HELP with lighting!!!!!!!!!!

[todd5050]

O.K., here is the deal. I have a 150 Gallon I am putting in the wall. I am going with a FOWLR and can't make up my mind on my lighting. I have narrowed it down to a Coralife 4x96w Lunar PC hood or for a few hundred more, I can buy a Hamilton 4x160w VHO hood. My question is do I really need the power of the vHo's for FOWLR? Can I get away with the pc's? Will it be enough light to reach the bottom(28" tall tank)? Please help me, I need to buy soon. Everyday I change my mind. I want to make the right decision. Thanks ahead of time for your opinion.

 

[bdhough]

You will be much happier with 6' VHO's.....
Buy an IceCap ballast and you could do 2 or 3 rather than 4. Then at least you have the option of going from 2 to 3 to 4 bulbs over your tank.....
Unless this is a 4' tank. In which case a 4' pc fixture might do. The bottom might look a bit dim as well as the sides though....
Either way a VHO fixture might serve you better since you'll have the option of going from 2-4 bulbs.
Another question is canopy or no?

 

[todd5050]

I have no canopy. Is it easy to build your own canopy to house the VHO's? Do I buy a retrofit and build a canopy? Do I make it out of wood?

 

[bdhough]

Yes on all accounts or you can buy a prebuilt fixture from some online stores.
Is your tank 4 feet or 6 feet though?

 

[snipe]

For a FOWLR you could use any light you want. I would use powercompacts. There cheaper and you get good light and it looks good. You could use reg flouro lights if you wanted but the powercompacts will just make it brighter and make the fish stand out. If you did flouro's use 50/50 bulbs. There is no need to spend $400 hundred bucks on lights for a Fish Only tank.

 

[todd5050]

My tank is 6 feet. I am thinking of going with the PC's and save myself some money. Thanks for all your help, guys.

 

[reefraff]

If you are going FOWLR PC's are a waste of money. You should be able to get Normal Output fluorescent tubes that will do well. They will last longer, use less electric and produce less heat. If your tank will be in the wall you really don't need a premade fixture. Just get ballasts and endcaps and mount them in a frame above the tank.

 

[snipe]

But for the tank it will be brighter than with reg NO lights.

 

[todd5050]

If I were to go with regular flourescents, what bulbs should I use and how many should I use over my tank(72x18x28)?

 

[cowfishrule]

they always start off as FOWLR's, but then they get bitten by the coral bug. if you certainly have no desire to go into any type of corals and with to have only fish and critters, then go with normal flourescents. head on down to your lfs and pick up some perfecto strip lights. why spend the money on the lighting, when that could go for an upgraded skimmer?
however, since you have a big tank already, the coral bug may come to bite you. so if you think you may want to go with corals in the future, then go get yourself some diy metal halide pieces and do it right the first time.
seriously, measure 2x, cut once.
because your gonna set up for a FOWLR, then want to keep a few corals, so your gonna spend $$$ for lighting upgrade that you dont have at the moment, which you had in the beginning.
.... TRUST ME

 

[reefraff]

I know of something else that would work, 6 foot long T5 fluorescents. The lamps come premounted in a frame with end caps, you would just have to mount 2 clips and the fixture just snaps into them. You get a ballast (purchased seperate) that plugs right into a connecter on the lamp frame, simple installation. I don't know the price on the ballasts but the lamps are on sale for about 20 bucks right now depending on the color, Actinic blue is 20 and change and the daylights are 16 and change, good price for a six foot long aquarium lamp. As long as they aren't trying to get 60 or 70 bucks a ballast this could be a sweet deal and at least worth checking out. These aren't as bright as the T5's with the razoo reflectors (or as expensive) but 3 or 4 of them would be way good enough for FOWLR and maybe even some low light corals.
If you are interested pop me an e-mail and I'll give you a website to try. stevelarsen00@hotmail.com

 

[bang guy]

If you're putting the tank in the wall then don't bother with a canopy. Just build a frame made of 3/4" PVC and hang the lighting from it.

 

[todd5050]

Thanks guys for all your input. My big problem is that I want to go with coral, but right now I don't want to spend a ton of money on them. I have other hobbies(cars!!) and just don't want to dump a ton more money on the tank. It is enough spending the $thousands$ for a FOWLR. I may change my mind, but for now it is only fish.
Will I see a difference in the look of the tank between PC's and NO's? Will the PC's be more appealing?

 

[snipe]

A HUGE diffrence. I had 2 50/50 NO lights and I upgraded to PC lights and 1 PC light can outdue the the NO with no problem. Its just brighter making the fish stand out more. If I was to go with NO lights I would get 50/50 bulbs there brighter than reg bulbs. If your gonna go corals eventually you should by the right lights the first time. For such a big tank I wouldnt go anything shorter than MH "Metal Halide". I would get metal halide pendents probly 2 to start and have 4 at the end or at least 3. TJMO