Starting 90g Reef Tank Build... Finally!!!
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Aquarist007
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<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13003550#post13003550 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by OwNeD162
Ok, I need the help of the clubhouse... I'm deciding lights for my tank, I'll be getting a mixture of MH and T5, at the moment im looking at:
2 x (2 x 54W 10,000K + Atnitic) T5 Fixtures, and
1 x (2 x 150W) MH Fixture.
Plus some blue LED's fixtures for moonlights.
The tank will be 4ft x 2ft x 2ft.
I want the ability to house almost every coral we have in the hobby (although I wont be, I'll be mainly sticking to soft, but I do hope to get a few extreme coloured acros), and I would love to have a blue maxima clam in the middle of the tank on the sand.
Do you think this is enough lighting, or to much, or to little, or should I be getting 250W MH, etc... The above setup works out to about 4.3W/Gal... 250W MH would make it 5.96W/Gal....
Let me know what you think,
Thanks gang!
this will in deed be an interesting debate here---Tswifty I know swears by his 6-T5 set up and has done lumens testing on it.
I have the 2 150 watt halides and 2 pc attinics(90watts each)
I'm still trying to decide whether it will be to my advantage to change to tswifty's setup when my bulbs need changing in oct.
let the debate begin guys
Tswifty
New member
T5 lighting like I have will definitely be comparable and possibly even beat 250w MH lighting in PAR readings. I belive Grim said that you need to get up into 250w to 400w metal hallides to start getting the PAR readings I recorded.<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13003550#post13003550 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by OwNeD162
Ok, I need the help of the clubhouse... I'm deciding lights for my tank, I'll be getting a mixture of MH and T5, at the moment im looking at:
2 x (2 x 54W 10,000K + Atnitic) T5 Fixtures, and
1 x (2 x 150W) MH Fixture.
Plus some blue LED's fixtures for moonlights.
The tank will be 4ft x 2ft x 2ft.
I want the ability to house almost every coral we have in the hobby (although I wont be, I'll be mainly sticking to soft, but I do hope to get a few extreme coloured acros), and I would love to have a blue maxima clam in the middle of the tank on the sand.
Do you think this is enough lighting, or to much, or to little, or should I be getting 250W MH, etc... The above setup works out to about 4.3W/Gal... 250W MH would make it 5.96W/Gal....
Let me know what you think,
Thanks gang
T5's also allow you to tweak the lighting color scheme much more than MH's
I'm keeping predominately SPS, have an anemone, and from the looks of it plan on a SPS & Clam dominated reef.
I'm very happy with my T5's
Last edited:
D to the P
New member
Yeah T5's generally last anywhere from a year and a half to two years.
Tswifty
New member
I should shoot Grim a PM, and ask for him to join in... we may need the expert on hand for this one.<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13003665#post13003665 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by capn_hylinur
this will in deed be an interesting debate here---Tswifty I know swears by his 6-T5 set up and has done lumens testing on it.
I have the 2 150 watt halides and 2 pc attinics(90watts each)
I'm still trying to decide whether it will be to my advantage to change to tswifty's setup when my bulbs need changing in oct.
let the debate begin guys
timschmidt
Premium Member
What lumen reader do you all use? I curious to see how my tank is doing on that subject.
D to the P
New member
I've been so busy with having to get a new radiator and master cylinder for my car, fighting off poison ivy on my right hand that pretty much left it useless (I'm allergic), being poor, and a hundred of other things.
Also, I think my contributions to RC slow down considerably after awhile because of my job (answering fish tank questions all day), and for a while there it seemed like there weren't many unanswered questions on RC which is pretty much the only reasons now a days for me to get on as I don't have a tank set up right now.
Well now that you got the novel of my life :lol:
I can see how it would be hard to be angry at your girlfriend for the curse she casts upon everything she buys for you tank :eek1:
Looks like the gangs still all here in the clubhouse though. Even some new faces around.
maroun.c
New member
Guess its a very deabtable issue with lots of factors:
Heat
electrical bills
shimmer
ability to tweak the light colour by a more variety of lamps...
I went/will be going with both:
3 MH
1 250 Giesemann Blue (22k)
2 150W Arcadia 14K
I already added the 1st T5 80 W 14 K by arcadia
Will be adding the 2nd T5 by Arcadia this one will be an actinic.
they way I plan it I will have some time with T5 Actinic alone then a mix of white and actinic from T5 only, after that the MH will kick in, will check if the single 80W actinic T5 makes a difference and decide to shut it off while halides are on or not, then halides will go off with T5 white and actinic on followed by a 1-2 hours T5 actinic alone and maybe a further 30 min sunset by Actinic T8 if the T5 actinic is too bright to shut down immediately.
