too much light??

[fedukeford]

we are still setting up our 125 gallon, and we recently found a great deal, for $250 i can get 1 400 watt ballast that runs 2 bulbs, 1 400 watt b allast that runs 1 bulb, 72" reflector, 3x400 watt MH bulbs brand new, im thinking of just using the ballast that runs 2 400w MH bulbs on the 125, would that burn up softies?? im planning on having either a softie, lps, clam reef or a softie,sps, clam reef, also i was thinking of using the 2nd ballast on my 55 gallon tank, which is mostly softies with 2or 3 LPS, would the MH hurt the softies in anyway (most are midway up the tank)
thanks
jordan

 

[kase]

i have a 29g w/250 mh. the zooa, frogspawn,torch, shrooms, star ploy and rics love it, i have some sps they also love it, but i can't keep caps(i think it too much light for them, no matter where i place it in the tank). there not alot of hiding space in my tank( from the lights)..just IMO.

 

[gary greguire]

Man if you can avoid the halides I personaly would, with 400's you are going to have a ton of heat to deal with which in turn is a lot of electric consumption If you want a softie & lps tank that is a lot of light.

 

[fedukeford]

ok, so what alternate lighting would you suggest, i really want clams, so before i saw this deal, i was thinking of doing 2x250watt MH, with 2x140 watt sctinic VHO, is it at all possible to run a 250 watt bulb on a 400 watt ballast ?? (i think the ballast is a M59 or sumthing)

 

[fat-tony]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7403132#post7403132 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by fedukeford
ok, so what alternate lighting would you suggest, i really want clams, so before i saw this deal, i was thinking of doing 2x250watt MH, with 2x140 watt sctinic VHO, is it at all possible to run a 250 watt bulb on a 400 watt ballast ?? (i think the ballast is a M59 or sumthing)

not really possible to do the bigger ballast with little bulb. as for the 2x250, the general rule of thumb is a halide with reflector covers a 2x2 area so there may be some dark spots

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7403132#post7403132 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by fedukeford
is it at all possible to run a 250 watt bulb on a 400 watt ballast ?? (i think the ballast is a M59 or sumthing)

No. Don't do this. Always run matching wattage ballasts and bulbs.
Furthermore, I agree with Gary G: avoid 400 watt halides on a 6' 125 gallon aquarium- especially if you aren't going to keep SPS! Because of the (relatively shallow) depth of a 125 aquarium it's not neccessary. If you choose to use halides on a 125 softie/clam aquarium I'd go with three 175 watters and supplement them with VHO actinics. I would also recommend going with well known brands of ballasts and bulbs. When it comes to halide lighting, certain ballasts may not run certain bulbs. Make sure to research everything very thoroughly before forking over your hard earned cash.

 

[fedukeford]

i cant do 3 bulbs because i only have 1 center brace, so i couldnt really put a bulb in the middle

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

You can use three lamps whether or not the center brace is glass or plastic. Just make sure to design your lighting so the center brace doesn't receive direct UV exposure.
If you choose your clams carefully you can do without the halides.
I've seen plenty of derasa clams grow just fine for many years under VHO only lighting in 125's.

 

[fedukeford]

ya i was thinking about that,,,, if i was to do only VHO what ballasts/light watts/ bulb legnths would you suggest

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

Four 6 ft. VHO's
Two actinics and two daylight. Put each pair on separate timers.
You could power them with two of the smaller 430 Icecaps, but for the price I'd use two Icecap 660's.

 

[fedukeford]

but with the 660's wouldnt i have to run 3 bulbs?

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7405004#post7405004 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by fedukeford
but with the 660's wouldnt i have to run 3 bulbs?

No. You can run any number of lamps as long as the total sum of their lengths is 16 ft. or less. An Icecap 660 ballast will power up to 16 ft. of VHO lamps. You can use the same 660 ballast to power up smaller lengths as well. You don't have to run a certain number of lamps. The only restriction is the total length of the lamps the ballast is powering.
See this chart for more info:

http://www.icecapinc.com/flapp.htm

I suggest one 660 ballast to power up two 6' long actinics and one 660 to fire up two 6' long daylight tubes.

 

[fedukeford]

why not just get 2x 430 ballasts?? they will run the same bulbs but cheaper, will the 660 give a better light or sumthing?

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

The 660's are slightly more dinero but they can do so much more for the money . Resale value is another factor to consider: it's much easier to sell a 660 than a 430 ballast.
The Icecap 660 ballasts are very reliable and should last "forever".

 

[fedukeford]

ok, thanks for the help

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

:thumbsup:

 

[silkchaos]

Go take a look at Dr Bronx's tank, he is running 2 400 MH over his 125. Nothing like seeing something in person when trying to decide what to do.

 

[fedukeford]

yupp, ive already seen it but i dont really want much if any SPS, i just want to stick with softies, lps and clams

 

[parkavenuereef]

I have a 120G 24x48x24 with 2 x 400MH m59's and it is to much.. to have at least 6-8 hours of photo period with the m59 400W it would burn my acro's and bleach the lps, now on the flip side, my clams do awsome and some of my lps do great and grow rapidly esp my zoathids. on at 125 long, I wouldn't go 400W's.. I am acually going to go with 250's instead. on the flip side, 400's use alot of current the electric bill if your not going to go electric ballast, will be insane. Trust me on this!But, if you going to go ahead anyways, run a high K bulb, I would go 20K's even cause the intensity is to strong for the depth that you have.

 

[fish1219]

I have a 90gal and am using T5's. The T5's do not come in 6 foot lenghts but you could setup 2 3 footers or a 4' / 2' combo. I have 4 T5s (2-11K AquaBlues, 1-Blue+, 1-Atinic). Only 2 of the bulbs have the SLRs (reflectors). I currently trying a crocea clam on the bottom (24" deep) and so far its alive. Its been in the tank for 5 weeks now. If you would like to see the tank I'm just down the road from you.