Placing order- need final lighting answers

beckzilla

beckzilla

Member
I am ready to order my new lighting for my new reef SPS clams tank etc. and need final opinions on proper lighting. I am going to go with a BIY retrofit kit from hellolights and am going with a 5' fixture ( my canopy is 5' ) with MH and VHO. I am torn between 2 or 3 400 watt MH. What do you think? My tank is 5' long and 2' deep with a 12" high canopy. Also going with (2) VHOs and need help on which bulbs to use. I sort of selected for MH: (2) 400 watt 10,000K Ushios or should i go with Coralife. There are so many different types of VHOs that i am confused. Super Actinic, Aquasun, Daylight or 50/50 Actinic White. I have (2) 4" thermostatically controlled cooling fans (Icecap) and need to know if this is going to be adequate to keep the canopy cool ( i dont want any fires) even if i go with 3 MHs. Am going with electronic ballasts. Will add cooler later if necessary. Your good advice is appreciated.
 
dreeves

dreeves

Active Member
If you are going to go with the 2 400 watt 10k bulbs...then you would probably want the super actinics...I have the URI super actinics myself, but I am sure the Coralife actinics are just as good...both are the 03 Actinics.
One thing with the 5 foot long tank...some recommend using one MH light per 3 foot of aquarium length...but I would venture that with a 5 foot tank, 2 could be divided up to put an even amount of light everywhere.
Hope this helps.
 
robchuck

robchuck

Active Member
I would go with 2 MH fixtures for this tank. You're sure to get a good reflector going with hellolights, and that should help your light spread throughout the tank. I would personally mount the fixtures a little closer to the center of the tank, to ensure that you're not getting dark spots in the middle of the tank.
 
beckzilla

beckzilla

Member
Thanks guys, my wallet thanks you for saying (2) 400 MHs should suffice. The reflector that comes in the kit shows the MH sockets positioned equidistant fron the edges so it looks like they will shine evenly in the tank. Thanks again!:D
 
birdy

birdy

Active Member
Some thing you may want to consider using 2 MH instead of 3, you might want to look at the spiderlight reflectors (they are suppose to disperse the light better), I have just ordered one of these for my set up, I am running one light over a 3ft tank (they recommend one MH for every two ft of tank). With these refectors you will get better light distribution in your tank. These reflectors are run perpendicular to your tank.
 
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