having said that, 12 lamps would be even better coverage wise. If you're not aquascaping from the front glass to back glass, and sticking more int he middle, you would be just fine with 10 though.

I still think a couple Lumenmax Elite's would be the way to go however. That would be my first choice, coupled with some vho super actinic supplementation along the sides of this.

 

[chadfarmer]

I used 3 elites on my 300 deep dimension. Great light packs a hell of a punch. I run 3 and 3 60 inch t-5's on an icecap ballast for extra color.
Chad did you get the stock cannopy? I had one made so i could get extra height. The few extra inches makes a big difference on spread.

Das,, You can go with all t-5's but i would run atleast 10 bulbs, I myself would run probably 12.
I got the DE elites, as i like them a tad bid more and the glass shield is a plus. Easier to clean than the reflector.

i didnty get the canopy I am making my own stand and a canopy


i got the SE elites with glass sheild

 

[Jeremy B.]

Again, my biggest point with the canopy is the fact you can do VHO super actinics, and not have to use T5 actinic supplementation. There really is no comparison when you see these side by side, the VHO blows the T5 actinic away, both in color and intensity to the naked eye in the tank.

 

[dastratt]

Ever seen anybody winch a canopy from the ceiling?

 

[Jeremy B.]

I have indeed seen them before, however I don't have any plans or anything that shows it. You might post a message in the equipment forum, general forum, and large tank forum to see if you can find anyone who has been down this road before.

I also saw your post on skimmers in another forum on RC. I think you were looking at recircs and feeding off of your overflow. In my opinion, I would try to go internal, however if you do go recirc then I would feed off of your return pump, or another pump in the system. Feeding off of an overflow can be a pain at times, with varying waterflow, etc. It makes it really difficult at times to dial in the skimmer. HTH

 

[ironman2]

just another opinion if you are still looking for lighting advice. I am also dealing with lighting a deep dimention tank. I have now purchased several reflectors to try and have narrowed it down to Lumenarcs. I started with standard parabolics. They gave me good coverage, but zero par for SPS. I then moved to Lumenmax elites, These gave amazingly high par. So much it was bleaching my corals. but with these I noticed the light was being directed straight down due to the hammering in the reflector. So it was like a spotlight. It caused some shadows and didnt cover well after the initial 24" or so. So I just bought lumenarcs. I bought the large lumenarcs so i would get a larger spread of light. these seem to spread the light much more evenly over a larger span. you dont get as much par directly under it as you do from a lumenmax, but you get a good even par that is more than enough to grow SPS on the sandbed. All in all I like both the lumenmax elites and the lumenarcs. if someone didnt have a par meter and didnt have the two right next to eachother on a tank you probly couldnt tell a difference. I for one would want a lumenarc over an elite just for the extra coverage.
Also I like running 250watt radiums on these reflectors, amazing color and good growth.
Good luck

 

[Creetin]

The elites are great, But just need the height to keep from spotlighting and bleaching the corals. The luminarcs are probably better in regards of less intensity. ( I have owned them and ran with 400w) Never a problem with bleaching corals.
They are 11 inches thick though and would take up most room in a cannopy.
I am debating going over to all t-5 on icecaps or a mix of them and the leds that PA sells.
I would love a 420 led bulb.