victornator333
New member
Setting up a 75gallon tank. I like T5's, but I found a smoking deal on a 2x250 sunpod. I plan on using the mounting legs. Will this be too much light over the tank?
Thanks a bunch
Thanks a bunch
Too Much Light?
- Thread starter victornator333
- Start date
ANGRY JOHN
New member
that realy depends on what lights you put in it. I have a 90 with 2 250w 14k pheo and it is enough light to make the monti's and acro's to grow down. the pfo m80 ballasts run that bulb to max par, so it will depend on what bulb you choose. Higher k bulbs put out less par, and then you should do better.
victornator333
New member
I was gonna go with 20k, not sure which brand yet
Alex T.
Active member
I may be the wrong person to chime in on this but I don't think it's too much light. I was running two 400 watt Radiums on Galaxy ballasts and corals were coloring up and growing steadily. This was on a 6 foot, 18" wide SPS tank with the rock structure only half way up on a 27" depth. I knew I had crappy Spider Reflectors so a few months back I switched out to the Lumenmax Elite reflectors. They're very tight in my canopy with VHO actinics but OH MY GOD what a difference. The light is much more intense and spread out than the crappy spider reflectors. I've noticed much more aggressive growth, especially in my staghorn corals.
Recently, since I had a pair of 400 watt Blueline e-ballasts in the garage I hooked them up to the spider reflectors with an older set of 400 watt Radiums and ran them next to the Lumenmax Elites for a couple hours a day. That's right.....1600 watts of Radium on a 6 foot, 18" wide tank. Everything seems to be loving it so far. If all goes well in the next few months, I may purchase an extra set of Lumenmax Elites and run all 4 Radiums on the tank. This would only leave 3 inches of dead space between each reflector, and what I think most would constitute as an insane amount of light. 1600 watts of halide and 280 watts of VHO actinic or 12.5 watts per gallon.
With this setup, I'm hoping to achieve 10k growth rates with 20k benefits in coloration and a more pleasing to the eye look. Granted, there is probably no chance that I would be able to have four 400 watt bulbs on a 6 foot tank if they were 10k's, but I'm just seeing what benefits I may stumble upon. I'm only running the Galaxy ballast driven Radiums for 5 hours per day and the Blueline Radiums in Spider reflectors for 2 hours per day right now.
I think that no matter what you choose, any upgrade in lighting requires acclimation of your corals. I started with only 2 hours per day and worked my way up. Eventually I'd like to have each bulb stagger on every hour from left to right with only one hour in the middle of the day that all 4 are on. After that they will stagger off from the same start point. This would mean that at least one halide is on for an 8 hour period so that I have something to look at when I come home from work.
Recently, since I had a pair of 400 watt Blueline e-ballasts in the garage I hooked them up to the spider reflectors with an older set of 400 watt Radiums and ran them next to the Lumenmax Elites for a couple hours a day. That's right.....1600 watts of Radium on a 6 foot, 18" wide tank. Everything seems to be loving it so far. If all goes well in the next few months, I may purchase an extra set of Lumenmax Elites and run all 4 Radiums on the tank. This would only leave 3 inches of dead space between each reflector, and what I think most would constitute as an insane amount of light. 1600 watts of halide and 280 watts of VHO actinic or 12.5 watts per gallon.
With this setup, I'm hoping to achieve 10k growth rates with 20k benefits in coloration and a more pleasing to the eye look. Granted, there is probably no chance that I would be able to have four 400 watt bulbs on a 6 foot tank if they were 10k's, but I'm just seeing what benefits I may stumble upon. I'm only running the Galaxy ballast driven Radiums for 5 hours per day and the Blueline Radiums in Spider reflectors for 2 hours per day right now.
I think that no matter what you choose, any upgrade in lighting requires acclimation of your corals. I started with only 2 hours per day and worked my way up. Eventually I'd like to have each bulb stagger on every hour from left to right with only one hour in the middle of the day that all 4 are on. After that they will stagger off from the same start point. This would mean that at least one halide is on for an 8 hour period so that I have something to look at when I come home from work.
Dog boy Dave
New member
I agree that the sunpod would be just fine for a 75 gallon tank.
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