Bottom line that would be your best way to decide on which you like most or maybe have them all everyday.
Check my build thread to see the lighting I'm getting now and by end of next week maybe for the actinic T5 addition update.
good luck with whatever you chose. yuocan't go wrong with Halides or T5 anyway.
Heat
electrical bills
shimmer
ability to tweak the light colour by a more variety of lamps...
I went/will be going with both:
3 MH
1 250 Giesemann Blue (22k)
2 150W Arcadia 14K
I already added the 1st T5 80 W 14 K by arcadia
Will be adding the 2nd T5 by Arcadia this one will be an actinic.
they way I plan it I will have some time with T5 Actinic alone then a mix of white and actinic from T5 only, after that the MH will kick in, will check if the single 80W actinic T5 makes a difference and decide to shut it off while halides are on or not, then halides will go off with T5 white and actinic on followed by a 1-2 hours T5 actinic alone and maybe a further 30 min sunset by Actinic T8 if the T5 actinic is too bright to shut down immediately.
Bottom line that would be your best way to decide on which you like most or maybe have them all everyday.
Check my build thread to see the lighting I'm getting now and by end of next week maybe for the actinic T5 addition update.
good luck with whatever you chose. yuocan't go wrong with Halides or T5 anyway.
OwNeD162
Member
Wow!!! Tons of responses ! That is why i love the clubhouse !
Hopefully heat shouldn't be to much of an issue, the tank itself will have glass lids to lower evap, but the wooden hood, will be a pelmet, and i'll be installing PC fans to blow air in one end and out the other... I'll also be running a chiller, so heat shouldn't be an issue at all...
The 250W MH comes with 2 x 250W 10,000K MH Bulbs + 4 x 34W Atnitics, then there will be another 2 x 54W Atnitcs from the 2 T5 fixtures, so that should give it an awesome blue tinge, and then the remaining 2 x 54W bulbs in the T5 fixtures I was looking at running that purpley colour bulb that TJ has, what is that exactly TJ?
I think that would give me great colour, nice shimmer in the water, and heaps of coral growth... :smokin:
:rollface:
! That is why i love the clubhouse !Hopefully heat shouldn't be to much of an issue, the tank itself will have glass lids to lower evap, but the wooden hood, will be a pelmet, and i'll be installing PC fans to blow air in one end and out the other... I'll also be running a chiller, so heat shouldn't be an issue at all...
The 250W MH comes with 2 x 250W 10,000K MH Bulbs + 4 x 34W Atnitics, then there will be another 2 x 54W Atnitcs from the 2 T5 fixtures, so that should give it an awesome blue tinge, and then the remaining 2 x 54W bulbs in the T5 fixtures I was looking at running that purpley colour bulb that TJ has, what is that exactly TJ?
I think that would give me great colour, nice shimmer in the water, and heaps of coral growth... :smokin:
:rollface:
Tswifty
New member
Or just calibrate your refractometer on a regular basis???<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13003083#post13003083 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SCIFI_3D_zoo
I think that's the same exact stuff I just got. I wish I would have got it sooner. Lesson learned. My swingarm was saying 1.025. Refractometer= 1.029. Piece of crap. If you are putting a lot of money into livestock in this hobby BUY a pH monitor and Salinity monitor. Red Sea pH kit: 8.1. Salifert: 7.8. Pinpoint= 7.67. Now I know why I've had some problems.Test kits are not very reliable. You can get away with more inaccuracy with Ca.. so I'm not suggesting buying electronic kits for everything. But Salinity and pH are cheap. For everything else I have 2 brands for each to verify #'s. Ca/Mg are ok but I think I can trust a kit for ALK too but I'm not 100% sure which brand yet. My SPS' are slowly peeling tissue right now.
I also got a lot of pH calibration fluids and Salinity cal. I was sorta worried about how much trouble it might be calibrating and doing care for these 2 devices but it was really easy.
I'm not a huge fan of anything that is left in the water 100% of the time.
2 brands of test kits... that could get expensive quick...
As long as I don't have crazy high or low readings, I don't get all worked up. I've used API and Salifert and there is definitely variation between the two... but not enough to make me worry.
