40-gallon Breeder Tank Lighting Options

[gas4544]

Last weekend, Julia and I purchased a 40-gallon breeder set-up to use as a frag tank. The stand and canopy are one piece, with a nice tall stand and plenty of room in the canopy.

Now I am planning my lighting. The footprint of the stand and canopy is oversized by 4"-6" from front to back, so I have roughly 36" X 24" to utilize for lighting. I cannot recall how tall the canopy is, but there is plenty of room for a parabolic MH reflector.

I am tentatively planning to install a single Spiderlight reflector with a mogul socket as I have one available. I have a variety of ballasts available to use - two 175W eBallasts, a dual 250W electronic ballast (will be eventually used on our 75-gallon reef yet to be set up), and a dual 400W HQI ballast. If necessary, I can purchase a single 250W ballast.

I also have an IceCap 660 ballast available to use. I would like to install either VHO's or T5's for actinic supplementation.

This frag tank will be primarily for monties and other SPS. The tank will be installed in an unheated garage with multiple fans in the canopy to remove excess heat.

I know that there are a myriad of options for me to light this tank. For starters, I have this question:

I have an IceCap 660 available. Would you go with VHO's or T5's to supplement the MH lighting? How many lamps and of what lengths?

Thanx,

Gary

 

[brandyrb]

If it was me, I'd use dual 150W or dual 250W halides with a 36" PFO Reflector and 2 36" T5s or VHOs for supplemental lighting. I have 3 40 breeders. Two of them have 36" 6 bulb TEK T5 fixtures and one of them has a 36" PFO Hood with 2 250W Halides and 2 VHOs.

 

[gas4544]

I have a 36" PFO Hood with two SE 250W 20KK's and two VHO's currently hanging diagonally over my 24" X 24" X 14" tall SPS nano tank. It has been a good fixture for me.

Thank you for your suggestion. I could easily install the set-up that you recommended. What the heck, I already have a dual 250W ballast available.

Gary

 

[brandyrb]

The only problem I've had with the dual 250W halide and dual VHO setup is heat. Fans are a must. The PFO hood I have has two fans in it and I also had to run another fan over the water surface to keep the heat down.

The T5 TEK fixtures don't need fans at all (when ran off of workhorse ballasts), consume less energy, cost less to replace the bulbs and the bulbs last longer (again with workhorse ballasts, not icecap 660s) so I prefer them for that reason. I love the look of halides though.

 

[OCDreefer]

I'll buy on of the 150 ballasts of off you, if you don't go that way

 

[gas4544]

I have located a couple of places online that carry the 36" PFO Parallel reflectors. BUt now I am considering using a single LumenArc III Mini or a LumenMax Elite reflector instead.

I see that we have a local DIY'er who is making reflectors using a template for the LumenArc reflector and using the same material that is used on the LumenMax Elite reflector. Here they are:

http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=462173

Gary

 

[luke33]

I would use 4x36" t5's and the IC660 ballast. Just make sure you get individual reflectors. You'll be able to keep all sps just fine with good growth.

 

[roscoe]

Gary I don't know if you've seen my 40b. I have one Lumenarc mini stealth and it pretty much gets maximum coverage except 2'' on each long side. I keep all my LPS and less light loving corals in those areas. I'll post pics for you of my 40b.

 

[fatboyt123]

i think that one lumenarc with a 250watt in it would be plenty.Those one that gas4544 told you about are really nice

or 4 36" t5's

 

[gas4544]

I would use 4x36" t5's and the IC660 ballast. Just make sure you get individual reflectors. You'll be able to keep all sps just fine with good growth.

There are so many T5 bulb choices. What would be a good combination of four 36" T5 bulbs to promote SPS growth? I realize that there are many answers to this question.

Gary

 

[brandyrb]

The lumenarc are better reflectors than PFO. The only reason I didn't go with them on our 300 was I had a limited amount of space for my reflectors, they cost more and I wanted my supplemental T5s to be in the reflectors (again the space issue).

Another issue with 6 36" T5s over my 40 breeder is I don't really have any low light areas in my tank. If you decide to go T5s, I personally wouldn't overdrive them with an icecap ballast on a 40 breeder.

 

[brandyrb]

This is what Greg Morgan at reefgeek.com recommended to me for my 6 bulb fixture:

3 -- ATI Blue Plus
1 -- UV Lighting 14000K 75/25
1 -- GE Lighting 6500K
1 -- ATI 12000K AquaBlue

The 6500K is a really yellow bulb, but is used for growth. My tank has a light blue tint.

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/brandyrv/40Breeders/40TankShot1.jpg

 

[gas4544]

The lumenarc are better reflectors than PFO. The only reason I didn't go with them on our 300 was I had a limited amount of space for my reflectors, they cost more and I wanted my supplemental T5s to be in the reflectors (again the space issue).

