how long is a standard 90 gallon?
- Thread starter mopar9012
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emperor11
Active Member
I believe the exact dimensions, (LxWxH) are 48x18x24. As far as the 300 watts of PC go..thats only 3 wpg. It really depends on what you want to keep. If you only want lower light softies (leathers, but no toadstools), mushrooms, or non-photosynthetic inverts, then you're fine. Or if you want a FOWLR. But if you want LPS, SPS, or clams, or anemones, you're going to need a lot more light.
mopar9012
Active Member
Originally Posted by Emperor11
I believe the exact dimensions, (LxWxH) are 48x18x24. As far as the 300 watts of PC go..thats only 3 wpg. It really depends on what you want to keep. If you only want lower light softies (leathers, but no toadstools), mushrooms, or non-photosynthetic inverts, then you're fine. Or if you want a FOWLR. But if you want LPS, SPS, or clams, or anemones, you're going to need a lot more light.
okay well i was looking at some lighting and i found a 400 watt MH lighting and i was going to maybe get a 250 watt of pc lights..could i keep anything like LPS or SPS with that?
thanks for the measurements everyone.
I believe the exact dimensions, (LxWxH) are 48x18x24. As far as the 300 watts of PC go..thats only 3 wpg. It really depends on what you want to keep. If you only want lower light softies (leathers, but no toadstools), mushrooms, or non-photosynthetic inverts, then you're fine. Or if you want a FOWLR. But if you want LPS, SPS, or clams, or anemones, you're going to need a lot more light.
okay well i was looking at some lighting and i found a 400 watt MH lighting and i was going to maybe get a 250 watt of pc lights..could i keep anything like LPS or SPS with that?
thanks for the measurements everyone.
emperor11
Active Member
Originally Posted by mopar9012
okay well i was looking at some lighting and i found a 400 watt MH lighting and i was going to maybe get a 250 watt of pc lights..could i keep anything like LPS or SPS with that?
thanks for the measurements everyone.
250 watts of PC? Not MH? If you don't want to have to worry about what you can and can't keep, just get a 400 watt MH and a 250 watt MH, and you'll have 7wpg of MH. Then you could keep ANYTHING. Thats what I'd do...you can get those fairly cheap if you look around for retrofit kits...
okay well i was looking at some lighting and i found a 400 watt MH lighting and i was going to maybe get a 250 watt of pc lights..could i keep anything like LPS or SPS with that?
thanks for the measurements everyone.
250 watts of PC? Not MH? If you don't want to have to worry about what you can and can't keep, just get a 400 watt MH and a 250 watt MH, and you'll have 7wpg of MH. Then you could keep ANYTHING. Thats what I'd do...you can get those fairly cheap if you look around for retrofit kits...
mopar9012
Active Member
MH retrofits...i think im going to buy a 400 watt Kit w/ Ballast, and 400W 4000K Bulb and then a 250 watt Kit w/ Ballast, and 250W 4300K Bulb.
they are both retrofits. is that okay? can i still keep anything?
im not sure how many bulbs. but i think te 175 watt kit comes with one bulb.
they are both retrofits. is that okay? can i still keep anything?
im not sure how many bulbs. but i think te 175 watt kit comes with one bulb.
emperor11
Active Member
Originally Posted by mopar9012
MH retrofits...i think im going to buy a 400 watt Kit w/ Ballast, and 400W 4000K Bulb and then a 250 watt Kit w/ Ballast, and 250W 4300K Bulb.
they are both retrofits. is that okay? can i still keep anything?
im not sure how many bulbs. but i think te 175 watt kit comes with one bulb.
By how many bulbs..I was just curious..because some come with more than just one bulb insert. Your plan sounds REALLY good, except for the bulb choice. A 4000k and a 4300k bulb is going to be EXTREMELY yellow, and your algae is going to grow like crazy. Personally, I like the 14000k or the 20000k. I wouldn't get the 10000k because then you need to supplement with actinic bulbs of VHO or PC, which costs more money than its worth, imo.
