HELP!!! Question about Lighting?

[nathan797]

I'm purchasing a new 210 gallon aquarium. I will be putting it on an All Glass Aquarium Classic Mission Series Stand with matching canopy. I was originally going to get a ESU 72" 250W Aqualight w/ lunar but it doesn't look like that will fit under the canopy. The LFS guy called AGA and asked about the warranty and modifying the canopy to fit 2 ESU 36" 150W Aqualights. Which brings me to my first question: HOW will the loss of 100W affect my system will this limit me in terms of corals?
And continuing, I'm worried about the system overheating. There doesn't seem to be good ventilation built into the canopy. The LFS guy thinks we can build some fans into the back of the canopy and AGA assured us if things get messed up they will replace the canopy. Will this be enough to keep out excess heat?
I have more questions about equipment that I will post later, but the lighting and heat issue are where I'm at right now...Any and all suggestions would be much appreciated. I really wanna stick with the canopy because it makes the whole stand look so much nicer, I don't think I want to just have the lights mounted on the top with no canopy, but I don't want to sacrifice the quality of the equipment either...

 

[dawman]

That light like many others state in their manual that they are not to be used under a canopy .

 

[dawman]

"HOW will the loss of 100W affect my system will this limit me in terms of corals?"
You won`t be able to keep corals even if you had the 250 watt or two 150 watt lights for that size of a tank .

 

[nathan797]

Let me clarify, the 72" unit has 3X250W and 4x96W. It is not only 1 250W bulb. I'm not sure if you knew what I meant...sorry I didn't describe it well.
I actually found a 36" unit that uses 250W bulbs as well as 96's. Looks like each 36" will have 1 250W and 2x96W. So I would be losing in total 1 250W bulb by dropping down to the 36" units. Will this work?

 

[mightyoxjuice]

Make sure any assurance of replacement is in writing, otherwise no one will know anything about it.

 

[aquaguy24]

if ur tank is kinda tall meaning more then 25 inches or so the loss of 100watts mean u have put ur light craving corals closer to the top i'd go it 3x250..since u have a canopy u can do a retrofit kit saves u money...

 

[symon]

I have a corallife pc combo installed into my canopy, it was not hard to modify , i had to allow the existing fan system in the light fixture to breath, i have some pics maybe it will help.

 

[nathan797]

What are the dimensions of your canopy? I take it you have a 210 as well?

 

[symon]

Originally Posted by Nathan797
What are the dimensions of your canopy? I take it you have a 210 as well?
No this in on my 60 , so 48" wide, I built the canopy so i could include the pc combo intact, as i upgrade i can use this light somewhere else

 

[nathan797]

I'm thinking about putting a 48" Aqualight Pro and a 24" and staggering them to fit nicely, then doing a little modification on the canopy to allow the fans to work properly. I hope this works. I'd prefer to put the 72" unit in, but the guy at the LFS just doesn't think its possible and he'd have to special order the light.

 

[farslayer]

Over my 125G (72") I have a hanging system from Aqua Medic. It has four 250W DE bulbs (soon to be Phoenix 14Ks), and four 39W T5 actinics. The tank is very, very bright and my clams have been thriving. I hung it about 10 inches over the water.

 

[nathan797]

Ok, after some more research. It looks like I would have to use retrofit kits to fit these under my canopy. The problem is the retrofit kits come with 150W bulbs instead of 250.
I don't think the 72" kit will fit underneath my hood. So I'm stuck with 2 36" kits. These each have 1X150W HQI Metal Halide, and
2X65W Compact Fluorescent Actinics, as well as 2 Blue Moon Glow LED Lights. So total over the aquarium I would have 2x150W HQI Metal Halide, and 4 x65 Compact Fluorescent Actinics, and then 4 of the Blue LEDs.
Am I still going to be able to have an awesome reef aquarium with this kind of lighting. Am I severely limiting myself. Aka, no clams or other things that need great amounts of light????

 

[symon]

If you are using a store bought canopy you won't have the room to install the combo kit you want, But with a retro fit kit you can do anything you want, You can buy and install the 250 watt mh VHO or T5 lighting, that's the nice thing about retro kits, you can mix and match the lighting however you wish. The hard part is putting all the wiring together! Good Luck and have fun!