ok, sorry but you guys are confusing me! (lighting)

[cindyski]

i just got off the phone with custom sealife and as far as MH's go, they are telling me in a 125gal they will be fine. just keep the clams and things that need the stronger light toward the top of the tank. also talked to someone that just has pc's and i think vho & her clams are fine and even jumped to the bottom frequently so thats where they left them cuz thats where they want to be. so tell me why i am supposed to have these MH's? is it just personal preference? also i am in fla & the woman from custom sealife is in ca, she says there is no way i am going to get away with out getting a chiller with 125mh or 250mh (she is just running pc's & needs one her tank it is 135gal)

 

[reefnut]

Depending on the clam that could be true I think... someone else can better answer that. I do know it takes time to see the effects that improper lighting can have.
With the chiller... what temp do you keep your home? Granted I live in Wy where it is relatively cool but through out the summer my house has stayed around 75+-. My 120g 60" tank with 2- 400w MH doesn't get above 82deg. I have two 4" fans in the canopy and a desk top fan sitting on the tank for extra circulation and it does fine. I do have a 30g sump and a 40g fuge which I'm sure helps with cooling but several people run MH w/o needing a chiller.

 

[cindyski]

reefnut, thanks for your reply. i just posted another thread with a pretty good article concerning the different lighting configs. i keep my house about the same as you temp wise, but i do live in fla and have an open floor plan, the closed off rooms definatly get warmer. but the tank will be basically in the middle of the house. i hope you read the article i posted and have a reply for that. i am going bannanas trying to figure the best/cost effective way for me to go. i dont want a bunch of clams, just a couple and a brain or other hard coral. i have no problem with the soft corals, i just want a little variety.
thanks much
cindy

 

[reefnut]

I understand your dilemma. No one can 100% tell you that you will or will not need a chiller. It really all depends on the setup IMO. Personally I don't think you would regret getting the MH. Then you can keep just about anything.

 

[cindyski]

reefnut
will the 3-175w's be sufficient? i know 250w isnt that much more in $ but i am also looking at the heat portion of it for chillers.
thanks

 

[reefnut]

Your tank is 72"L x 18"W x 24"D right? Personally I would prefer 3- 250w. Would you be putting any other lighting with it?

 

[cindyski]

i am hoping and trying to save to add actinic.

 

[jarvis]

from what I hear the heat diffrence is pretty minimal between a 175 and 250 in a closed canopy. Fans blowing on the water can be a good help. A clip fan in the sump would do some good too. My tank is running at 84 as a high with 3 X250 and 640 watts of VHOs. I only got a clip fan running in the sump and ONE 4 inch fan for for now (till those dirty c***suckers at radioshack can pull their thumbs out of their a**es) Sorry just venting it been well over a month and prepaid. I think when I get the other fans in it should lower the temp. I would still go with the 250s

 

[cindyski]

ya know, i am going to call an electrial supply store to find out the heat difference.
lol, dont ever do that, nobody knows. i did find this though.
Watts or wattage A watt is a unit of power equal to one joule per second. Wattage is the amount of electrical power, expressed in number of watts, or the electrical power required by an appliance or device. Lamps come in various wattage ratings, with the wattage of the particular lamp describing how much electrical power a bulb or tube uses, but not how much light it generates. Different bulb technologies produce differing amounts of light per watt -- or, more technically, different bulb types are more efficient at converting electrical energy into light energy.
so is it the bulb or the fixture? example: a 75 watt bulb is going to be just as bright in a 75 watt fixure as it is going to be in a 100 watt fixture, because that is all the bulb is rated at.
make any sense? if the electrial people ever call back about the temperature, i'll let ya know

 

[cindyski]

ok, i THINK i get ya. in other words this whole lighting concept is different for aquaria. how about this question
the plug that all this stuff is going to be plugged in is on an appliace circuit. which will basically make it on its own circuit. my dad wired the house and said the only thing on the circuit is my outside postlight and some plugs in the dining room which dont have anything plugged in them. if i go with the 250mhs is it gonna blow when i plug everything in (not just lights, but skimmer, pumps etc..) or should it be fine?

 

[cindyski]

ok, my dad is a retired electrican so hopefully he wont let me catch the house on fire
as far as adding outlets, they are all outside walls with no way to fish anything in. maybe he could swap out a plug for a gfi, or wouldnt a GOOD surge protector help?

 

[cindyski]

hmm i thought there were some with gfi's in them, i could be wrong though

 

[reefnut]

so is it the bulb or the fixture? example: a 75 watt bulb is going to be just as bright in a 75 watt fixture as it is going to be in a 100 watt fixture, because that is all the bulb is rated at.
Cindy, I complement you for the research you are doing but be careful of the information you take in. This statement above is true in incandescent lighting but not in fluorescent or HID lighting, regardless of the application.
You should be fine on your circuit and as Kip said make sure to have it connected to a GFCI. They make breakers, receptacles and extension cords that are GFIC. A good surge arrestor is also good to have... just for different reasons.

 

[cindyski]

reefnut,
thanks for the compliment. i know i am driving this board nuts, but i just want to do everything right as you probably noticed i have spent many hours reading & reading & reading. i certainly hope it pays off.
and thanks for ALL OF YOUR HELP, YOU TOO KIP! (and anyone else that has commented) hopefully i will come to the right conclusion!
and PLEASE if you think of ANYTHING no matter how small, that i should know, my ears and eyes are open
i do have one more question though
i will most likely go with the 250's so for me to add the actinics, pc ok? or vho?

 

[cindyski]

geeze, i hate to ask....... i think i saw it somewhere here, but how many pc's / vho in a 125gal? with 3 250 mh's?
thanks again

 

[jjetjock]

If you want to do things right then go with the 250 watt MH's and get the chiller(1/3HP will do it with a little overkill) and get two VHO attinics. Good luck!! One more thing - get the icecap fans - they have a built in thermostat the regulates the fan speed. They are very very quite.

 

[cindyski]

from what i have read i was thinking of 10000k, it seems about the average. tell me if i'm wrong though

 

[cindyski]

jjetjock
i did request the icecap fans, no i am back to the chiller problem, some say i will need one and some say not is this something i can wait on while my tank cycles and see how my temp is doing?
thanks

 

[jjetjock]

I have the 10K double ended bulbs. It is a very white light. That is one of the reasons for the two 110 watt VHO attinics. I live in south Fl and keep the tank at 77*. A chiller is a must for me even when I only had four VHO's. What you will find with out it is large temperature swings which you really want to avoid.

 

[reefnut]

What you will find with out it is large temperature swings which you really want to avoid.
My tank stays between 80-82. That's not a bad temp swing... I agree sometimes a chiller is needed but there are also ways to avoid it.