Have a simple lighting question

[rdonnelly7]

I am slowly building my tank and eventullay plan to start keeping some low to moderate corals. My tank setup is detailed below along with a few pictures of my current setup. I am currently running power compacts that sit about 4" off the surface of the water. I want to suspend the lights completely so that they do not rest on top of the tank at all but want to know exactly how high off the water surface the lights can be if want to keep moderate type corals. My tank is 30" high.
PS - This forum is no joke. Everyone here seems to be really cool and helpful. Hopefully some day I'll be advanced enough to start giving some sound advice.
TANK
All glass aquarium = 220 gallons – Dimensions = 72”L x 30”H x 24”D, hang-on overflow box.
FILTRATION
MegaFlow 4 Wet/Dry sump w/ bio-balls w/ Mag Drive Model 12 (1200 GPH) return pump.
Nautilus TE in-sump protein Skimmer (Kent) w/ Mag Drive Model 7 (700 GPH).
Phosban Reactor 150 – Feeds off return pump.
HEATERS
2 – Jalli 500W Titanium Heaters w/ controllers.
POWER HEADS
4 – Maxi Jet 1200 (295GPH) Power Heads + head from return pump.
LIGHTING
72” Orbit 6x96w Power Compact - 4 Dual Daylight 6,700k/10,000k Lamp 2 - Dual Actinic 420nm/460nm Lamp
72” Orbit 4x96w Power Compact - 2 Dual Daylight 6,700k/10,000k Lamp 2 - Dual Actinic 420nm/460nm Lamp
Total Lighting - 6 Dual Daylight 6,700k/10,000k Lamp - 4 Dual Actinic 420nm/460nm Lamp
LIVE ROCK - Currently 150 lbs.
SUBSTRATE – 100 lbs Bio Active Live Aragonite Reef Sand.
FISH
•1 Red Coris Wrasse
•1 Orange Collar Wrasse
•1 California Sting Ray
•2 Percula Clowns
•10 Blue Chromis Damsels

 

[gordie9]

Unfortunately, I can't add advice as I am basically a newbie as well and only have the FOWLR. Just wanted to second your thoughts on this forum. Lots of good advice here. Also, your tank looks awesome - very nice setup. Good luck stepping it up. It looks like you have a lot of potential there!

 

[littlebuck]

just to help you out a little bit. IF you want to keep corals you might want to look at getting some MH Because the size of your tank. will casue the amount of PCs on your tank to not really do what they should. Just my .02 cents. Plus you will save alot of money when u try to buy bulbs and also on the light bill. Hope that helps. Also with corals and stuff you might want to look at getting some more Live Sand and also some LR. It will help with the filtration. good luck and nice looknig tank. cant wait to see pics once you get it all set up.

 

[lubeck]

To answer your question, I would keep them no more than 6 inches off the water. I have 260w pc fixture that sits right on the tank so I get full penetration. My tank is also 30inches but I have a 110 extra tall. I wanted to get corals as well so I upgraded to 2-250w 10k and 1-150w 20k plus I have the pc fixture. I wanted to be sure I would not have to keep upgrading lights so I just bought it. I love your tank, I can't wait for my next upgrade. I am thinking 280 and up, once i hit the lottery. (the problem is I don't play lottery)

 

[rdonnelly7]

Thanks for the advice. I have been debating big time about going for MH lights. The only problem is that I already invested in the first PC setup before I know how much I wanted to do a reef tank. If I didn't have an accountant for a wife it would be a done deal, but I have to make her understand just how important a light upgrade would be. She has been mad cool to date with all of the stuff I've bought already, just over 6K, but I think I might try and push for it. I could probably get a good price for the PC lights on ----. Definitely plan to add another 50lbs of live rock within the next month. Haven't really thought about adding more sand. The guy at the LFS said 100lbs was enough for the size of my tank, which is only about 1 -1 1/2", everything I researched so far suggests a deeper bed. So I definitely plan to add some more sand as well.
ANY SUGGESTIONS FOR A MH LIGHT SETUP?

 

[xoxox]

You could keep lower level light requiring things like mushrooms but for any light intensive coral your gonna need a powerful punch to reach a 30 inch bottom. If I had your tank I'd go with 2 - 400 watt DE HQIs. Contrary to popular belief, the watt to gallon ratio might be a good general rule of thumb but the real difference is in height of the tank and how much water the light has to pass through to get to the bottom.

