Suggestions for Lighting

[rdiller]

I currently have a 90 gallon fish-only setup and am looking into starting a new reef setup. I will be purchasing a 210 gallon all-glass reef-ready setup (72 x 24 x 29). A lot of the equipment I have in my current setup will be transferred over to the new tank, but I will need to replace my lighting before doing anything else. Any suggestions for lighting would be greatly appreciated. I am leaning toward Icecap 250 electronic ballasts with 14k MH bulbs, but am unsure of how many. I am not locked to that equipment, but am simply leaning in hat direction. I would like to contain all of the lighting inside the canopy, and in addition to how many 250w units to run, I am not sure of any supplemental lighting that should be added (t5, etc.).

I welcome any assistance and advice that can be given on this subject.

I forgot to mention that my goal is for this to be a reef setup rather than the fish-only setup I have now. There are only a few fish, and all are reef friendly in the current tank. I have approx. 130lbs of live rock in there that will be moving over as a start.

Thanks in advance for any and all advice!

 

[reefnfun]

good luck to you. asking about lighting is opening a can of worms. I have a 220 72 x 24 x20 I went with 2 400 watt 12K reeflux with the large lumenbright reflectors. so far so good. 29" is pretty deep. if you want 250's probably 3 of them would do. If you get the right bulbs no need for any other lighting. I went with 2 400's instead of 3 250's. I definitely have less bright areas on the outer edges. The monti's are doing just fine there. I highly reccommend the LB reflectors. Take care

 

[reefnfun]

ooops i meant 72 x 30 x 20 on my tank dimensions

 

[rdiller]

reefnfun - Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Reefer Brian]

If it's 20" deep go with 2 or 3 250w. 3 will definetly fill the entire width with intense light, 2 would have a little less light towards the ends. Start with two and see how you like it. You can always add more light. 14k wont need any suppplemental actinics. I have 2-250w 14k on a 125g and love the coloring. Lighting color is always personal preference. Start with the 14k and see how you like it, like I said before, you can ALWAYS add more light(actinics). Good luck with your decision.

 

[rdiller]

Brian - Thanks. The tank is an all-glass 210 gallon and is 29 inches deep, 24 wide and 72 long.

 

[Reefer Brian]

Sorry, I was going by your correction. If its 29 deep you may need more penetrating light. Start out with the 250's and go from there. Some t-5's may help as well.

 

[dew2loud1]

I'd do two 400's in lumenbrights and two six foot VHO actinics, you'll get good coverage and the VHO's will fill in the shadows from the center braces. If you are going all sps then do three 400's, or for a mixed reef you can do a 400 in the center and 250's on the ends. Lots of options. For that depth I would definitely go with lumenbright reflectors though.
If you aren't set in stone on your tanks dimensions look for the 72" x 30" wide x 24" tall. Since you are going reef you'll really appreciate the added depth

 

[rdiller]

In looking at all the products all are mentioning, it seems lumenbright reflectors are the most popular choice. In looking at them online, I'm not really able to determine if they can be mounted inside of the canopy. Am I missing something? Can they be mounted inside canopy? Unfotunately, wife wants me to have this as "self contained" as possible.

 

[xenon]

I would do two 36" ATI Powermodules 10x39w

 

[Lowredranger]

How about 8x80w t5's these are 60" each retrofit kit SLR reflectors to fit in the canopy. This is what i am considering for my tank 72x24x24, or possibly over driving the bulbs to 100w's each bulb. I think from what i have read on some one the threads that you can have the t-5's and use less wattage.