Let's talk watts.

[tankboy07]

I have a 90gal in the works. I plan to make it a reef tank and wish to keep corals, anemones and fish. I want to know a number on how many watts will do well for the tank. The base/liverock set up with allow me to put lower light needed corals toward the bottom and higher light needed corals toward the top.
I've gone from LFS to LFS and come up with many differnet ideas, products and opinions. I'm waiting to buy until I know exactly what I need. Do I need lunar lights? What is the purpose of lunar lights?
I've been looking at the Nova Extreme Pro too...I just don't know.

 

[grue]

Length of tank? MHO 1 250w Metal halide per 2'X2' area. IF your into blue (20K lighting) then 1 400w metal Halide per 2'X2' area. So if your tank is 4'X2' then 2X 250w in either 10k, 12k, 14k or 15k. IF your tank is 6'X2' I would go 250w at 10 or 12k then an 400w at 20k then a 250w at 10 or 12k. In addition to all of this I would add 2 t5 atinic bulbs to set it all off. With a 20k I know you dont need atinics. But I LOVE having the ability to have a cool blue light on. My Atinics come on at 10am and go off at 10 pm. My 2X250 mh come on at 1pm and off at 9pm. Yup only 8 hours. My 2 Cents
Grue

 

[suv]

Lunar lights are just for night time looks, from what I've been told. I have them and they do look cool, It alows you to see the reef at night.

 

[tankboy07]

Originally Posted by Grue
http:///forum/post/2749782
Length of tank? MHO 1 250w Metal halide per 2'X2' area. IF your into blue (20K lighting) then 1 400w metal Halide per 2'X2' area. So if your tank is 4'X2' then 2X 250w in either 10k, 12k, 14k or 15k. IF your tank is 6'X2' I would go 250w at 10 or 12k then an 400w at 20k then a 250w at 10 or 12k. In addition to all of this I would add 2 t5 atinic bulbs to set it all off. With a 20k I know you dont need atinics. But I LOVE having the ability to have a cool blue light on. My Atinics come on at 10am and go off at 10 pm. My 2X250 mh come on at 1pm and off at 9pm. Yup only 8 hours. My 2 Cents
Grue
Wow. The tank is 48in by 18in. You've totally lost me by the way.

 

[grue]

Ok. 1st 48X18 tank with 17.5" of water in it is only 65 ish gallons.
Here is a calculator to check for yourself http://reef.diesyst.com/volcalc/volcalc.html Fot this sized tank I would use 2 lights 2 Metal halides rated at 250 watts each. The color of the lights are expressed in a K value. 20,000 is 20k which is very blue 10,000 is expressed as 10k is very white. So 12k is bluer than 10k but not as blue as 20k.
IF you are using 2 250 watt 10k lights you will want to give a bit of blue light to help the corals. I believe the blue lights (Atinice) simulate 40 Feet of water. That is where alot of the corals are collected from. So I would also use 2 Attinic bulbs. The atinic bulbs come in PC (Power compact) Style (Holders) Or a bit stronger T-5 Which is like a flourcent bulb. There is a ton of info in the newbie section about lighting. My2 Cents Good luck
Grue

 

[sman]

FYI, that is the base of a 90 (48x18), they are 24 tall. Total volume roughly 89.7 us gallons, if your calculator is correct.

 

[rs1831]

I would do 2X250 halides.

 

[wangotango]

Either two 250w halides with or without actinic supplimentation (up to you), the 7-bulb Aquactinics Constellation T5ho fixture, or the 8-bulb TEK T5ho fixture would be good choices.
Halide pros: shimmer
T5 pros: run cooler, more mix and match options
All depends on how much you want to spend.
-Justin

 

[sman]

Not to jack the thread but im getting a canopy for my 90 and am kinda in the process of researching all this as well, what is cheaper to run? Or is it just all in the wattage?

 

[wangotango]

Originally Posted by sman
http:///forum/post/2749937
Not to jack the thread but im getting a canopy for my 90 and am kinda in the process of researching all this as well, what is cheaper to run? Or is it just all in the wattage?
A watt is a watt as far as consumption. A good 250w halide bulb will cost between $60-80, and need to be replaced every 10 months or so. A good 48" T5ho bulb is between $20-25 and needs to be replaced every 12-18 months. If temperature becomes an issue with the halides, you might need a chiller which uses a lot of juice too.
-Justin

 

[salt210]

researching on this site has told me that a very good T5 setup running individual reflectors would be comparable to a MH setup

 

[stanlalee]

lets simplify. too keep what you want to keep you need two 250w metal halides or a good individually reflected T5 with 6 or more 54w bulbs. Extreme pro will "probably" be sufficient but bulb upgrades from the stock bulbs would be highly recommended. Lunar lights do nothing. just look cool when the main lights are shut down.

 

[tankboy07]

Originally Posted by Stanlalee
http:///forum/post/2750428
lets simplify. too keep what you want to keep you need two 250w metal halides or a good individually reflected T5 with 6 or more 54w bulbs. Extreme pro will "probably" be sufficient but bulb upgrades from the stock bulbs would be highly recommended. Lunar lights do nothing. just look cool when the main lights are shut down.
Okay, I've been looking at the Nova Extreme Pro, but that is only 4 daylight and 4 antic. I don't like the MH lights especially with problems I've read with overheating.

 

[stanlalee]

Originally Posted by tankboy07
http:///forum/post/2750629
Okay, I've been looking at the Nova Extreme Pro, but that is only 4 daylight and 4 antic. I don't like the MH lights especially with problems I've read with overheating.

heat with MH is entirely dependent on the ventilation of your canopy and sump, room temperature and heat created by other pumps. I have two 150w over a 30g with no chiller or overheating. last tank had two 175w MH with no chiller or overheating.
the extreme pro only comes in a 6 bulb configuration. If it has 8 bulbs its the nova extreme not the "pro". Only the pro has indivually contoured reflectors for each bulb and though it has 2 less bulbs its superior to the 8 bulb extreme (and cheaper I think). You should upgrade all those bulbs anyway with UVL, ATI or geissman bulbs so what it comes with is not important.

 

[cveverly]

For a 90 gallon I would use a TEK Light T-5 48" Fixture 8 x 54W lamps for 432 watts. If you want halide I would run two 250 watt fixtures. I like T5 but both will work very well.

 

[aquaguy24]

i have a 90g. same demenions..a little of 2' deep..i have 2x250w MH 4x54w actinics.i i have no worries with coral placement..very happy with it..i have no overheating issue..i use a fan to blow air across the top..no chiller..my temp stays at 80-81 degress allday..