Reef Lighting

[JVReef]

I'm preparing to move my tank and I'm looking at upgrading my lighting system. I have a 75 gallon tank with Power Compacts 4 X 96 watt lighting (~ 5 watts per gallon).

I 'm looking at the Hmilton w/ 2 X 175w or 2X250 w Metal Halid w/ 2X96 watt power compacts.

I would like some input on what is the optimum lighting to enhance my tank.

5 watts per gallon
7 watts per gallon
9 watts per gallon

And....what temp 5500K, 6500K, 10000K or 14000K?

 

[edwing206]

Watts per gallon rule doesn't really help much. I have 2x250 MH for my 55 gallon. It doesn't really get that hot surprisingly. I turn them on later in the evening. Also depends what corals you want to keep. SPS will require MH or T5's.

 

[Holygral]

I have a 75 and am running 2x250MH at Pacific 14000. Mixed reef with claim.

 

[burning2nd]

i have 2x150 in a 30AGA sps, lps, and clam's
my 75 will be i think 2x250

 

[billaweed]

I've got a 50 gallon, with 2x175 10,000k MH and 2x40 flourescents. I have LPS and Softies.

 

[Larry 23]

I have a 75gal. with 2 400 watt 10,000 bulbs ,I just keep sps

 

[Coral Ranch]

We run 2x400 watt 12k MH over most of our 75 gal.tanks.Some with vho actinics and some without.

 

[JasonD]

For my 120 mixed reef, I went with:
2 x 250watt with 12k reeflux bulbs. No supplements, 12k reeflux have plenty of blue color.
http://www.reefexotics.com/coralvue_lighting.htm
The only thing I wish I had done different, was fork out the money for the lumenarc reflectors.

 

[billaweed]

Out of curiousity... How long are you guys running your lights during the day?

 

[Holygral]

I run mine (75 gal with 2x250) 10 hrs a day 9-7

 

[burning2nd]

I run my 2x150 in a 30g for about 8-9 hours..

8 monday thur friday.. and 9's on the weekends

 

[Coral Ranch]

10 hours a day

 

[BradB]

I have halides now, and have never had as much success with SPS as when I had a 4x96 power compact over the tank. My tank is a 120 gallon. 4x96 over a 75 is a lot of light, you should be able to keep just about anything. I would not consider 2 X 175w + 2 x 96w much of an upgrade.

One of the best purchases I made was a PAR meter (~$300) Seems pricey, but considering the cost and number of times I've "upgraded" my lighting and changed my bulbs, it was worthwhile. Take a look at:
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2007/3/aafeature1/view
and
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1425055

Keep in mind bulb replacement costs. 2x175s will run you a lot money in bulbs. 2X250 w Metal Halide w/ 2X96 watt power compacts is a nice setup for a high light SPS tank with the same bulb costs.

If I were in your situation, I would spend my $$$ on Tunze (or similar) powerheads and a good skimmer, unless your nutrients read 0 and your flow is already ridiculously high. Water quality and water flow are as important, or more important, for SPS.

Spectrum is more about how you think the tank looks than coral needs. Most people say SPS grows faster under lower k bulbs but has better color under higher K bulbs. I think growth is the same, and green and blue corals look better under high K and red, orange and yellow look better under low K.

 

[youareafever]

personally i''d go with t5's. something like a powermodule.

 

[krisfal]

The only thing I wish I had done different, was fork out the money for the lumenarc reflectors.

I have recently found that good reflectors make a world of difference! I had been running 3 x 250w MH (2-15k + 1-10k) over my 130g, with the standard reflectors. Recently I switched everything over to a 180g temp set-up, while I work on my 400g in wall set-up (I pick up the tank and stand from CFI today). The 180g only has 2 small portholes so I am reduced to only using 2 of my MH. At the same time that I switched to the 180g I built some DIY lumenarc type reflectors following instructions I found here on RF. To my eye (I have not tested with a par meter) I am getting as much or more light with the 2 MH with these new reflectors as I was getting with 3 MH with the standard reflectors. My corals agree as the color is really starting to pop and the growth rate has increased (I am amazed by the difference in only 4 weeks since the change).

As to the original question in the first post I would do research on the price of the bulbs for the 175w vs. 250w. I think I have read that 175w are more expensive and not as easy to find. Also another point to think about is double end vs mogul. DE bulbs I believe have a longer life span but require UV shielding, while SE have built in UV shielding but I believe they do not last as long. Please do some research on this as I am pulling this from memory and even I do not always trust my memory.

I have one tank that runs only MH and moonlights, while the other tank (45g bow front) has one of those all in one light set-ups, MH, moonlights and atanics. I personally prefer having the 3 different types of lighting and will be adding atanics to the new tank set-up as I like the look and also like being able to run the atanics before an after the MH is running. This gives me more viewable time for my reef (before work and for those late nights) during the week I am at work for the majority of the daylight time in my tanks.

 

[JVReef]

Now I'm really confused....... too much light, not enough light, stick wtih PC's?

To help clarify, I have two protien skimmers running (2 x CPR SR2 skimmers) and two Eheim 1260 pumps (~1300 gph) running through a manifold with excellent flow. Input filtering through a 5 micron biobag filter. The water stays very clean and the tank has been established for 12 years.

The corals always do better when the bulbs are new and I want to step up the family to more LPS & some SPS corals.

I think I'm going to start wtih 2x250's w/2 96 w PC's with the egg crate acclimation and if needed reload with 2x 175's if necessary.

Probably the biggest "new item" will be a calcium reactor or kalkwasser system to help support the system.