If you have an extremely high or low pH reading and you aren't dosing anything, then it's more than likely test error. As I have read it's hard to get pH into a "danger" zone as long as you are doing regular water changes with a reputable salt mix.
Tswifty
New member
I totally hear you on the busy part... I took 3 days off work this week, and haven't managed to get anything accomplished thus far with playing baseball.
How's that poison ivy coming... I only got it a few times when I was younger, but am not allergic to it... man I do everything I can to avoid it though.
I'll tell you what, as far as Laura goes... She was Jonny on the Spot with the GBTA though. It's definitely a beautiful specimen. I was on the fence about it (and any anemone for that matter), but she talked me into it, and thus far it seems like a great pickup.
I had to laugh though... she does so much coral browsing on LiveAquaria, she was actually able to name some corals at Kevin's house and at Salty Critter that I had no idea what they were called. Kind of put me in my place for a second... :lol:
Tswifty
New member
If you are set on MH's, and using T5's for actinic supplementation...<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13003912#post13003912 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by OwNeD162
Wow!!! Tons of responses
Hopefully heat shouldn't be to much of an issue, the tank itself will have glass lids to lower evap, but the wooden hood, will be a pelmet, and i'll be installing PC fans to blow air in one end and out the other... I'll also be running a chiller, so heat shouldn't be an issue at all...
The 250W MH comes with 2 x 250W 10,000K MH Bulbs + 4 x 34W Atnitics, then there will be another 2 x 54W Atnitcs from the 2 T5 fixtures, so that should give it an awesome blue tinge, and then the remaining 2 x 54W bulbs in the T5 fixtures I was looking at running that purpley colour bulb that TJ has, what is that exactly TJ?
I think that would give me great colour, nice shimmer in the water, and heaps of coral growth... :smokin:
:rollface:
The actinic bulbs I use are a combination of:
Geisemann Actinic Plus
UV Lighting Super Actinic
I would rethink the glass tops btw... as that can inhibit oxygen exchange.
Tswifty
New member
What type of ballast and bulbs are they? As I'm sure you know, all are certainly not created equal.<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13003912#post13003912 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by OwNeD162
Wow!!! Tons of responses
Hopefully heat shouldn't be to much of an issue, the tank itself will have glass lids to lower evap, but the wooden hood, will be a pelmet, and i'll be installing PC fans to blow air in one end and out the other... I'll also be running a chiller, so heat shouldn't be an issue at all...
The 250W MH comes with 2 x 250W 10,000K MH Bulbs + 4 x 34W Atnitics, then there will be another 2 x 54W Atnitcs from the 2 T5 fixtures, so that should give it an awesome blue tinge, and then the remaining 2 x 54W bulbs in the T5 fixtures I was looking at running that purpley colour bulb that TJ has, what is that exactly TJ?
I think that would give me great colour, nice shimmer in the water, and heaps of coral growth... :smokin:
:rollface:
Have you seen Sanjay's site, where you can compare different combinations of bulbs and ballasts, to see the variation in output?
D to the P
New member
The poison is gone, now I just have a bunch of skin falling off. I spent roughly $50 on medication ($30 for a really small tube) and on bandages for the "leaking". I used to get poison ivy once a year. It wouldn't matter if I touched it or not, I'd get it in the air. Hell I could look at poison and get it. The weird thing this time was I wasn't even in the woods. I'm still not sure how I got it.
Sounds like another build thread is going to be in the works
Did someone say Laura's Clubhouse?
You know it's only a matter of time:lol:
Tswifty
New member
Haha... After going to the fish store with her, her little bro wants to set up a nano with shrimp... I keep advising her against it though, because they travel so much.<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13004014#post13004014 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by D to the P
Sounds like another build thread is going to be in the works
Did someone say Laura's Clubhouse?
You know it's only a matter of time:lol:
She has a name on here, but never posts... just checks in on my thread from time to time. :lol:
OwNeD162
Member
UV Lighting Super Actinic, thats the one, cool, thanks
...I'm not 100% set on MH yet, but I do think i'm very much leaning towards them, just because of the reassurance that I will basically be able to grow anything... But maybe thats just me being stuck to old facts....
It would be a pre-made unit, kinda like this one:
It has double ended bulbs, with electric ballast (not magnetic)...
I haven't come across Sanjay's site, do you happen to have the link?
Cheers,
OwNeD
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