selecting MH lighting

[jlfnjlf]

Hello,

I am setting up a 100g mixed reef tank, and I am having a hard time selecting the MH lighting components. I have read several of Sanjay Joshi's lighting articles, but I am still confused.

This is what I do know the tank is 5 feet long, and the water depth will be 20 inches or so. I want 2 MH pendents. I am still at a loss for wattage, do I want 250W or 150W. I have started narrowing down my choices for reflectors. First in line is the Sunlight Supply Lumen Max 3 HQI Pendant or 150W Reef Optix 3 Plus HQI pendant (I like this one for its compact size). Second is the PFO Mini Pendant (I like this one for its compact size). Third is the Lumenarc A3 Mini. I am thinking an electronic ballast is best but beyond that I am still searching.

I also want 4 T5 bulbs with individual parabolic reflectors running 2x54w Actinic 460nm and 2x54w Actinic 420nm. Therefore I need to make sure I leave enough room for the T5 lighting.

TIA,

John

 

[Justin74]

At that depth and with those components your gonna have a serious stoney growin tank! Seeing the difference between 150 DE's and 175 SE I like the SE's more, not that there any brighter (they would have to be side by side to tell that) but the coverage is generally better
but the lumenarc may fix that dont personally know and havent seen. But your tank isnt that deep and with T5's I think 175w could possibly be the sweet spot your looking for, at least a viable option to add to your query

-Justin

 

[maynor]

Hello John,

In case you don't know, The T5 Expert has written above (Justin) and he also knows about every thing else in reefing.

Hi Justin, I hope all is well with you sir and Happy Holidays to you!

John,
I fully agree that 175W set ups would be great for your tank. When I was doing research for a 100G tank, that is what I ended up with. However, for what I understand, there are some corals out there that are complete light hugs and for them, 250w set ups would be best. I don't remember which ones they are because I have never owned them or seen them. But for every thing else under the sun, 175 watters would be perfect.


In terms of the reflectors, Lumenarc3s are simply the best!
I have owned all the rest and Lumenarc3s beat all the rest hans down.

In terms of ballasts, I like electronic ones, preferably IceCap or EVC. They provide your bulbs with a constant and stable amount of energy and by doing that, your bulbs will last longer and your electricity will be used more efficiently. Regular magnetic ballast don't provide a constant and stable amount of electricity to the bulbs as electronic ballasts do. HQI ballasts normally over drive bulbs and by doing this, the bulbs look brighter, provide more PAR, but the bulbs will be burned much faster. Also, for what I know up to this point, electonic ballasts will run any bulb for you, so ballast/bulb compatibility issues are not there. If your budget allows, I would go electronic in a heartbeat!

Here are some extremely useful links that I hope may help you in making your decision.


Regarding reflectors:
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/mar2003/feature.htm

Regarding ballasts and bulbs combinations/comparisons/light output:
http://www.reeflightinginfo.arvixe.com/

In terms of a particular bulb durability or looks, I would encourage you to ask other fellow reefers who have actually owned the bulbs you would like. Along this line, I am going to post a thread of my own because I need information about Hamilton 14K single ended bulbs in comparison to XM 20K single ended bulbs.

Yes I only use single ended bulbs because after all is said and done, due to the UV shielding you NEED to do with double ended, single ended give me more light for my money.

You are sorrounded by very knowledgeable and great people in your area and also here in the bay area. So if any thing of what I say is useful to you, it is thanks to them. Just to give you an example, when I was trying to make my lighting decision, I not only read all that justin would write on the different threads, but many times I picked on Justin's brain in the various threads more than he can or like to remember.

Happy Hoidays to you!

Maynor

 

[Justin74]

Wow Maynor, trying to make me blush?
Thanks for the compliments, but I would say 60% is regurgitated info Ive collected from experts here and abroad and 40 is my own personal experiences/conclusions, so Im not that cool heheh

Happy Holidays to you and yours as well!!

-Justin

 

[dots]

Since you want a mixed reef and its so shallow.....I would suggest the above two bulbs as well.......I think you would be happier with the SE spread over the DE for you application.

As John at Yourreef was reminding me of today.....VHO's historically produce better blues for Actinics........so........I would say the 175w SE (10-15K bulbs) with the Luminarcs and some VHOs for actnic supplemenatation.......or just three 175w SE with 20K bulbs......

But when you say mixed? Leaning more towards SPS or more towards LPS and softy....because then you can go with just two over your 5ft tank and have dimmer edges......LPS and softy leaning.

 

[xia]

It would be hard to fit anything across lengthwise if you're using Lumenarcs. They pretty much take most of the width of your tank. I can't fit anything with 18 inches of width on my 75.

 

[Avalanche Wolf]

John ,

You are welcome to stop by since you live so close and check out my lights.

I am running 2 x 250watt , 1 175 watt and 1 ( soon to be 2 but have not installed it yet ) 96w PC atinic.

All are single end bulbs.


The 175 is more subtle like a sunrise sun set feel. The 250s and way close to real sunlight. I even got shimmer now WHOHOOOO.

These are setup on a 62"L 20"T 100 gallon mixed reef.


Only bad thing about this all is now I can see all the equipment hanging on the back of the tank now But good news is I found a lost xenia frag that fell between the rocks.

 

[MrMikeB]

John,

I run a tank similar in size to your description (the dimensions are approx 4ft"x18"x22" deep) and run dual 250W 15K lights and 4x55PC Actinics in a canopy that sits the lights approximately 8-10" off the water mark. I placed my LR cap at about 8" below the water mark (for water changes). It does produce a lot of light, but with the depth, I was able to move corals around so that the light loving specimens were more than happy toward the top and the lower levels receive enough light and stay in full bloom without looking strained. Although I have had it up for only a couple months, the frags I have (various LPS/SPS) are growing like crazy and seem to be doing great without looking like they are stretching too much to receive the light. So in my limited experience, I say go with the higher wattage light to keep your options open and position your LR and corals to provide 'shade' wherever needed.

