lights for 36" tall tank

[dahenley]

I have a 36" tall tankand I'm wondering what lights would be better?
400w MH or T5's?

Maybe a combination??

Also what reflectors would you recommend? It's 28" front to back?

Thanks!

 

[dahenley]

This is going to be a SPS/Clam only tank.

(I didn't want to post in the lighting forum because I wanted true suggestions and not a bunch of name droppers saying to buy the next hot thing...

 

[mike_cmu04]

400w metal halide with good reflectors the t5's just wont be enough to go that deep.

 

[dahenley]

I was leaning toward MH, but I knew a lot of people burn corals with T5's, so wasn't sure if it were a better choice.

Would t5's penetrate better then VHO's for additional par and supplemental lighting?

 

[franklypre]

I would use both t5s and 400w halides. Unless you want to go MH and LEDs.

 

[64Ivy]

My tank is 36" "deep" and with my set up (6 x 400w 14K MHs), I can actually grow Acropora directly on the bare bottom.


Negative: The heat.

Positive: I can cool off by standing in the breeze coming from the spinning dial of my electric meter.

I am considering adding some LED strips for accent light however.

 

[RyanAlan]

A strong LED fixture can get you good depth and save you a fortune in electric costs over time. If you are needing to get that deep it would make sense to seriously put some thought into it.

I would strongly consider that at this point. You likely might spend an extra $600.00-$800.00, but you would make that back in 3-4 months during the summer months with the overall electrical consumption.

A friend of mine just bought these for his SPS tank that's about 30" and he is getting 240 PAR at the bottom front - that is not even in the middle where he would likely get more.

WWW.ECORAYLED.COM


I don't know much about these personally, but he's had them for about 3 months and getting very positive results. I am likely going to purchase 3 of the 112Ds for my 180.

 

[dahenley]

I have a friend that has Ecoray led's. and they are powerfull.

Im still deciding on what im going to do, but i like all the suggestions.
I think i may do 2-400W MH's and then fill the voids with t-5's or some LED's.

on my current tank, i have 3 400's and they come on in series. with 4 VHO's and i like it. and the series doesnt bother me because the VHO's keep everything lit.

 

[dahenley]

any other peoples suggestions?

 

[Pallobi]

also agree with 400 watt halides... though i have not had any experience with either deep tanks or 400 watters, i have read alot, and researched and learned... the powerful halides are gonna give you the necessary penetration of par to the bottom depths...

GL!

 

[acpoweradapter]

I would say go with 400watt MH. I would want to give a try to LEDs if it was me (I love mine) but everything I have seen shows that they just don't have the best penetration.

 

[jkf1983]

Reefledlights.com

 

[sneeyatch]

I have a Marineland 150 Deep Dimension and it's 27" deep. I'm using a single 250 watt halide over mine, but it's a softie dominated system with a few SPS corals in there - Slimer, Confusa, Bonsai, birdsnests... the easier stuff to keep. They grow well, but they're all halfway up / to the top. I believe the PAR drops off pretty considerably at around the 20" - 24" mark, so in the case of your 36" depth, I would lean toward the 400 watt halides. I'm not an LED fan at all except for the use of the blues...

 

[jkf1983]

Here's my full build. I'm very happy with the way it turned out and looking forward to the energy and light bulb savings! I have 45 - 3 watt CREE XPE's on each 18" drilled and tapped heatsink which is the equivalent of a 400 watt halide. Also, I went with the solderless connectors and carclo optics, which just snap on to the connectors.

Reefledlights.com build

 

[dahenley]

nice build.
do you have yours on a dimmable ballast, or running at 100%?

what are your par readings? thanks
(do you have something to compare it to?)

 

[jkf1983]

Thanks! I have them on Inventronics dimmable ballasts and I'm currently dimming them with a potentiometer, but I have an apex on my wish list because of the built in dimming control. The link below has a lot of info on par comparisons... Dont have a par meter.
http://reefledlights.com/ledmytank/