What Level of Lighting Insanity Have You Reached

[biggles]

I'm fairly certain from reading tank journals here that i'm not the only reef keeper to have gone a tad overboard at times with my lighting in the never ending search for better SPS growth and colors.
Years ago when i was seriously SPS insane with a 4x2x2 i ended up with 4 x T8 actinics overdriven by icecap 660 ballast, 2 x 400W radiums with a 250W radium in between the 400's - all overdriven. I ran the actinics 12 hours, 250W 10 hours and 8 hours for the 400's.
Needless to say the growth etc was insane - as was i, but even though my reef friends who visited often started with 'holy f...' followed by hands to shield their eyes i didn't care ' yeah it's bright isn't it lol' (slightly crazy sounding lol).
That was years ago and i'm older and wiser with a 250W radium over my 18" deep tank, problem is i have a 400W ballast and currently don't need to wear sun glasses inside - it's happening again......... :rollface:

 

[Electrobes]

I currently have a 250 HQI over my 40Br, which I am pretty sure is over kill. And this week, I'm adding 12 LEDs for actinics. :lol:

 

[agcneves]

I run 2 x HQI 400W 20 k Radium, 2 x HQI 250W Radium 20 k and 8 T5 80W.
A little insane.

 

[tnyr5]

In college I ran a 400w halide over a 10 gallon .

 

[spartanomega21]

I have 2 250w halides and 50w of leds over my 40B

 

[brad65ford]

No MH but LED's here. Running 1 Echotech Radion 2nd Gen and a Maxspect Mazarra P seires over a 40D The maxspect is 100 percent output and i'm nearing 100 percent on the Radion.

 

[BrentH]

I totally understand .... I have 3 400 watt radiums over my 150g with 5 led strip and ont 90 gallon 1 400 watt with 50 3 watt LEDs I feel insane but after reading your first post I feel better lol

 

[BrentH]

I'm surprised u didn't fry stuff with that long of photo period and that much light whats your secret?

 

[biggles]

I'm surprised u didn't fry stuff with that long of photo period and that much light whats your secret?

There's no secret Brent, i did fry the 'you know what' out of a few colonies but since i was in the grip of the lighting demon i simply blamed the acros for not 'sucking it up' - they obviously weren't aware that they needed a supernova to be happy and as such payed the price for not appreciating my insanity.......:smokin:

 

[BrentH]

Got it! ....!i love mh but I'm curious about the led fixtures so my next crazy idea is I want to put ecotech fixtures in between 2 400 watt radiums bit I'm afraid the heat will hack up the led fixtures if I find out it won't I'm doing it lol

 

[jda]

2 AquaSpaceLights on a standard 120G Each has 2x250W HQI and a 150W HQI for a kicker.... so 4x250 and 2x150 all on Phoenix 14K over a 48x24 area. Sick growth and color. The clams really loved it. I have to laugh when people claim that they have "too much" light for their SPS to thrive... maybe too much of the wrong kind of light... I have never been able to give SPS or clams too much MH lighting. I would have tried a third fixture (I have one), but it would not fit.

LEDs get plenty hot. They can burn you just like a halide can. The fixtures might melt, but I have temp gunned a diode at over 200 degrees.

 

[rockryno]

I've got an ai sol blue 5" over a 10g, and a 250w halide over a 20g.

 

[BrentH]

In college I ran a 400w halide over a 10 gallon .

Seriously? That's awesome Lol ....

And I may try the led radion with the mh togEther now

 

[JPMagyar]

I ran 3 x 1000 watt metal halide bulbs for 3 years. It cracked the top of my acrylic tank because of the heat, but the growth was outstanding The tank was a 280, and today I run 4 x 150 watt + 16 x 54 watt T5s on a 48 x 48 x 24, 240 gallon tank. I think you hit a major point . . . more is not always better, and that's for sure


1000 watt 20000k Ushio

My tank in 2003 with 3 1000 watt MHs

 

[glennr1978]

A lcal reefer I know runs a pair of radium 250's and three ai sol blues over his 40 breeder....and I thought I had a lot of light over my tank, lol.

 

[tnyr5]

Seriously? That's awesome Lol ....

I actually got crazy colors too lol.

[/IMG]

JP, 1000w is bonkers lol. That was an awesome tank though (but I like your newer one better).

 

[biggles]

JP did you ever consider offsetting your 3 x1000W halide running costs by allowing local smash repair businesses to use your lounge room as a paint baking booth.......:spin2:
tnyr5 - you were certifiable buddy not just insane, although you wouldn't need a microwave oven back then - just rest a plate of food on top of your 10gal for 5 mins :mixed:

 

[rlpardue]

Gosh I must say that I LOVE PAYING FLAT RATE ELECTRICITY lol.

You guys have me thinking now...

So far I have 2x400w Radiums, a Reefbrite strip and 2xVHO over a 5x2x2 tank. It's some good light but I think I could add at least two slim DE fixtures up there...maybe three.

The nice thing is that I can keep my A/C at 70F and not even mess with a chiller, just use one 8" fan and the water stays at 78.

 

[franklypre]

I kept a 400w DE Icecap setup with 4 PAR38 over my 58 for a while, have since downgraded to a 250w halide. If they made 400w DE bulbs in 20k that looked good I'd still be running it.

 

[biggles]

Gosh I must say that I LOVE PAYING FLAT RATE ELECTRICITY lol.

You guys have me thinking now...

So far I have 2x400w Radiums, a Reefbrite strip and 2xVHO over a 5x2x2 tank. It's some good light but I think I could add at least two slim DE fixtures up there...maybe three.

The nice thing is that I can keep my A/C at 70F and not even mess with a chiller, just use one 8" fan and the water stays at 78.

There's nothing to think about mate, you have a problem, accept it, get the DE fixtures and don't forget to upgrade your sunnies.
It sounds like you have it under control now franklypre, although you last sentence indicates a pending relapse.......