MH retrofits...i think im going to buy a 400 watt Kit w/ Ballast, and 400W 4000K Bulb and then a 250 watt Kit w/ Ballast, and 250W 4300K Bulb.
they are both retrofits. is that okay? can i still keep anything?
im not sure how many bulbs. but i think te 175 watt kit comes with one bulb.
By how many bulbs..I was just curious..because some come with more than just one bulb insert. Your plan sounds REALLY good, except for the bulb choice. A 4000k and a 4300k bulb is going to be EXTREMELY yellow, and your algae is going to grow like crazy. Personally, I like the 14000k or the 20000k. I wouldn't get the 10000k because then you need to supplement with actinic bulbs of VHO or PC, which costs more money than its worth, imo.
mopar9012
Active Member
okay. Im sure glad you told me because i would have probably just forgot about what color it will be.
I found another Retro Fit kit. It has 400 watts of MH lighting and comes with a 20 k bulb, isnt that a blue color? If I buy that and then I buy the 250 watt Kit w/ Ballast, and 250W 4300K Bulb, will the tank be a good over all color?
I found another Retro Fit kit. It has 400 watts of MH lighting and comes with a 20 k bulb, isnt that a blue color? If I buy that and then I buy the 250 watt Kit w/ Ballast, and 250W 4300K Bulb, will the tank be a good over all color?
jessecnc
Member
Using 2 different wattage MH on the same tank will not look very good at all, nor will it be as effective. One side of the tank will be much brighter than the other. The 400W is also a little overkill for a 24" deep 90gal. Go with 2 250W MH and you will plenty of light, plus it will be evenly lit. One of each is just bad advise and probably asking for trouble.
You'll want 1 MH bulb per 2' of tank. Having both in the middle will REALLY look bad!
As for color, the 4300K is VERY yellow and not all that useful of a spectrum. If you like your tanks on the blue side I recommend 14K. If you like a crisp white check out something like the Ushio 10K. Unless you want more blue, or a lighting transition throughout the day, there is NO need to suppliment with actinic.
You'll want 1 MH bulb per 2' of tank. Having both in the middle will REALLY look bad!
As for color, the 4300K is VERY yellow and not all that useful of a spectrum. If you like your tanks on the blue side I recommend 14K. If you like a crisp white check out something like the Ushio 10K. Unless you want more blue, or a lighting transition throughout the day, there is NO need to suppliment with actinic.
emperor11
Active Member
That sounds like a plan, but I think even having the 400watt 20k and then the 250 watt 4300k, is quite a change, and I don't think it would look right. I would look for a 250 watt with either a 14000k or a 20000k bulb. So, I would definetly purchase the 400 watt kit you found, but keep looking on the 250 watt one. Just out of curiosity, are these HQI (double ended) or single ended? It really doesn't matter, they both work very well, I am just curious. And, IMO, 400 watts over a 90 is not overkill. A 90 gallon is 24" deep, therefore you need a fair amount of light, so it penetrates well to the bottom. On a 55 or 75, YES it would be overkill, but thats only because those tanks are 18" deep, as opposed to 24".
emperor11
Active Member
I totally agree on the spectrum thing, and I just told him that in my last post, but one 400 watt and one 250 watt is fine! In fact, have you seen Oceana's beautiful reef? When he had his 140, he had two 250 watters, and one 400 watter. And it looked great! Mixing wattages isn't a problem, IMO, but spectrum differences, are.
mopar9012
Active Member
Originally Posted by JesseCNC
Using 2 different wattage MH on the same tank will not look very good at all, nor will it be as effective. One side of the tank will be much brighter than the other. The 400W is also a little overkill for a 24" deep 90gal. Go with 2 250W MH and you will plenty of light, plus it will be evenly lit. One of each is just bad advise and probably asking for trouble.
You'll want 1 MH bulb per 2' of tank. Having both in the middle will REALLY look bad!
