Lighting

[bud green]

i'm going to upgrade my lighting and need some advice. i'm going to build a wooden canopy to house the light. what kind of light should i get, and what wattage and such does anybody recommend? i want to grow corals and such.
thanks

 

[thegrog]

A little more info would be helpful.
Tank size with dimensions.
What types of corals you want to keep.

 

[jumpfrog]

Always start with the animals you want to keep as your basis for decisions. So many variables that one size does not fit all.
Give us a little more insight into your goals and hopefully we can get you in the right direction.

 

[bud green]

it's a 75gallon tank. wanting to keep anemones, some corals, mushrooms and such.

 

[thegrog]

OK, that is a little more to go with.
In keeping anemones, you will want to start off with either VHO or MH with halides being preferred. Mushrooms are lower light demanding so you would have to place them further down in the water column.
The thing with halides, is you have to keep them 8-10 inches off the water surface, so that makes your canopy larger. You also have to install vent fans to keep things cool as they get very hot. This is easily done and there are plenty of posts on those who have done that for ideas.
I would go with two 250w halides. IF you go with 15,000K or 20,000K, you wont need actinic lighting to go with it. However, if you want the dusk-to-dawn effect, go with 10,000 or 12,000K lighting with actinic PC lights.
Hope this helps.

 

[reefraff]

Check out T5 fluorescents. the Light output is somewhere between 175 and 250 halides but they don't heat the tank up as bad. Stick with Tek brand only, no auction site cheapies.

 

[bud green]

thanks for the replies, i'll be on the lookout for these set lights.

 

[littlebuck]

Dont waste your time with T5 lighting if you want corals you will need to get Metal Halides If you really want to have a nice set up I would go with the 2-250 watt MH and get you self and ice cap system. I have on my 72 gall i will have here soon 2-250 MH and 440 watts of VHO. Just with the VHO's it looks good and i have anemones. But its all on how much you want to spend. Let me know if you need help with finding the lighting littlebuck70@yahoo.com

 

[reefraff]

Originally Posted by Littlebuck
Dont waste your time with T5 lighting if you want corals
Have something to base that opinion on? I have both T5's and Halides.

 

[littlebuck]

sure do MY OWN OPINION. SO you are tellign me taht T5 are better then MH?

 

[dapperdan]

I've seen T5 fixtures that are just as bright as MH, and have a better color mix potential. Both T5 and MH are viable light sources for reef tanks.
DD

 

[littlebuck]

well i would like to see some of these people thave have been dealing with reef tans and lighting say that t-5 is just as bright as MH. I have vho and they are bright but are not like MH. SO i would disagree with you on that. BUt what ever you think.

 

[reefraff]

I have measured PAR on both in my tank. You use an Ice Cap ballast to overdrive the T5 lamps they put more PAR in the tank than a lot of 250 watt halides will. A big part of the reason why is that they can be ran so much closer to the water.
I hope links to personal pages are cool. The tank in that pic is lit by T5 lamps for over 2 years and he doesn't even overdrive them.
http://www.hausriff.ch/