 

[hkdonreefs]

You should be able to keep anything but sps. I had power compacts on a 200 with less wattage than you had a brain, slipper, bubble, and a carpet they did great.

 

[joksta]

i have a power compact on my tank right now (it is only a 50 gallon) and i have a pagoda, fiji leather , zoos, colt, frawgspawn and they are doing great. so i would say that soft corals like those would be fine.

 

[rdonnelly7]

Thanks for the repsonses. I knew that I would not be able to keep sps corals with the PCs. For right now I am more than content with setup that I have. Does anyone see an issue with the depth of tank being 30" if I suspend my lighting to 6" from the water surface?

 

[schenkel]

Just one more opinion. I am currently cycling my new 72 bow for a reef tank. Why don't you start with some low light stuff just to get the hang of it first. Then take the wife to lfs and when she says oh thats pretty. Tell her you can't have it in the tank till you get m/h. If she buys in, it will take the sting out of it..............maybe

 

[lockemup]

Originally Posted by rdonnelly7
Thanks for the repsonses. I knew that I would not be able to keep sps corals with the PCs. For right now I am more than content with setup that I have. Does anyone see an issue with the depth of tank being 30" if I suspend my lighting to 6" from the water surface?
I thought there was a post a while back that suggested a minimum of 10 watts per inch of depth so you can get penetration.

 

[rdonnelly7]

Originally Posted by schenkel
Just one more opinion. I am currently cycling my new 72 bow for a reef tank. Why don't you start with some low light stuff just to get the hang of it first. Then take the wife to lfs and when she says oh thats pretty. Tell her you can't have it in the tank till you get m/h. If she buys in, it will take the sting out of it..............maybe
The really is a good idea. I actually kind of did that when I bought the Orange Collar Wrasse. I knew I might catch a little heat for going to the lfs, so I brought the wife and the baby. My wife loved the Wrasse, wasn't my first choice, but I figured she liked it so I brought to make her happy. That was probably the only time I went to the lfs without catching heat, and I love the Wrasse, he is just a mad cool fish. Thanks!

 

[misfit]

I have just about the same set set up tank and sump.Im running 2 10,000 K 65w pc with 2 65 w actinics and 3 X 250 w HQI DE and I have clams leathers mushrooms ect heres a pic.
Where in jersey are you any where near toms river.

 

[rdonnelly7]

Misfit, very nice tank. I'm in Matawan, just off GSP exit 120. How hot do your MH lights run and do you have any problems with your temp? That's one big fear I have about MH especially because of my setup enclosed in the wall. I really do not have any ventilation for heat to exit. In the summer my PCs fluxuate the temp 3 degrees from 80 - 83. Now in the Winter only 2 degrees 77 - 79. My fear would be getting to hot in the summer and then needing a chiller. That would be two pretty nice size investments back to back.

 

[misfit]

Right now my tank stays 77-79 tops with all the lights on.I have 4 fans in my canopy.I closed off the back and have 2 fans blowing in and 2 fans pulling the heat out.If you can get fans in the top or the back that will work. The only problem i have with heat is right before summer and after when we keep the windows open the temp get to like 80 - 82 im trying to figure out a like thermostat of some sorts for the water when it reaches like 80 the fans will kick on automaticlly instead of keeping an eye on it all day.I've only done a litte bit of research so far,and need to get my butt in gear on it cause by the time i get it started it will be winter again.How do you like the sump im not too impressed with it but right now it does work untill I DIY one.If you want email me soon as I am going to be fragging some pieces in my tank.

 

[rdonnelly7]

I actually like this sump a lot. Then again, this is my first tank, and I have only had it for about 6 months. I actually started with an Aquatics Pro Clear 200 W/ Protein Skimmer, and it was horrible. The protein skimmer was a pain to clean, the only room for heaters and carbon was under the bio balls. To get to this area you have to take out the return pump. The Megaflow 4 is nice in size, you have a ton of room to do stuff. Its real easy to clean an work with. As far as wet/dry sumps on the market, I thought it was a good purchase, I am really happy with it. What issues do you have yours that you don't like it?