reflectors and MH

[drudude]

Im looking for the best reflector on the market.

Also i would like to keep SPS in my tank its 24" tall. Can i get away with 175W of MH. i was thinking about 250W orinally but the cost is high.

I read some where that VHO make you coral Glow, im totally new to this stuff and would love my coral to GLow!!!.

Help!!!!. I've heard people talk about T5 as well.

 

[Reef Sponger]

lumenarc & VHOs

 

[Justin James]

Luminarc all the way. I just ordered my new Luminarc lll Mini stealth DE Pendents.

Your tank is too tall for 175 watt. I'd go with the 250 for sure. If you get the right K bulb you wont have to combine any other bulbs with your MH so your saving $$$ there.

 

[cashman95]

You can use the 175 Iwasaki 15K setup, its got more par than most 250 bulbs when used with an electronic ballast, and a nice 15K look!

Try not to listen to what every one says about lighting, I have seen many different combo's over my years and many SPS tanks have thrived with less than MH. Generally speaking if you want GROW it than more par output bulbs/setup is the way to go,but if you are wanting to mainly maintain/enjoy it then lots of different setups will work. My best friend has 250 watt HQI's (pheonix 14K) and my 175 watt bulbs kill his on brightness/par. Its all personal prefference on what you want and how fast you want to frag it!

One thing to help you out is, the more blue the light output the more bluer corals will color up and the more white your light out put is, the more reds and yellow corals will color up...(generally speaking again) so bulbs with lower K ratings and actinic supplement works wonders for coloring up SPS. Most MH bulbs have a lower PAR when they are high K rated so you have to step up the wattage when running a 20k bulb as oposed to a 10k bulb with actinic supplement.

Hope this helps.

 

[drudude]

Thanks Cashman, i am not really looking to frag anything, becuase there is really no market here to sell or trade. i would be looking to maintain and look at. Growing is not a priority just maintaining would be what i am looking for. using 175w over 250w should save me about $50 a month. i would be using 3 as the tank is 72" long. i am more looking for color then extream coral growth. I would love to bring out the luminescncs in the coral. Would i use a black light for that?

 

[567a]

Add some actinic (either VHO, PC, or t5) for your luminescence.

 

[nick18tjetta]

I just fired up my Iwasaki 15k's on my 120. I ran them on my 125 with a tar ballast for about 2 months and I thought they were one of the best bulbs used in the hobby. I just turned them on with my new electric ballast (only thing that changed from the setup, still using spider reflectors) and I will say they are the best bulb in this hobby. I don't see why anyone would run another bulb unless they had a super deep tank and wanted 100% SPS. Then you could go with a 400, skip the 250's, par to watt, they are garbage.

 

[drudude]

ok so this is what im thinking. 3 175w Iwaskaki with lumenarc refectors. and 3 T5 actinic bulbs. Now what do i do as far as moon lighting?

 

[Justin James]

You don't "need" moon lights but if you want them you'll need to track down some blue led's. 1 watt.

 

[Justin James]

http://www.jlaquatics.com/phpstore/store_pages/details/lightparts.php?product_ID=pfo-pmcled

 

[Justin James]

The link I posted above are great since they can mount right on a mogul socket.