Scored Big!

[salmonslayer]

Got a 150 gal acrylic tank today, stand & canopy $350. All in good shape. Only thing not good is that canopy is only 6" tall. Doing a reef setup shrooms.few fish inverts no hard corals. Can this be done with vho or should I redo canopy. I will try to send pic of tank. Do you need MH to do reef setup. Please help

 

[jsmkmavity]

since the canopy is too short for a reef setup you should give it to me and i will put it to good use!!!??? you could try t5 lites or pc lites. the problem you run into with mh that close to the water is heat transfer and salt deposits on the shield. it can be done if you make provisions for those issues.

 

[Krish]

Sounds like a great deal! Can't wait to see the pics. I just ordered metal halides and have no idea what to expect with the heat...Lights aren't really my thing, but what is! Best of luck on your setup!

 

[moortim]

What are the tank dimensions? Unless you have some strange shaped super tall tank VHO's (or whatever will fit) for softies should be fine. It also depends on how many bulbs you want to use, mh lighting might not be that much more expensive. Just make sure you do your homework when it comes time to stock it and stay away from animals that need higher lighting.
I also just thought I would mention that I am extremely jealous of you . I want a tank that big but I don't have room for one. Sounds like a good deal anyway, what are you planning for filtration, flow, ect.....? We would all love to help out along the way or just tag along and watch. Make sure to take lots of pictures!

Tim

 

[salmonslayer]

Thanks guys the tank is 6'x18x24. Sounds like I should build a taller canopy. Trying to send pics. Found MH 400 watts each $250 for both, 0r icecap bal 660 for $140.VHOs I can leave my canopy and not have to mess with it.

 

[salmonslayer]

Someone talk me thru posting a pic. It keeps asking for a url. Pics are in my documents.

 

[Jiddy]

Where did you find the MH setup at?

 

[twilliard]

Host your pics at photobucket and post the URL here. That the easiest.

 

[MtnDewMan]

Someone talk me thru posting a pic. It keeps asking for a url. Pics are in my documents.

This thread talks you through posting photos

http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8240

 

[salmonslayer]

Try This. Hope it works

 

[liveforphysics]

Ok, well, if I can lend a little advise here, lighting design is one of my areas of focus. (pun intended)

I think a 6" canopy is the perfect height for the best lighting setup available right now. T5 HO bulbs, useing GOOD reflectors, the reflector part here cant be stressed enough, it literally makes a +400% difference in PAR.

4 6ft T5 bulbs fitted with the right reflectors should fit into that space, along with 2 workhorse 7 ballasts (note, $37 each) which will provide all the light you could ever want for all softys, and many hard corals, even clams would be fine if kept in the higher areas of the tank. Your power drain would be something in the 400-500watt area, which is about half what silly halides would be drawing, the heat would be much less, bulb change interval longer, and some other cool benifits.

This is a 24" deep reef kept with T-5s.

I cant think of an application in a large tank where halides have an advantage over MH. Its pretty much one of those "anything you can do I can do better" things, with the "you" being the MH and the T5s being the "I"

Being a lot cheaper is nice as well, but DO NOT skimp on reflectors, its what makes the whole thing work.

 

[NaH2O]

If you end up going the MH route, you don't need 400W MHs in a tank that deep (18"...if I go by LXWXH in your post). Generally, I recommend 400W MHs to tanks deeper than 24-25". I have a 24" deep tank (25" when you count the Eurobracing), with 250W MHs and it is a SPS tank. If you don't want to predominantly keep SPS, then you can do other forms of lighting and be fine.

The tank shown in the pics above, to give you some perspective, has a lot of T5s (3 X 80W white, 3 X 80W blue, 2 X 54W white, 2 X 54W blue). I also took a peek at the number of supplements used on that tank, there is alot going on with dosing, which includes ZEOStart.

If you are interested in Metal Halide lighting, we have a ton of information in our library, with specific tests done. Have a look at the Lighting Research page. If you scroll down towards the bottom, you'll find the specific testing that was done on different wattage MHs, including reflectors.

 

[salmonslayer]

Go to my profile to see tank. Still trying to edit pic to fit on thread.

 

[salmonslayer]

Go to my profile to see tank. Still trying to edit pic to fit on thread. This should not be this hard over two hrs trying to post a pic thats - - - - My manage attachments is not working . I click on it and nothing happens. I SHOULD BE FISHING

 

[liveforphysics]

The picture of that tank just SCREAMS T5 lighting. Shallow low hood, long narrow and tall tank. MH would be largely wasted on the sides, and it would give you a couple of high intensity spotlight points in the tank, with the lions share of the light being wasted.

T5 would give you high intensity anywhere you wanted to set corals, all while being cheaper, fitting perfect in the low hood, useing less power, makeing less heat, and having less maintence cost.

No brainer.

 

[gman0526]

How do you figure light will be wasted out of the sides of the tank?

 

[salmonslayer]

Thinking the same thing .Like putting foil on the sides LOL. No on a more ser note sometimes these are things we dont think about.

 

[liveforphysics]

Well, when you try to use 2 point sources to illuminate a long rectangle, i would love to see you come up with a design that even gets 40% of the light you generate into the water and aimed to actually hit something around 10" deep in the water. Not to mention the use of his canopy would be impossible if he wanted to fit any decent reflectors.

T5s on the other hand would easily tuck into the hood (the hood is ideal for them).


If you have a method of getting more of the light to enter in useful places with MH, please let me and the rest of the world know.


Now, if I was setting up a large round tank, MH with a proper reflector would be my choice, but for a narrow rectangle, it just doesnt make sence.

 

[gman0526]

Also most of those nice european tanks get those bulbs replaced starting at every 6 mos. which if you add up, you won't be saving much if anything at all.

 

[gman0526]

So according to you T5's or any flour.'s light only spread out directly below and no light will be "spilled"?