As for color, the 4300K is VERY yellow and not all that useful of a spectrum. If you like your tanks on the blue side I recommend 14K. If you like a crisp white check out something like the Ushio 10K. Unless you want more blue, or a lighting transition throughout the day, there is NO need to suppliment with actinic.
i want one bulb per 2 inches of tank? thats a l lot of bulbs.
what type of bulbs do you have? 10 k or 14k. i dont want my tank to be yellow. and i really dont want my tank to be just blue lighting. would 10k be in between? so ill get 2 250W MH.
Using 2 different wattage MH on the same tank will not look very good at all, nor will it be as effective. One side of the tank will be much brighter than the other. The 400W is also a little overkill for a 24" deep 90gal. Go with 2 250W MH and you will plenty of light, plus it will be evenly lit. One of each is just bad advise and probably asking for trouble.
You'll want 1 MH bulb per 2' of tank. Having both in the middle will REALLY look bad!
As for color, the 4300K is VERY yellow and not all that useful of a spectrum. If you like your tanks on the blue side I recommend 14K. If you like a crisp white check out something like the Ushio 10K. Unless you want more blue, or a lighting transition throughout the day, there is NO need to suppliment with actinic.
i want one bulb per 2 inches of tank? thats a l lot of bulbs.
what type of bulbs do you have? 10 k or 14k. i dont want my tank to be yellow. and i really dont want my tank to be just blue lighting. would 10k be in between? so ill get 2 250W MH.
emperor11
Active Member
Originally Posted by mopar9012
i want one bulb per 2 inches of tank? thats a l lot of bulbs.
what type of bulbs do you have? 10 k or 14k. i dont want my tank to be yellow. and i really dont want my tank to be just blue lighting. would 10k be in between? so ill get 2 250W MH.
NO!!! lol..its one bulb per 2 FEET of tank..so you'd need two bulbs. I like 20k..they're not like actinic blue, they're white with a bit of blue tint. They're what I personally prefer. Check out some of Oceana's threads, he uses 20k bulbs. 2x250 watt MH would work as well.
i want one bulb per 2 inches of tank? thats a l lot of bulbs.
what type of bulbs do you have? 10 k or 14k. i dont want my tank to be yellow. and i really dont want my tank to be just blue lighting. would 10k be in between? so ill get 2 250W MH.
NO!!! lol..its one bulb per 2 FEET of tank..so you'd need two bulbs. I like 20k..they're not like actinic blue, they're white with a bit of blue tint. They're what I personally prefer. Check out some of Oceana's threads, he uses 20k bulbs. 2x250 watt MH would work as well.
unleashed
Active Member
i would recomend 2 250 w mh 14k- 20 k not the the 400 with your tank size you can go either size but 250 should suffice .i use 400 wat 20k which are as blue as actinics and i do also suppliment with actinics during off peek hrs thy look the same in coloring as the 20k mh but give lower heat and draw less power to run,my MH run 3-4 hrs a day the rest is VHO
emperor11
Active Member
Originally Posted by unleashed
i would recomend 2 250 w mh 14k- 20 k not the the 400 with your tank size you can go either size but 250 should suffice .i use 400 wat 20k which are as blue as actinics and i do also suppliment with actinics during off peek hrs thy look the same in coloring as the 20k mh but give lower heat and draw less power to run,my MH run 3-4 hrs a day the rest is VHO
But, he's not using VHO..so he can compensate the heat with using 20k bulbs. And, I don't believe different color temperatures run cooler or hotter than others. And, I've never seen a 20k that looks like an actinic bulb. What brand is it? The 14k's are okay, but I prefer just a bit more blue tint, the 14k's alone are just too white.
i would recomend 2 250 w mh 14k- 20 k not the the 400 with your tank size you can go either size but 250 should suffice .i use 400 wat 20k which are as blue as actinics and i do also suppliment with actinics during off peek hrs thy look the same in coloring as the 20k mh but give lower heat and draw less power to run,my MH run 3-4 hrs a day the rest is VHO
But, he's not using VHO..so he can compensate the heat with using 20k bulbs. And, I don't believe different color temperatures run cooler or hotter than others. And, I've never seen a 20k that looks like an actinic bulb. What brand is it? The 14k's are okay, but I prefer just a bit more blue tint, the 14k's alone are just too white.