Another issue with 6 36" T5s over my 40 breeder is I don't really have any low light areas in my tank. If you decide to go T5s, I personally wouldn't overdrive them with an icecap ballast on a 40 breeder.

Thank you for your informative and experienced answers!

What would be a good choice for a ballast to drive either four or six 36" T5's?

 

[brandyrb]

I've never opened the TEK fixture to see what ballasts are running the bulbs, but I imagine they are the sunlight supply ballasts included in their retrofit kits:
http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewI...ting-Saltwater_Aquarium_Supplies~vendor~.html

There are a lot of people that prefer the icecap 660 ballasts though.
http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/T5...red_Retrofit_Kit_w!_Ballast_&_Bulbs_by_IceCap

The icecap 660 will overdrive the bulbs and require fans to be used with them. If you get one 660 and all four bulbs are wired into it, you cannot have the day/night time effect with 2 bulbs on 2 bulbs off. If you want to overdrive the bulbs and have the day/night effect with 4 T5s, you'ld want two icecap 430s. If you go with 6 overdriven bulbs and want the ability to have the day/night effect, you'ld want 4 bulbs hooked up to a 660 and 2 bulbs hooked up to a 430.

I don't know how many bulbs can run off the sunlight supply ballasts. My TEK fixture has two switces, one that controlls 4 bulbs and the other controls the outer two for supplemental lighting, but I've never opened it to see how many ballasts there are or what kind they are. If you get two of the sunlight supply retrofits, you can control 2 bulbs with each ballast included.

Hope that helps. Here's what I got:
http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/T5...t_Fixture_w!_Bulbs_(Black)_by_Sunlight_Supply

I also got the acrylic shield and mounting legs. I do not need to run fans on my 40 breeders.

 

[gotfish]

No tank with t5's over it should need a fan, unless you're running a 10 bulb fixture over a 20g. Anyway, the tek fixtures use workhorse ballasts.

Either a Tek fixture or a nova extreme pro would be good fixtures or go with a retro. The tek and nova pro are just about the same as far as output goes and if you use an acrylic shield with the Tek, the nova pro is actually better. Par levels drop a good amount with the shield. The Nova pro is $300 and the tek is $430. Add in the price for good bulbs with the nova pro and you're looking at roughly the same amount for either one. Only difference is you'll have to clean the reflectors off on the Tek so added maintenance. Also, if you don't want to hang the tek fixture, it's like another $60 for legs.

 

[luke33]

Gotfish, if you overdrive with the IC660 you must have active cooling for the bulbs or it will kill there life to around 8 mths. If you do have active cooling you can run them for 10-12mths no prob.

If you are wanting MH, roscoe is right on, if you want t5 i'd go with a 4x icecap retro or 4x aquactinics retro. May as well go retro if you have the ballast and a canopy. If your looking for pure growth then 2 GE65k and 2 ati aquablue would hit alot of spectrum and have great par, but would be ugly as hell. For good growth and good color imo (14k-20k look) 2x ati aquablue's and 2x ati blue +. For best of both worlds, 2 blue +, 1 ge65k and one aquablue. Would be a 10-14k look.

FWIW, i run 600w of t5 on my 125 and have great sps growth and can keep any high light species in my tank. I run 3x blue + and 3x aquablue.

 

[gotfish]

Gotfish, if you overdrive with the IC660 you must have active cooling for the bulbs or it will kill there life to around 8 mths. If you do have active cooling you can run them for 10-12mths no prob.

Huh? I didn't know I commented on whether you'd need a fan for use with an IC660.

 

[gas4544]

At this time, I am leaning toward going with a single 250W SE MH bulb in a Lumenarc Mini reflector and am thinking about trying one of fatboyt123's DIY reflectors. I already have a variety of ballasts and SE MH bulbs of various wattages to choose from. With the IC660, I could add either a couple VHO's or T5's and keep my upfront costs down. I already have some fans on hand and the canopy does has holes cut for fans, too. This tank will be in the garage, which is unheated. So excess heat from lighting would not be as much of an issue in the colder months.

Using one of fatboyt123's DIY reflectors is very intriguing...

But I am still in research mode and if I find some deals of T5 equipment, I may give it a try.


Gary

 

[gas4544]

I really want to try a Lumenmax Elite with a 250W SE bulb, but those reflectors cost $150 new. And there are not many used ones available for sale.

I will get my 40-gallon set-up delivered on Monday. I think that I will experiment with one or two 250W SE bulbs in Spiderlight reflectors because I have them on hand.

I will be cycling the tank with LR for a month or so, so that will give me the opportunity to experiment with different lighting combinations. If I do find a Lumenmax Elite for a good price, I may get one.

After I get the tank, I will be able to determine if I can use a shoehorn to squeeze a custom 50-gallon sump that I have into the oversized stand.

g