Lighting over a 29gal reef

[mauldus]

Hi guys 'n gals. This is what I'm planning (tank is not even filled yet) and I'd like to see what yall think.
I'd like to start out with some button/colony polyps, shrooms and maybe a kenya and then get some SPS hards later on after I've had practice.
I'm looking at a 4x24" VHO retrofit to go in a custom hood (not yet built) so I can give it the proper space to cool if I need to. I may also end up with a 20 gal fuge on there to add to the water volume and cooling.
As far as bulbs, I was thinking either the 2 aquasun 2 actinic mix or 1 aquasun 1 50/50, 2 actinic mix if the other config was too bright.
So, what do yall think? Is 300w too much light? Heat problem? I can make the hood as tall as I want and can put in fans if necissary. I can build in shade in the LR for the low light guys on the bottom. Opinions are welcome.
Thanks!

 

[nm reef]

Either combination of VHO's over a 29 would be a very good light source. Your coral options would be large enough to easily build a very sweet reef. But...your SPS selections would be rather limited at best. Also keep in mind that all coral will require much more than simply adaquate lighting. Factors such as circulation/water chemistry play a large part in a successful reef.

“May your brush with captive marine fishes and invertebrates enhance your appreciation of the living world, inspire you to share your experiences with others, and foster stewardship of our planet”
nmreef@cox.net

 

[j21kickster]

you could always buy the lighting setup im selling- its brandnew- ne3ver been used
175 10K Ushio
2 55 actinic pcs
ballasts for the MH and PC (ARO)
4 1/2 " cooling fan

 

[mauldus]

But...your SPS selections would be rather limited at best.
NM reef, limited by what and how so?
Factors such as circulation/water chemistry play a large part in a successful reef.
Certainly. I already have a emporer 400 for circulation, carbon, phos. absorption, and basic filtering. Will invest in a skimmer soon and 1-2 probably small powerheads. I don't want a typhoon in there, but enough to get a good exchange going. I'll be starting out with RO/DI also and keeping a watch/supplementing all the important elements.
j21kickster: Nice setup. Drop me a line and let's discuss it further. stanf005@bama.ua.edu

 

[jim27]

NM reef, limited by what and how so?
A majority of SPS corals need the penetrating power of MH to thrive. Personally I think that 175w halide w/ 55w PC's j21kickster talked about would be great lighting.

 

[mauldus]

JIM27,I think that 175w halide w/ 55w PC's j21kickster talked about would be great lighting.
Better than the VHO's because it would penetrate the tall tank better?
Thanks BTW, for everyone's advice. Yall have been so helpful to me in this new hobby.

 

[j21kickster]

MH has much more penetration than any flourscent bulb- weather it be PC or VHO- with that lighting you could keep many corals providing the other tank conditions are favorable- i will email you in the morning- im aboubt to pass out imm so tired- see ya

 

[nm reef]

In response...the majority of SPS corals will require the intensity of MH's to do well. They may survive under less than MH...but most information I've seen suggests they do much better under the intensity of MH's.
I have managed to keep a few very healthy SPS type corals in my system...but the vast majority of SPS corals would not do well under my current lighting.If you intend to keep SPS corals then the lighting source needs to be on the intense side and calcium/alkalinity needs to be monitored/maintained...there simply is no way around it if you intend to keep thriving/healthy SPS corals.
I'd suggest a search on site here for anything related to SPS corals...I believe you'll find a lot of threads that provide additional info on requirements and care of SPS corals.
Good luck...looks like kickster has a heck of a deal for you on a very nice lighting source...

 

[mauldus]

I just wanted to say thanks again to you guys. There's so much experience on this board.
BTW j21kickster, just email me whenever you get a chance. I'm in no hurry right now.
Thanks guys.

 

[jonthefb]

i finally came to this revelation when i was setting up the mh for my 65... intensity is the key with sps and halides, not wattage.....watts per gallon is a great rule of thumb when keeping lps and soft coral under pc's or vho, but when you jump into halides, you can have less wattage but get better results with corals because the light is so much more intense.....for example you could throw your 300 w of vho on the 29 and still keep great and healthy lps and softies, and a few hardy sps, but you could light the tank with a single halide(taking tank depth into consideration) and have about half the actual watts of light on the tank, but be able to have a gorgeous sps/lps/soft coral garden....its weird but true!
good luck
jon

 

[mauldus]

Thanks for the advice, MH's are sounding better all the time.

 

[donjasper]

What gave me pause about MH is the heat that those suckers pump out.
How do people mount them in their homes - hang them from the ceiling? Can you put them in a hood? If you do - would you then need a chiller? Is that why people buy chillers?

 

[nm reef]

Thats a good question about heat....most of the MH users I know of don't need to run a chiller. They just use a few small fans installed in the canopy to vent the excess heat out.
Eventually I'll develope a MH system and thats the plan I'm using. I intend to install them 5"-7" above the water surface inside the canopy and install a pair of computor fans on each end....one side blowing in the opposite side drawing out....should do a decent job of removing the heat before it effects the reef.Even with PC's and VHO's there can be issues with heat from the lamps. Again there is seldom a dire need for chillers...ventalation can often solve the problem much easier.

nmreef@cox.net

 

[fishkiller]

j21kickster- How Much? Please email me at fergi_forgot@yahoo.com.
Thanx!

 

[donjasper]

NM Reef: Sounds like a fun project. In my case I have to have a very low DIY hood because of some artwork on the wall (so you know where my priorities are at!)
Are you going to workout the lumens at a specific distance for the design? Lumens, of course, are measured at a distance of one foot. And then you get into the square of the distance thing. Or just rule of thumb? I'm curious.
Just for fun: I'm going to try and calculate just how narrow a band I have in the range of 11K - 9K lumens for sps coral. (Expecting that if I position a frag for the top being OK - the bottom of the frag will be unhappy. And that if I position it for the bottom being happy the top will be blown out! )

 

[donjasper]

Just for fun a hacked together a spread sheet comparing a 6k lumen light source (that's about a 65W PC bulb if memory serves) and a 30k lumen light source (that's about a 400W MH bulb if memory serves). If I didn't screw up the math (which I've done before. Our president is not the only one to make mistakes!) then the results are as follows:
Code:
[pre]Distance
Inches 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
Lumens
6,000 13,500 8,640 6,000 4,408 3,375 2,667 2,160 1,785 1,500
30,000 67,500 43,200 30,000 22,041 16,875 13,333 10,800 8,926 7,500[/pre]
Let's say you're looking for a place of say 13k to 10k lumens for placing an sps coral frag into. The 6k light source can provide it (if you get close enough), but it's very thin. Then same range for the 30k is like 2 inches thick. Which would work with a flat frag I suppose.
So I guess that's why the guys at the lfs have banks of MH lights mounted so far above the tank! To get a nice thick band of high intensity light you need a point source that's very bright and some minimum distance away.