Advice please

[havoline]

I have a few questions on lighting. Right now my set up is a 90 gallon 48x18x25. It has been set up for about 4 months. Right now I am using 260 watt PC on it. I only have fish in it at the moment. But now I am moving along with my hobby and want to add things to it, such as corals, anemones, and maybe clams in the future. I want to start off easy and work myself up. But every time I get something new I don’t want to have to replace the lighting on the tank. Instead start off with the lighting that will work for anything, and not have to worry about it in the future. So my questions are…
1)With metal halides is there a minimum distance they should be kept above the water? Meaning, in my canopy I only have 11 to 12 inches from the water surface to the top inside of the canopy. Is this enough room?
2)Would 2 250w lights work? Would I need any other supplemental lighting?
3)Would the 8x54 t5s work instead? If so how far off the water should they be?
4)Could I use one of those twisted type 65k bulbs on my refugium? Or do I need something more powerful for that?
5)Any advise on lighting? What color bulbs look good?
Any other advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[fishfreak1242]

Originally Posted by Havoline
http:///forum/post/2650356
I have a few questions on lighting. Right now my set up is a 90 gallon 48x18x25. It has been set up for about 4 months. Right now I am using 260 watt PC on it. I only have fish in it at the moment. But now I am moving along with my hobby and want to add things to it, such as corals, anemones, and maybe clams in the future. I want to start off easy and work myself up. But every time I get something new I don’t want to have to replace the lighting on the tank. Instead start off with the lighting that will work for anything, and not have to worry about it in the future. So my questions are…
1)With metal halides is there a minimum distance they should be kept above the water? Meaning, in my canopy I only have 11 to 12 inches from the water surface to the top inside of the canopy. Is this enough room?
2)Would 2 250w lights work? Would I need any other supplemental lighting?
3)Would the 8x54 t5s work instead? If so how far off the water should they be?
4)Could I use one of those twisted type 65k bulbs on my refugium? Or do I need something more powerful for that?
5)Any advise on lighting? What color bulbs look good?
Any other advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks
11-12" should be plenty of space for metal halides. 2x250w mh would be enough to keep anything in the tank. You could supplement that with T-5 actinics for day to night switchs. 8x54w t-5s would also work, but they do not have the same shimmering look as metal halides. I personally love metal halides, and like the look of the 10k bulbs because they are right in they arent too blue or too yellow looking. A 65k twisty bulb should be fine for your fuge.

 

[mr.m]

Mh is the way to go. I run mine 2x 250 watt 10 inches off the watter and i use no supplemental light. I went with the XM 20k hqi de bulb and love them . Just put some dc fans in your canopy you can get em cheep go to a online putter store 4 to 5 will do you.
Mark

 

[havoline]

With the metal halides, if i run a few fans in my canopy i should be ok with out a chiller? The temp of my tank is pretty stable right now. It stays only about a half a degree variance. From about 78 to 78.5. Would these lights heat my aquarium up anymore? Should i just raise the temp up a few degrees to be safe? I heard of people going all the way up to around 81 or even more. If i do need to raise the temp, should i do it over a slow period of time like a half a degree every day or so, or just raise it up all at once? I only have a couple of clowns, a coral beauty , two firefish and snails and two shrimp. No corals yet.