120 L with Halides

[bigblue141]

Well I went to turn on my VHO'S for my tank last night and my ICE CAP 660 caught fire and filled the living room with smoke.

I have decided to pull my VHO'S and upgrade to Halides. My tank is 5ft long and about 31" deep from where the Halides will be mounted to the top of my Sand Bed.

I currently have 4-48" 54W T5 HO's lighting the tank. I have mushrooms, GSP's, green cactus, acros, a frag of Idaho Grape, and a Digi.

My question is: Will twin 175W Halides work well and give me the avalibility to add clams later on, or will I have to use twin 250 Halides.

The second part of my question is: I'm looking at a couple of different retro kits. One is made by Catalina Aquariums and the other is made by Sylvania. I have not looked into Odysea due to the numerous terrible things I've heard and read about them.

I'm leaning towards the Catalina Aquariums as they come with glass covers for the Halides. Both the Catalina Aquariums and the Sylvania models are marketed as having electronic ballasts. Is there a difference in performance between the Mogul Base Halides and the other type of Halide?

The Tank is Acrylic so I do not want to cause too much heat. There is two 80 CFM fans mounted in the canopy blowing in, exiting out the rear of the canopy.

Thanks for the help and comments.

Ryan

 

[TJL]

Hey Ryan,

Sorry to hear that, and guessing that you'll hear that you'd need at least 250's for your set-up. IMHO would opt for 60" VHO or T5 HO w/ HO LED's 3-5w for your shimmer look w/o heat or the expense of high PSE bill. Will your current canopy have enough room for MH lighting?

Todd

 

[bigblue141]

Does anyone know of a site out there that shows penetration depth of different lights? I really like the coraline growth I get in my tank with the VHO'S. I'm just hearing and reading that Halides are pretty much the only thing that will penetrate to the bottom of the tank. Trust me, I'd love to go with 6 VHO'S and 4 Actinic T5's.

 

[bigblue141]

Well I found some reviews and talked to some people and have decided to go with a T5 HO only system.

I've heard that the Geissman (sp) bulbs are the way to go. I'm planning on running 8 - 4ft 54w bulbs, so there will be 6" on each side of the tank only lit up by 4 bulbs. I was thinking 3 actinics and some 10-14k white lights for the remaining bulbs.

I am looking for inputs on who makes good reflectors for the T-5 bulbs and where to get them.

 

[bigblue141]

I thought I'd share this article that's very indepth on lighting in general. It's geared towards reef and planted fresh aquariums, but none the less, I thought there was some pretty good info in there.

http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Aquarium_Lighting.html

 

[Aquanaut]

You could add just a single 10k 250w in the center. This does several things: on a timer this can act as your mid-day lighting. It adds that sun kissed look sparkling nicely. Also alows you flexibility for the sun loving SPS at the top deck of your reef. I have had good results sustaining a very blue Croacea clam and cali torts. Then you won't overheat with your set-up. I eventually changed to 4 +Actinic 54w, 14k 250w/12k 175w/14k 250w. I still use timers for dawn/day/dusk which has not overheated beyond 78F and no chiller on my 125G! You can contact Barrier Reef on lighting. They have steered me right. I really like their reflectors on the T5's, very prizm like w/great reflectivity for throwing the light. Much better than the internal reflectors on the ol'VHO's.

Hope this helps.