75 gallon lighting

cain420

cain420

Active Member
i was about to order this light setup but wanted to get opinions, and found this board, so here i am..
i have a 75 gallon tank about to start cycle.
i plan to have mostly fowlr but would like to later add some low light coral and inverts.
would a setup like this work:
click on these words to view what im talkin about!
seems fairly priced too.. i think anyways but i dunno bout lighting too much.. anyone??
 
crazyaqua

crazyaqua

Member
I have something similar but if you can afford something better go for it or you will be fine with that corallife system.
 
cain420

cain420

Active Member
they have one that is 4 x 96w, but i think the bulbs may be harder to find/more expensive. I just want something thats gonna give me enough light for maybe an anemome, and a few select inverts.. I would probably add in a mh later on.. but would this be good for now with comparible price?
 
littlebuck

littlebuck

Active Member
If i was you i would look at getting something else. I have a 300 watt Vho set up that i got for under 300. and 500 watts of MH for 400 .
Even for low light corals you might want to add something else down the line everyone always does and you will upgrade and spend more money. I would but something that you can keep anything with incase that happens. But look at the VHO icecap set ups on there they are just as good if not better in my opinion.
 
cain420

cain420

Active Member
i did look into the vho and they are even more expensive as you need to replace bulbs at least every 5 or 6 months because they lose their spectrum so fast due to the high output of light. The bulbs would cost 100 every time u change em (for 4 light system) and would bring my yearly maintenance cost up another $200... but yea, i did look into them and you can do the same using pc, and adding 2 small halides...
 
cain420

cain420

Active Member
read into how often u should change ur vho's.. i forget where i seen it a few different places) but i will look for the link n post it for ya if i can find it.. yea they lose the light spectrum alot faster then pc.. halides are the way to go, but most still mix in vho or pc.
 
cain420

cain420

Active Member
The downside of using VHO bulbs is they that need to be replaced more often. Albert Thiel states in his Marine Fish and Invert Reef Aquarium book, Lighting The Reef Tank Chapter, "using high output (HO) bulbs is certainly better because you will typically gain 25% to sometimes 50% more light. Unfortunately, the VHO bulbs (very high output) change their spectrum too rapidly, although they can be used for yet an additional gain in intensity. You must, however, replace them frequently to compensate for the spectrum loss, usually every 4 to 5 months." Two brands of fluorescent light tubes that Albert Thiel mentions and recommends in various lighting articles he has written are Coralife VHO's by Energy Savers Unlimited (ESU) and URI VHO's that you can find from Aquatic Technology. To locate other fish stores or on-line suppliers that sell VHO lights and accessories, visit our Aquarium Supplies - Lights page.
this was found at: this web site click here!
 
hiptang

hiptang

Member
If you are going to upgrade your lights i would just do it right the first time and get a set up that has a mh with it. I personally have 2-150w mh's and 2- t-5's that are in the same hood. this is on a 75g. i was thinking of going with a little less but i am glad i just did it right the first time. now i can have most things( not all i know). There seems to be a lot of people shelling out more money on lights after they buy a system that will work for them at the time. just my 2cents.
 
cain420

cain420

Active Member
couldnt i just get a ballast later on with mh's? i am sure i wouldnt use them in my first year of doing this, as i dont plan to have corals right off the bat. and who know.. maybe someone will have a used mh setup later on, that i could just add to my pc's.. what things cant u have with the setup u have hip?
 
hiptang

hiptang

Member
You could certainly add mh's later. I was mostly thinking of space and making everything easy. If you look into buying a used mh setup be careful and make sure they aren't to old and the ballast is in good condition. Another reason i said to buy a fixture with the mh's in it already is so that you don't have to figure out how to place the mh's around the other fixture. as the mh's should be pretty centered over the tank and that will leave you with a very small amount of room for the other fixture you will have. with the setup i have i can have any corals i want and some lps and sps also if they are placed up on some rock work closer to the light. The lps and sps need very strong light so those are probably the only limits i might have. I had a tuff time with the lighting choice as well and i was not going to get mh's. Then as i read through the forums it seemed like everyone who wanted more than just the basics needed to have mh's and i read about a lot of people spending more money upreading to mh's. So i figured i would just spend the extra now and same myself the hassle down the road. And even if you don't need the mh's for growing purposes they will make your tank look awesome and the fish like them just as much as the corals(i think).
 
cain420

cain420

Active Member
well thats not too hard when ur good at wiring things up.. i will prolly get 2 hang downs later on.. what kind of things can i have using just that many watts of pc? like what is going to be my limit?
 
j-bird

j-bird

Member
Cain, that does not sound like a bad deal, but I think you can find a better one, JMO. I am also currently looking to upgrade my lights. I have been looking at the classified on this site and also that big auction site. I have found some excellent deals on MH lighting for around the same price you are talking about. (i.e. 400w MH for $150)
I was also looking at some VHO, but started thinking.."why not just get MH now instead of making two upgrades. JMO
 
cain420

cain420

Active Member
lights dont work like that from what i hear.. i heard it just depends on how deep your tank is.. i could have heard wrong! The halides are needed for alot of inverts and corals.. The vho is nice but you spend alot more on them in the long run then pc but u do get more light.. what would my limitations be with using pc? like what inverts could i have and not have?
 
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