I Need help with lighting please guys

tankfinder

tankfinder

Member
I Have a 90 gal hex. I am cyclying at the moment and it is 24" high and 60" long. I was wondering if 2X250watt metal halide with 2X140 watt vho combo will be enough. They also say I can choose between 10k/14k/ or 20k bulbs. I dont know the difference and need some help. the lighting fixture is 60" which would go in my new (being built) 18" cannopy. I was also wondering if I went with the 175 watt package if that would be enough?????? I was also wondering if i could use a 48" fixture on a 60" length tank for calms and softies
all help is greatly apperiated
 
ebsochin

ebsochin

Member
With a 2' depth I would recomend atleast 250W MH if you are planning SPS or LPS corals. If you are only going to do softies you could get away with the 175W package. As far as the 10K, 20K, etc. this is just a different spectrum. The higher the k, usually the more blue it looks. So if you used 20K MH then you would not necessarily need vho actinics or pc atintics. HTH.
 
fedukeford

fedukeford

Active Member
thats sound like it would be PERFECT....... the hex's are deep so you would need a stronger light and that light is definetly very strong
 
ebsochin

ebsochin

Member
I would go with 3 250W personally. That would give you about 8W/gal. You could keep pretty much anything in there as far as corals go. Where you planning on not using the vho bulbs too? Just from my experience, I have 2 250W 10K MH and 4 160W VHO actintics on my 180. I wish I could have put a third 250W MH but I have a glass brace across the middle and didn't think the light would penetrate well enough. But all in all the mixture of the VHO and MH brings out some awesome colors.
 
E

eaglefan

Guest
2 250's with the vho's would look nice. I have 2 175's and 4 110 vho's on my 110. I built my own canopy and off set the vho's so that the light would hit the whole tank (it's 60" long also and the vho's are 48") I have 3 of the bulbs super actinic for the blue look and 1 daylight. Mh's are 175 xm'x 10,000 k.
 
ktsdad

ktsdad

Member
Have you actually seen the "custom being built" canopy yet?
I just had a tank/stand/canopy cutom built for us.
Our dimensions are 72Wx24Tx30D. So I decided to get a step ahead and ordered
a 72" retrofit kit. The day after I received the unit, I got a call from the tank builder telling me to come get it.
When I got to the builder's, I realized that the canopy top was 2 seperate 3' pieces with a brace down the middle, perpendicular to the lenth of the tank. In other words ---- my new $1200 retrofit kit would not work in anyway! :mad: :mad:
I called the vendor and they let me return them, but I had to eat the shipping (both directions) to the tune of $160!
That is what I got for jumping the gun and not actually waiting until I had the canopy in my hands for measuring BEFORE I order the lights!

It turned out for the better, got more/better lights for the same money. Just had to eat the $160.
Lesson Learned - DON'T ORDER ANY LIGHTS UNTIL YOU ACTUALLY HAVE THE CANOPY OR AT LEAST THE EXACT DIMENSIONS WITH PHOTOS!!!
(sorry for shouting, just wanted to save you from the $160 mistake I made!)
 
maurice

maurice

Member
If i were you i would look into a dual 400w MH setup instead of 3-250w MH.That way you are only buying 2 bulbs instead of 3 everytime,and with that light you can keep anything you ever want and not have to wonder if it will be ok.Good luck
 
mxer485

mxer485

Member
i have 2x250 mh hgi on my 90 gallon tank and it is plenty bright enough and it gives you 5.5 watts per gallon and if you were plannin to put the vho in also you would have no problem what so every but i choose the 20k builds and it gives off that nice blue look cant go wrong at all but if u do go with the MH probally look at putting some money aside for a chiller cause those babes heat my tank up real fast and i have to 3 inch fans that i mounted in my hood to draw hot air out. Good luck
 
tankfinder

tankfinder

Member
thanks for the in put. A buddy of mine is making the cannopy. I gave heim my old one and told Him I want exact same but 18 in. high. thats sucks in your situation though. I think i might go with the 48in. fixture and get 250w and the two vho. I just sure hope I dont burn any carals. I also thought about the 400 but i think that would be a way too much. A lfs told me to use 2X125, or 150's. But I am stuck between the 175 and the 250's. There are just so many dif. options and I dont want to spend 5-700$ and realize i messed up
 
tankfinder

tankfinder

Member
WOW just raed that sorry for the speling guys a plumbing accident left me with 7 stiches so im not typing the best
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top