Too Much Light?

shiby1510

shiby1510

Member
Well the summer is coming up and therefore that means lots of new aquarium projects! I am going to be building a canopy for my 30g tank and am thinking about upgrading my lights. Right now I have 130w pc.
I am thinking that I would like to add to the 130w pc with:
250w MH
or
150w T12 VHO
or
130w PC
If I would get the 250w MH first of all would this be too much light? I was thinking if I would go this route, I would get a 10k bulb and place it in the center of the retrofit and have the 130w pc be all actinic. I'm guessing if I got this I would be able to have virtually anything in the tank. Including any type of clam and anenonmes?
or should I just go with VHO or PC?
If I had 150w of VHO and 130w of PC would I still be able to have a clam?
I figure if I just added in another 130w of PC which would give me 260w of PC this would not be enough for a clam but would be enough for a bta?
I know how everyone talks about mh but would 250w be too much for my tank? I want to still be able to have zoos, shrooms, hammer, xenia, etc. in the tank besides the high intensity light corals.
Thanks all!
 
8x8nhl

8x8nhl

Member
in a 30 gallon tank i thk a 250 watt is extreme ... but have you checked out the 150 watt hqi vipers i think this would suite your tank much better and if you want the clams and anemone and you dont go with mh i would go with vho
 
mumbulog

mumbulog

Member
Speaking from present experience, I am running 250 watts of mh w/ a 15k bulb over a 30 gallon reef and have a variety of corals that are thriving. So I think the 250 would be a good route but just the 250 nothing else.
Gordon
 
teen

teen

Active Member
i just started a 30 gallon long reef with 250 watt mh over it. it looks like a lot of light, but i dont think its too much.
 
shiby1510

shiby1510

Member
teen do you just have the mh as well or do u have pc's??
so the pc's would be too much with the mh??
The reason I said a 250w MH instead of a 150w is I have a friend that has a brand new retro that has an unreal price on it... but i don't want to just get rid of my pc's.
If I had 150w of VHO and 130w of PC would this be enough for anenonmes as well as a clam?
 
reefnut

reefnut

Active Member
so the pc's would be too much with the mh??
Not to much at all... I would run the PCs with the MHs.
If I had 150w of VHO and 130w of PC would this be enough for anenonmes as well as a clam?
Depends on the type of anemone and clam but with the 250w MH you would be able to keep anything you wanted to.
 
shiby1510

shiby1510

Member
If I went with the VHO/PC setup I would have a total of 280w which means about 9.33w per gallon.
If I went with the MH/PC setup I would have a total of 380w which means about 12.6w per gallon.
12.6w per gallon seems like way too much to me... I probably wouldn't even be able to keep things such as zoos would I?
If I got a 250w MH full setup could I use a 175w or 150w bulb instead of the 250w bulb? I understand this is defeating a lot of the purpose but if its too much light if that could be done it is an option... If I did use say a 175w bulb would that mean that the ballast would still use up as much as energy as if it was running a 250w I guess?? This prob won't work?
Thanks.
 
jakebtc

jakebtc

Member
it's totally up to you but IMO you don't need more then 10 watts a gal for anything at you tank depth
 
teen

teen

Active Member
i would ditch the pcs, and get the 250 watt mh. i just set it up on my tank and it looks great. it gives me 8 watts a gallon so any light demanding coral will be fine. now i just have to worry about keeping my water parameters perfect
 
mumbulog

mumbulog

Member
There are other benefits to just runnig one fixture such as a 250 watt mh:
Only one basllast runnig- Saves on Electric bill and energu use
Only one fixture- Only one bulb to replace about every 10-12 mths
Good luck w/ you choice!
Gordon
 
shiby1510

shiby1510

Member
Thanks for all the info and advice everyone!!
I am strongly considering the 250w MH light... for one like mumbulog said only 1 bulb... Compared to what would be my 4 bulbs... After calculating costs the maintance of the MH would be much cheaper as far as bulb costs go...
Also: this 250w MH will cover all 30"L and 12"W of my tank right??
I would probably get a 14k bulb would this be a good choice?? As well I think I would put in some moonlights in my canopy for the night time.
One more thing: If I would to just have the 250w MH bulb in my canopy should I still install fans?? I was planning on adding an intake on one side and an outake on the other... or would this not be necessary?
I just don't want to have to deal with selling my pc's cuz thats just a pain.... not to mention something like paypal charges you correct?
Thanks All!!
 
teen

teen

Active Member
yea, if its in a canopy ur going to need fans. if i were you, i would get rid of the canopy and look into the 250 watt reefstar pendant(thats what i have
)
 
shiby1510

shiby1510

Member
I'm gonna go with a canopy... i like that look... fan's won't be hard... I think I'm going to solder some led's to make moonlights... run them on a switch and also run the fans on the same power source... so I can turn the led's on/off whenever I want and just have the fans run continuously.
 
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