90g is planned lighting enough?

zincoxide

Member
I'm going to build a canopy for my tank (I don't like lights hanging over the tank).
Here's what I planned:
2 - MH bulbs - 250W each
2 - flourescent bulbs (but I don't know which ones)
I'm planning on building the canopy out of wood and putting the MH bulbs right in it, with one flourescent tube on each side of the two MH bulbs - which will be in the middle - but one on each end of the tank.
The tank is 90g 48" x 24" x 24"
Will this be enough light for almost anything (ie. corals, clams, etc.). I don't have these now but will want them later.
 

acrylic51

Active Member
Yes will be plenty of light......Measure out your MH spacing so you have adequate coverage all over the tank....I'm pretty sure you thought of that, but just mentioned it since you said about mounting the MH's at the ends of the tank........Don't forget about venting the hood.
 

zincoxide

Member
It is a 4' tank and I was thinking of doing each MH light approximately 1ft from the edge. That way, there would be a 2ft gap in the middle but the light should be evenly spaced. What do you think?
Also... What kind of flourescents should I go with within the case. Do you think that I need VHO or T5, or should I just go with regular flourescents?
 

acrylic51

Active Member
Your spacing on the MH's sounds good......I usually start and make small adjustments as needed to get them balanced, but your should be pretty close. What type of reflectors are you using?
I use VHO's on my new setup.....easier to work with in my case, but like the T5's as well.......With the T5's make sure you use a good reflector with them......I'd drive either setup VHO's or T5's with an IceCap ballast.....IceCap reflectors for the T5's are nice as well, but their is a legality issue between them and Sunlight Supply right now, so not really sure which reflector you'll find available, but both are good quality, just IceCaps are suppose to be better???? :notsure:
 

zincoxide

Member
I didn't really give much thought to the reflector.
I should mentioned that I am very budget concious so, I need to know what the best & the most cost effective way of doing it.
 

stanlalee

Active Member
those demensions equal a 120gallon tank (90g are 18" wide) but two 250w MH and flourescent actinics will work fine all the same.
 

acrylic51

Active Member
Again either T5 reflector either by Sunlight or IceCap would be good....Don't have an exact cost, but probably close with IceCap probably alittle more......As far as MH's if budget wasn't and issue Lumenarcs all the way, but there are other good reflectors as well.
 

coachklm

Active Member
16" apart and from the outside for even spacing to the bottom of the tank as 250w mh has a 24" spectrum at 18"/20" high i do believe..

and a good supplimental such as a t-5 or 96w pc should take the dark out of the top corners.
 

zincoxide

Member
Originally Posted by Stanlalee
those demensions equal a 120gallon tank (90g are 18" wide) but two 250w MH and flourescent actinics will work fine all the same.
Sorry you are correct... I was going from memory which I measured 2 weeks ago.
 

zincoxide

Member
Originally Posted by coachKLM
16" apart and from the outside for even spacing to the bottom of the tank as 250w mh has a 24" spectrum at 18"/20" high i do believe..

and a good supplimental such as a t-5 or 96w pc should take the dark out of the top corners.
If I did 16" apart wouldn't there be extra light in the center compared to the edges??
 

acrylic51

Active Member
There might be more light concentrated on the center, depending how you mount the bulb/reflector IMO......Not a bad thing though........Do you have the reflectors in hand or still need to order them....I would wait and get lights in hand and then figure spacing, because depending on the MH reflectors you might want to move in or out a bit......
As for supplemental I'd seriously look at the T5's over PC's.....PC's IMO have no punch.....I have them running over my LR curing tank and they are rather boring.......
compared to my VHO's. JMO
 

zincoxide

Member
Originally Posted by acrylic51
There might be more light concentrated on the center, depending how you mount the bulb/reflector IMO......Not a bad thing though........Do you have the reflectors in hand or still need to order them....I would wait and get lights in hand and then figure spacing, because depending on the MH reflectors you might want to move in or out a bit......
As for supplemental I'd seriously look at the T5's over PC's.....PC's IMO have no punch.....I have them running over my LR curing tank and they are rather boring.......
compared to my VHO's. JMO
I don't have anything yet... I'm trying to get my research in before I buy/build. I don't want to do it a second time - I want to make sure I get it right the first time.
Is 2x400W + the 2 VHO's an overkill??
Also, do the type of reflectors really make that much of a difference?
 

acrylic51

Active Member
Honestly (2) 400W MH's is overkill......your getting alittle more light, but will see it definitely in the electric bill....If you want the punch of the 400 per say, you'd be better of going with DE 250W MH's.....They offer the same amount of light output as a 400W SE MH, and save you on electricity and heat as well......
 

zincoxide

Member
It's not that I want the light output of the 400W because honestly I really don't have any idea on the difference. I have never even seen MH in action. I'm just trying to plan for the future. I figured if I ever upgrade my tank to a bigger one, then I could keep the fixtures and the 400W might do better.
If 500w + the 2 VHO are enough for everything I might every want in the future then, I'll just stick with that.
What does the DE250w mean compared to the regular 250w?
PS - I was a little concerned about the electric increase lol.
 

acrylic51

Active Member
Sorry should explain in better detail....SE = Single End.....DE = Double End.
DE is HQI and SE is Mogal base......The 400W MH is way overkill, and you will see the increase in electric, and with heat as well....You can get better output using the DE HQI bulb 250W and get the same with less electric consumption. I'm not a big fan on DE, but it works....I don't like the concept of overdriving a bulb. Using wattage isn't really accurate the figure you should be looking at is total PAR from your bulb. That will vary as welll depending what bulb/ballast combination you choose....You could take the same bulb and run it on 2 entirely different ballasts and get different readings....Like take the XM bulb and run it on a magnetic PFO ballast and you'll get a nice PAR reading, and take that exact same bulb and put it on an IceCap ballast and the PAR reading is rather poor.......so bulb/ballast combination is a key to lighting as well.
 

zincoxide

Member
I called a local electric supply company and they are selling MH 250w SE for 61.25 CAD and the brand is Symban.
Is that okay? Are we talking a big difference for marine life or are we talking about very little difference??
 
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