Lighting questions????

[heatdissipation]

This tank has been in the planning and researching mode for almost two yrs, I wanted to wait until we sold our house and bought another before I set up my reef tank. Well we bought our new house in March, and are all settled in, got my tank in position, I have RO/DI water ran directly to my sump, have a good protein skimmer, plenty of power heads, built a canopy, installed cooling fans, plans to make my own sump and refugium.

The only thing I havent figured out is my lighting system, I have been reading this forum and posted a couple for the past two yrs researching on anything I could find. Bought a few books, read them all twice, but there is so much conflicting advice on lighting systems.

Should I use MH, or just VHO, could you guys help me out on one of the last few things I have to do before I order my rock. Which at the pace I am going wont be until 2007... But patience is the best thing to have in this hobby right???

By the way this is a 150 gallon tank, 72" long

 

[Gerad]

what do you plan on keeping? if all you whant are some shrumms and zoos then vho or pc is fine if you whant to get in to sps and clams and annenamies then you will want MH.

 

[heatdissipation]

I would prefer to use MH, but read a couple of threads about MH being to much for TBS, as most of the rock is collected in 30 ft. of water. So if I was to use MH, what would be the best setup for best results, 2 or 3 250 watt mh, with 4 actinic vho bulbs. Please forgive me if I sound completely ignorant!!

 

[rededteck]

Some of the life forms like the MH some do not. I have been running 250 watt 14k and the rock is doing very well. I havent noticed any die off as of yet.

 

[bobt2]

1 question, 100 opinions! i have 2 tbs tanks under pc and 1 under t-5. all the tbs life is still around in all tanks. some things due better under low light and some due better under high. but you have to look ahead as to what you want later. that will dictate the type of lighting. for me it's the t-5s. 6x54 on my 75 mixed and i can keep anything i want

 

[rededteck]

Excellent point regarding the lighting. The only part I do not know is which corals like low, mid or high light. I purposely placed the rock at different level intervals to try and determine what light is best for what life form.

I did see a crab that I did not recognize from any of the pictures on his website. I will try to take a picture of him, he is smooth shelled, shaped like a diamond (like an arrow crab but shorter)and he is a rose color.

 

[heatdissipation]

I guess in the long run I would like to try some different types, most would need MH.

So I go with the metal halide, still trying to figure out the best configuration of lights though. How many 250 watt MH?? 3??

What other types should I combine with the MH??

 

[rededteck]

I use two 250 MH although three would have been better. I supplement with t-5 lighting actinic , it is a Hamilton fixture which I have been very happy with.

 

[Fin McCoul]

I am not sure if you can get T5s in a 72". You may need to supplement with 2 VHO 72". With 3 250W MH you would be running about 7W per gallon. You can use 4 VHO if you want and that will add about 2W per gallon. All depends on what you want to keep in the future.

 

[Jocko]

If you want shimmer lines then you have no choice but MH. Rule of thumb is one bulb covers 2 square feet. So ideally you would get 3 x 250w.

If you don't need shimmer lines, then T-5 is recommended. You get just as much light as 250w MH's, but it is cooler and uses less electricity. And yes they do make 6 ft. T-5s. The reason you do not get shimmer lines is because the bulbs put out diffuse light whereas filament-based bulbs put out highly directional sharp light from a small point. So it really comes down to the look that you want.

The TBS rock will adapt to either one. After all is said and done, your tank will still enjoy much greater biodiversity than it would have from typical "cleaned" live rock.

 

[heatdissipation]

Thank you Jocko, I have decided on going with 3 250 MH bulbs, but as I am still in the research phase, (have been for 2 yrs) I just need to figure out exactly what kelvin rating to go with, and the proper actinic bulbs to put with the MH.

My tank is just sitting there empty calling my name to be filled!!!!

 

[mflamb]

Yo heat...
Take your time. I'm in the beginning process of a 300g. This time next year it should have a few fish and coral. I will be using 3 250mh/pc combo pendants with 14k and actinic, and plan on buying some TBS rock. I will "quarantine" it for a few weeks to search for hitch hikers.

 

[heatdissipation]

I am trying my best to take my time, have had this tank for over 2 yrs, used it for a cichlid tank until we moved, My goal is to have it up and running by april or so of next year. So I have 9 months or so to get it all figured out.

Your light setup sounds exactly what I want to do to mine, but my tank is only 150. think it will still be allright??

 

[mflamb]

Seems like a lot of light on a 150, but I'm not a lighting expert. I will not have lots of sps/lps, so it's enough light for mine.