How many MHs' for a 125g for those of you with 6ft tanks

[kpatrick]

Okay I recently purchased 2 Lumen Max 3 - 250w HQI reflectors with 14K Phoeniz bulbs. They are on my 125g tank which is 6ft long. At first I thought this may be enough light to get by but the more I look at the tank I almost feel that I need a 3rd reflector.
For those of you that have 6ft long tanks, do you have 2 or 3 reflectors for your reef tank? I hate to waste money on a 3rd setup if its going to be overkill. The tank is for soft corals and LPS.

 

[gio28]

IMO, for soft and LPS that should be enough. for SPS or clams another would probably be best. or if you decide to go with the SPS later you could always just retro some actinic T5HOs and then you would get the dawn/dusk effect was well as extra light. but for what you have i think its fine...but wait to see what others have to say since i do not have a 125g

 

[chilwil84]

the problem with 6 foot tanks is the 2 braces. you could easily use 2 reflectors for your purposes but the light wouldnt be evenly distributed due to the ideal locations for 2 reflectors is where the braces are.

 

[btldreef]

Since you're sticking with soft coral and LPS, you should be fine. However, if you decide to do SPS, you'll need the third. Most people say that there should be 3 on a 6ft. 3 was way too expensive and I ended up going with T5HO's instead on my 6ft.

 

[bmkj02]

My 125 doesnt have any braces on top as it is 3/4 inch glass. Made by AGA. I have 2 x 400watts MH plus 4 x 65w T5HO Actinics lights

 

[kpatrick]

Hey bmkj02,
What Kelvin are your MH bulbs? I only have room for (2) of the T5 actinics along with my (2) 250w 14k MH bulbs. Do you think (2) actinic T5 bulbs would be enough to see the color difference with my MHs? If so them I may just get the T5s and forget the 3rd MH pendant.

 

[bmkj02]

My MH are 10k plus my 4 x 65w Actinics. Not enough blue for me but I also dont have good reflectors on my T5HO's. I am going to get some reflector individually for them and see. If it doesnt work then I will step it up to 14k's like you have but you are also using HQI bulds which are double ended opposed to my single ended bulb. IMO I think the single ended produce a little more light. I am thinking you will probably need to get a 3rd light since you also have the braces to fight with or instead of using the 2 actinics T5's go with T5HO 14k bulbs. To tell you the truth. Lighting is not were my experience is. I went looking at Craigs for warehouses selling their MH lights and used its 400w ballast and just got the bulbs and I was done. Spent less than $200 on the whole set up as the reflectors I got used at the LFS. I can throw anything in my tank.