spend my income tax money

[rob.mwpropane]

Ok, I posted in lighting and filtration and got nothing, so since it pertains to sps I figure ill try here. I'm looking for a nice light to go over a 75 gal sps tank. I was looking at a icecap light with 2 250 watt de mh 2 54 watt t5, and 2 sets of led's. I would like to run se mh, but it seems nobody does that anymore. At some point I would like to run 20k radiums, but I don't see de radiums? Any experience would be great. I did a DIY on my 29 and it works great, but my carpentry skills don't, so the wife hates it. Opinions, experience deeply appreciated.

 

[CleveYank]

Ok, I posted in lighting and filtration and got nothing, so since it pertains to sps I figure ill try here. I'm looking for a nice light to go over a 75 gal sps tank. I was looking at a icecap light with 2 250 watt de mh 2 54 watt t5, and 2 sets of led's. I would like to run se mh, but it seems nobody does that anymore. At some point I would like to run 20k radiums, but I don't see de radiums? Any experience would be great. I did a DIY on my 29 and it works great, but my carpentry skills don't, so the wife hates it. Opinions, experience deeply appreciated.

Well I have 6 metal halides running and a tank with t5's. So someone does run them.

Look up Serpentman's 300 build in larger tanks forum. He's running the SE version of the Phoenix after running some other 20Ks.
There's still TOTM folks out the ying yank running MH.

If you went with the IceCap DE with a pair of 14K Phoenix 250 DE's and ran FULL actinic T5 or ATI blue plus you would be so happy with the colors in the tank it would not be funny.

By themselves the Phoenix gives great red, yellows ( a yellow tang is yellow not greenish tint) and oranges with gobs of PAR that radiums cannot even hope to hit. But Phoenix by themselves lack for killer purples and pinks. When you add T5 ATI blue plus or Full Actinics (suppliment) the purples and pinks pop neon.

Good Luck in the your lighting quest.

 

[reefsahoy]

just what the Dr. ordered. I wish i could get one! http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merc...481.223&Category_Code=Giesemann&Store_Code=PA

 

[rob.mwpropane]

Wow, perfect light, imperfect price. That's exactly what I'm looking for. My wife would tie me up, make me watch as she poured gas in my reef, torch it, then proceed to cut me up into little pieces if I spent that much money. Is there anybody that makes a light like that for less? I'm not going for cheap by any means, but 2 grand is too much.

 

[BradR]

There's nothing wrong with SE radiums. I run 400's and actually have some light bleaching occur on some SPS. Absolutely love these pendants as they are fully enclosed and look fantastic.
http://www.reefspecialty.com/p366/N...mini-WIDE-Finished-Pendants/product_info.html
IMHO LED is not the greatest bang for buck.
DIY T5 would save bucks but be kinda ugly so maybe just 250 or 400w radiums in a pendant would make you (and more importantly :hmm4 the wife happy.
GL

 

[rob.mwpropane]

Is there anybody with a 75 sps. What light do you use?

 

[woody283]

Ive got a 65 that is 36". I run 2 250 and 2 65watt pcs. my bulbs are going to be changed to 2 phoenix 14ks and im going to retro the pcs to t5. Cleveyank nailed it with his explanation.

 

[flyin2jz]

Why not get a bigger tank. 75 is very small for sps. I had a guy explain it to me lime this. If ur in a stadium at a game and a guy across the stadium smokes u aren't going to smell it. Now if ur in a room and someone lights up u will smell it fast. If something goes wrong in a tiny tank like that bad things happen fast. Save up for a real aquarium. Unless u live at home with ur parents or something then I understand.

 

[reefsahoy]

get this http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1766226. It'll be more than enough for a 75 gal and enough if you upgrade to something bigger. But believe me the giesemann spectra is worth it. the finish on that fixture is 2nd to none. i have the infinity and it rocks but had i seen the spectra before i bought the infinity it would be hanging from my cieling now!

 

[Tater11]

how about a mental evaluation lol.i've been spending a ton of$$$ on mine lately.but it's so much fun.get a couple of lumenarcs and a couple of the multi watt lumatek adjustable ballast's.you can run 250watt or 400watt bulbs on the same ballast

 

[CleveYank]

Is there anybody with a 75 sps. What light do you use?

I have 4 tanks.

1 of them is 75 with dual 250 Phoenix 14K DE. The 100 frags in there are 80% SPS on both 6 inch from the surface rack and a lower rack that covers the whole bottom.

 

[rob.mwpropane]

how about a mental evaluation lol.i've been spending a ton of$$$ on mine lately.but it's so much fun.get a couple of lumenarcs and a couple of the multi watt lumatek adjustable ballast's.you can run 250watt or 400watt bulbs on the same ballast

the mental evaluation is definatley in order. Thanks everybody so much for the input. I live in a small apartment, and someone gave me a 75 gal rr tank with stand and canopy. I think after looking around I'm going to do another DIY. I loved what my last fixture is doing, the wife just hates the way it looks. I really like the radiums, so I think I'm going to get the se mh lumenarcs and some t5s and build a nice quality canopy. Wish me luck. You know its really a shame the lights are so damn expensive.

Cleveyank, I will keep the lighting scheme in mind. I really like ati, I'm running two in my current fixture.
Happy Reefing.

 

[ros_sco]

I have a 75 with 2 x 250 watt Radiums, IceCap ballasts and Lumenarc minis with a single VHO that I installed in my existing canopy. I installed them almost 2 years ago and am still very happy with the results.

 

[rob.mwpropane]

Well I've been doing a ton of looking and just couldnt find anything that I liked, so I'm going with dimmable lumateks with lumenarc reflectors that way I can switch all around. Sps should be happy. Does anyone have any pictures of a 75 sps? I would love to do a tank with as little live rock as possible, how much do you all use for your tanks, lr vs size tank. I want to leave as much room as possible for coral growth.

 

[Dtronic]

I just redid my lighting. Used the adjustable lumateks, Elites and radiums. I used a 400w radium in the center and 250w on the side. I also am trying to use as little live rock as I can.

Oh yeah also added reefbright leds.

Now I just need SPS.

 

[rob.mwpropane]

That sounds great. Yeah, I just can't find a light that has it all. I'm going for the DIY again. I want it to look nice though, guess i need to become a carpenter.