Lighting design help for my new tank

[mattseattle]

Ok everyone - I need help with the lighting for my new tank.

Right now on my 55 gallon I have 2 x 250w HQI Metal halides with 2 x 110w Super Blue VHO's. The ballast is a PFO HQI dual so I plan to keep that for now to save on costs. I'm looking for reflectors and whether I should stay with SE bulbs or go with pendants. Also do I need to add a 3rd metal halide bulb since this is a 60" tank?

here are the specs:

 

[Krish]

Have you seen my lighting thread yet Matt???(LOL) Maybe Scooter can tell you of some good reflectors like he had mentioned to you on that thread. Other than that...I'm still learning man...Check me in a few months! Best of luck

 

[mattseattle]

Yeah I think I'm being lazy and just want someone to say here do this! <grin>

 

[reedman]

Matt, just get the luminarcs. You could stick with 2 lights over your tank and have great light over the whole tank. Spendy but worth it from what I have seen in person.

 

[mattseattle]

hey Reed - you mean these?

 

[reedman]

yup...they really are a large step above the rest of the competition.

Pacific Garden Supply has them for about $130 ea.

 

[mojoreef]

Yea those are the luminarc's, they are a bit big however so I am not sure if they would fit into a canopy??? Your lighting looks fine to me and I would get an extra MH, if you can fit the small luminarc then go with like a spyder reflector??

Mike

 

[mattseattle]

yeah, the Lumenarc III is 19.5 x 19.5 x 8.5" which is kind of large. I have 20" from front to back in the canopy so they would probably fit. I'm just worried there may not be enough distance from the bottom of the reflector to the tank water. How high should the bottom of the reflector be off the tank water?

they also have the Lumenarc Mini which is 14.5"W x 14.5"H x 6.5"H. That is quite a bit of savings space wise.

 

[reedman]

I was looking at the minis for my tank. I think they would work well for you, but I haven't seen them in person...only the III's. Not sure of the clearance water to bulb...I would think getting 7-10" would do as long as you don't have any splashing fish...but then there is the heat issue to deal with.

 

[Scooterman]

They can be fitted with fans & ducting to remove the heat but I'm not sure I like the place they put the fans. Look at their website, if this was me, I'd call them and see if they would take them back if you couldn't get them to fit, if so then it would be worth the wait & try to make them fit, otherwise do the minis or spidies like Mike said.

 

[mattseattle]

you know you would think the mini's would be a little cheaper but no they are the same price as the III's.

I think the Mini would probaby work better in my canopy. Now I just have to exhaust the heat out.

For information sake I tested the temperature of an XM 10k bulb 250w HQI with my infared thermometer this weekend and it registered at 775 degrees. That is the internal bulb though and not the glass reflector. The glass reflector was still in the 380 - 400 degree range.

 

[spongebob lover]

Those Luminarcs look pretty neat.
don't forget to post some pictures once you get the lighting figured out .

 

[mattseattle]

well first i have to get the money to pay for them! i may just use my existing reflectors and bulbs for time being on the new tank. i still have to buy 150 or so lbs of live rock and we all know that is not cheap.

so should i stick with VHOs for supplement lighting or try T5? if so how many tubes? and is it ok to be mounted to the sides and above the reflectors?

 

[mojoreef]

Matt I have the mini's and the large units on my system. I also have the heat reducing system but choose not to use it. I have hqi 400 watt bulbs in my small units and I can put my hands on them no problem. I do have extra duct units so if you want to do it I can give them to ya no problem.
For installation I would just screw them to the roof of your canopy, this should give you a wider spread on the light going into your tank. Definately worth the money.


Mike

 

[Scooterman]

I like the built in reflectors on VHO's in this case, if you use T5's I'm not sure how you can mount them with reflectors & the big mh reflectors. I'm not sure about that, is it worth you spending more money to do that.
(caution I'm not knocking T5's ) lol!
Maybe Luke would have some ideas.

Maybe Mike can post some thoughts as to how far off the water should the lowest point of the reflectors should be?

 

[mattseattle]

good point about the VHOs and built in reflectors. I think I'll probably just stick with VHO's and put 2 in the front and 2 in the rear.

thanks everyone....I need to measure my canopy and see how high it is from water to top of the canopy. I know that originally MacBeth designed the canopy for pendants so it should be adequate.

 

[mattseattle]

ok so i just measured and i have 12" from where the canopy sits on top of the tank to the top of the canopy. then it's another 1 - 2" from the top of the tank to the water surface i'm assuming. so that is roughly 14" and the Mini is 6.5" high so that is 7.5" clearance from bottom of reflector to top of water. I think that should be adequate.

 

[Krish]

Matt...I see you are looking for reflectors as well. This is how Rob's reflector looks over his 75 gal. He's running about 750 watts! It has places for VHO's or T-5's as well as MH's. Here's the link to the reflectors and the photo of Rob's

http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merc...oduct_Code=PFO-PR24ONLY&Category_Code=Sockets

 

[Scooterman]

Only problem with that krish the mh lamps need rotating but nice design.

 

[Jiddy]

Do you have a picture of a perfect design Scooty?