Too much light?

E

E Rosewater

New member
I have an Innovative Marine SR60. I have a few small RBTAs, SPS, LPS and some zoa/palys, so quite the mix.

Currently I have two AI nanos and need something better/brighter.

I've pretty much decided that it will one of two lights but I'm afraid my one choice would be too much.

Looking at the Hamilton Cebu Sun 2 x 250 MH 4 x 39w t5 running the M80 ballast and 20k radiums. Would this just be too much light? The tanks is only 14" deep. I figure the SPS would be fine, I'm nervous for my LPS and BTAs though.
 
They will all be fine once acclimated to the light, heck there was someone that had a 400 watt mh over a 20 gal and it looked great.

Just go slow acclimating them to the light
 
If your going to use that much light, I agree with Shifty, start slow, like maybe 24" above the tank and start the mh light period at 4 hours or so and see how it goes.
A fixture with 6 t5s would be fine, as would one with 2 150w mh and and some t5s. You have a lot of options.
 
That is what I figured. I have the ability to hang the light pretty high if necessary.

I've looked at a lot of lights including the 2 x 150w MH and 4 x 39w T5 but if I'm going the MH route I think I only want to go on the basis of the 2 x 250w Radiums based on color.

Otherwise my back up would be 8 x 39w T5 (ATI Sunpower). I know 6 x 39w T5 would likely be sufficient but for bulb combinations the 8 bulb is what I would like to go with even though there's going to be a ton of overspray on the light.

Such a hard decision, the T5 would be cheaper to buy and cheaper to run, but that 2 x 250w with M80 ballasts may be worth the extra cost based on how great they look.
 
You can't go wrong with those choices. Based on how nice a tank can look and the price range, you might also consider some kessils. They can also make a tank look very nice and can be easily adjusted for color and intensity.
 
Ocean envy said:
You can't go wrong with those choices. Based on how nice a tank can look and the price range, you might also consider some kessils. They can also make a tank look very nice and can be easily adjusted for color and intensity.
Click to expand...


If I were to go with LEDs it would be 2 kessils or 3 XR15W Radions. Looking at 5 year cost of ownership (electricity, bulb replacement and initial cost)the Kessils win. The MH T5 is quite a bit more expensive but it's my favorite. I think I would still go with 8 x 39w T5 over LEDs.

I kind of wish you guys would have said the MH/T5 combo was too much light then I wouldn't have to think about it, I would just go T5.
 
I just took a white shelf board, screwed it to the studs, and then screwed the hanging hooks into the board.
 
I used stainless steel eye hooks, chain, and carabiners. The biners and chain allow me to raise and lower the fixture, which is why I chose chain rather than wire rope. Wire rope looks nicer though.
 
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