PC's for 135gal reef

jslice

jslice

New Member
Hi,
I need some help picking out some lights for my 135gal.
I have decided to go with Power compact because of cost and the size of my canopy.
My canopy measures 72'' long, 16'' wide and 4 1/2'' tall. My tank is 135gal, 72'' long, 18'' wide and 24'' tall.
Right now I am looking at some on a web site that are, 36'' Sunpaq retrofit 2X96W they come with a dual daylight and a dual actinic lamp. The daylight lamp is 6700K and 10000K. The Dual actinic lamp combines a SunPaq 420nm and 460nm.
I am pretty clueless when it comes to lighting, I was thinking of getting 4 of the retrofit kits for a total of 768 watts. Will this be enough to keep most corals? If not what will I be able to keep? Will I need to put a fan in my canopy? The price for one is $150. Is that a good deal? Is Sunpaq a good brand? Thanks for the help - Justin
 
steveoutla

steveoutla

Member
If you get 4 kits than that should be enough for a good deal of corals. I've read that you want at least 4 watts per gallon of lighting to keep any corals and you are going to be running about 5-1/2 watts per gallon.
Snipe.....768 watts for a 55g?? How are you going to keep the water from evaporating.
 
6stokes

6stokes

Member
Jslice, I have the exact same tank and canopy specs. I'll tell you my experience. I bought all the pieces to build my lights myself, but I'm a pretty handy do-it-yourselfer. What I ended up with was nine 65 watt pc's for a total of 585 watts. I am only able to keep softied and some lps. I don't think I have enough for sps and I won't even give it a try. I do think that what you are proposing will be good for just about anything. However, I'm not sure they will fit in your canopy. Be sure to get exact outside measurements of the retro fit kit. Since you will be putting two in a row, this is critical. Another factor is the width. You'll have two rows and want to keep them on the portion of the canopy that doesn't open, so they will have to be able to be mounted without hanging out the back. As far as the fans, yep, most definitely will need them. One on each side blowing directly on the water, or as close as possible. Without fans on my tank it got up to 85 and maybe higher, but I didn't wait to see, once I put the fans on, I maintain about 80 give or take a half a degree. Also, I had to drill holes in the canopy for the fans just in front of the lights so that you aren't restricted by the additional width of the fans, besides, you don't want the fans cooling the lights, they need to cool the water.
There's a lot to this, ask as much as you need.
 
jslice

jslice

New Member
Thanks for the help guys:)
6stokes, I will check on that web site and see if they give the exact measurements of the fixture. Hopefully I will have enough room :) What kind of fan should I use? Will a computer case fan work or is there something better? I have been told I need to take the glass cover off my tank, is this true? Thanks again - J
 
6stokes

6stokes

Member
Yes, a three inch computer fan will work, but the most important thing is that it is rated at 120 volts AC. Most computer fans are 12 volts DC. Try to find the highest CFM rating but the quietest. A lot of folks swear by the radio shack fans, but I have had bad luck with them going out prematurely. Also, you will need to take the glass off of the portion that the fans blow onto. I left the glass on the back so water doesn't splash the lights, but if your lights come encased then you could take all the glass off. This is important for cooling. The only thing to be careful of is escaping critters.
Another thing to consider is easy removal of the canopy if you mount the lights to it. What I did was create a quick disconnect for the fans and I screwed hooks to the canopy to hang the lights. That way I can disconnect everything and easily remove the canopy.
 
jslice

jslice

New Member
I checked the width on the fixtures and they are 5'' wide, so it looks like I will be 4'' over on my width :( I think that most of the width on them is from the reflectors. Can I just take off the reflectors and lay down a sheet of polished aluminum instead? If I can use that what kind of screws should I use to attach it to the canopy? I read that stainless steal will even rust in SW. If anyone knows of another brand that would work better please email me at jslice@comcast.net Thanks - J
 
6stokes

6stokes

Member
Yes you could, but the idea is to get as much light as possible reflected into the tank. That's why there is a 90 degree lip on both sides. How handy are you with connecting wires? They are color coded, so it isn't too hard to figure out. Reason I'm asking, is if you feel comfortable enough modifying the new lights, maybe you could save a lot by building your own lights. If you want to try, let me know and I'll e-mail you the specifics.
 
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