 

[jlfnjlf]

OK, so I am thinking SE may be my best bet. However I am not going to be able to fit the lumenarc in my hood with the T5s. I think I will go with the Reef Optix 1 Plus Mogul Base Pendant so I have room for the T5s. Any one use the Reef Optix? I am thinking the IceCap Electronic Ballast will end up being my choice.

Now I am down to bulbs. I am thinking 14K, but beyond that I am at a loss.

Thank you all,

John

 

[Justin74]

If I had that size I would consider using 2 of these reflectors head to head:
http://innovativelights.com/pfo-74035.html

The price and the more efficient placement for flourescents regardless of T5,VHO, or PC. The problem with alot of other designs are the flourescents are at the same heigth as the MH which bad because MH placement needs to be higher, usually between 8-18" depending, but NO,PC, and VHO need to be 3" or less to be optimal and T5 around 6" or less. So ideally they should all sit lower to the water, which more often than not isnt the case with most.
By placing these head to head you could use this to bridge the two on each side with these PAR monsters
http://innovativelights.com/ss-531015.html

outfitted with some of these
http://innovativelights.com/ss-960075.html

This could really give you some bang for you buck, but just an idea.

-Justin

 

[Justin74]

Heres a visual of what I was thinking on a top down perspective:

and a cross section:

-Justin

 

[builderguy]

Hey guys, good info. I wanted to jump in on this. I added Lumenarcs to my hood last year after the Conference and had explosive growth as a result.

John, like you, I didn't have room in my hood for lumenarcs. As a result I cut two holes in the hood and put L-brackets that drop down a bit to rest the Lumenarcs on...leaving room for my 4-65 PC supplemental lighting.

I wanted to ask what everyone thought though about Kelvin rating and ballast choices. I have 2-250W MH. I have a tank that is roughly 18-20" to the sand bed. I have been using XM 10k's with a standard Magnetic Ballast. I am thinking about getting a "bluer" bulb. I understand the XM20k's have good par value and look really good. But I'd have to change my ballasts to go to a 20k bulb...which I might be willing to do...in which case, what would anyone recommend?

More to the point...what is anyones recommendation for 250W bulb and ballast combos?

 

[tacocat]

Wattage - I'd go 250w Halides for the simple fact that you will have more bulb choices available to you. Furthermore, you will always have enough light for any organisms. If you eventually go with 20K bulbs, you will find out that 250w are a better choice than 150w or 175w due to the lower Par valuse of the higher Kelvin bulbs.

Reflectors.... canopy or open topped? Bear in mind that 150w DE sockets and reflectors are not compatible with 250w DE sockets and reflectors. Moguls sockets (found on SE bulbs) and SE reflectors are compatible for 175w, 250w, and 400w SE bulbs.

Ballasts - I'd run Icecaps or magnetic HQI ballasts.

 

[ahullsb]

I've been happy with the new outer orbit fixture with t5's. It runs the 460 and 420 like you wanted. For my 55, the 2 150's are a ton of light. I vote for 175's for your tank also. With t5 supplements I'm sure you will have plenty of light for you tank

 

[jlfnjlf]

I am about ready to ditch the t5s and just do 2 250W 20K XM bulbs in Lumenarc reflectors with IcaCap Ballast.

 

[xia]

Yeah I just have 20k radiums and I'm happy with it. No dusk/dawn, but that's overrated in my opinion. Lumenarcs are the sweetest square reflectors out there. Nice even coverage.

If you want to try some decent used reflectors, I remember little d selling a few like the ones Justin's talking about a while ago. And didn't Minh just replace his Lumenarc mini, see if he'll sell it to you.

 

[builderguy]

I just did some research and the 20k bulbs have very low par values, especially with electronic (IceCap) ballasts...I'd go for PFO HQI ballasts for the higher PAR

 

[jlfnjlf]

My going from 175W to 250W is to compensate for the low PAR values of the 20K bulbs.

 

[dots]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8777425#post8777425 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by builderguy

I have 2-250W MH. I have a tank that is roughly 18-20" to the sand bed. I have been using XM 10k's with a standard Magnetic Ballast. I am thinking about getting a "bluer" bulb.

If you look on the SPS forum, people change thier bulbs and ballasts like thier changing pants looking for the holy combination. Remember it is a trifecta of water, flow, and light.....so don't get too hung up on this subject because one can go dizzy from the amounth of opinions and personal experiences backed up with numbers that may or may not correlate to the above two.

I have seen your tank, and 250's are great for what you have....so....10Ks give good PAR and growth, but look like.....well we know....and 20ks look cool, but PAR can be well "sub par".....

As I stradle the middle ground once again, I find the 14K to 15K a nice compromise. If you have Actinics, you can get away with a higher PAR and lower K bulb and still get that look you want. The Phoenix 14K bulb is known to have a great blue color that of a 20K....in fact the 150DEs I had I thought were 20Ks..........and they have a high PAR value.......it may be what your looking for.

I have DEs......that bulb may not look the same or be not available if you have SE's......mag ballasts (M80?) are only for DEs correct?

 

[builderguy]

Thanks for the input. Since I'm starting over after my tank crash I really want good growth, so definitely steering clear of 20ks. It looks like if I change to the PFO HQI ballasts I can get pretty good results with PAR with either the Aquaconnect bulbs or Hamilton 14k....anyone have any other advice?