Suggestion for lighting 325G reef acros tank

[Osama]

I am in the planning stages for a 325g tank. Any suggestion from those with large tanks is greatly appreciated regarding any do's & don'ts. About lighting what is suggested for a 72'LX36"WX29"high tank. Will 3 X 400W MH with 2X165W VHO actinic be adequate for an acros maily tank. OR should I go for more lights ie 4X400W & 4X165W VHO actinic. also suggestion on types of lights if you got preferences will be appreciated.

 

[Len]

3 x 400 will be plenty, although 4 would obviously be better If you can fit them, I recommend you use Diamond Lumenarc III reflectors for each of the halides. Personally, I'm an AB or Ushio 10KK fan, but if you'd like to squeeze a little more PAR out of the 400 watters and don't mind a hint of yellow, the Iwasaki is your bulb.

I envy you

 

[mhurley]

Osama,

I've got 4x400's on my 96" tank (375 gallons) and it's plenty. I think you'll be fine with 3 of them. I'm running a mix of Radiums and XM's and I supplement with 2 T5's, basically for dawn/dusk simulation.

Good luck. I'm sure your tank will be awesome.

Mike

 

[Moty]

I have a 63"x36"x36" tank and i'm using 2 x 400w Iwasaki and 1 x 400w radium I supplement with 4 T5's 80w actinic blue before I used 3x400w Iwasak but the color was too much yellow so I changed one to radium. when I'll change bulbs I think I'll go with 3 x 10000k

 

[dgasmd]

I currently have a 96x36x24 tank. Have 4x400 Ushio 10K without supplementation by actinics. It is plenty, but another 400 watt would be awesome. However, your tank is 2 feet shorter, so the 4x400 should be more than plenty. I decided against adding the VHO to sumplify things since the white ushio color was fine by me. I am re-thinking that concept and may be adding some actinic in the future.

Diamond Lumenarc reflectors would be the best thing to add. However, Diamond has gone belly up and finding a place with the reflectors in stock that doesn't want an arm and a leg is extremely rare. If anyone knows a place, let me know because I'll jump on it and get me 4 of them.

If I had your tank, I would add 4x400 ushios and 4x160 VHO actinics for color enhancement only.

Enjoy!!

 

[Osama]

Thanks to All for your suggestions.
Len: I am not a fan of the Iwasaki lamps as I prefer the white Ushio or Hamilton with a hint of blue from the Actinics.
Mike: I am thinking of one radium & 2-10k to see if I can get close to the colors I have in my 180g or maybe just all 10k's not sure yet.
Dimaggio: I though I was going overboard with lights but 5X400 over 96 inches will get you an awesome bright tank.
Moty; why would you not try one radium with 2 10K's I would be interested in your thoughts.
Again Thanks to you all.... Any suggestion on where to get those reflectors from are appreciated

 

[Moty]

Osama
I think with 3 x 10000k I'll get a nice white color with a hint of blue (it would be 1200w 10000k and 320w actinic) and i'll get more par than the combination with the radium and also from what Iunderstand the 10000k live longer than the radium. but stil I have to try it for knowing for sure

 

[Osama]

Moty: Thanks ; Radium was too blue for me by itself. I saw it in a friend's setup.
Pacific Garden supply's site (http://www.pacificgardensupply.com/ligh ... narc3.html)
shows Diamond lumenarc 3 for $250 for an MH400 L3 system. Then you add cost for a fan of &50 dollars & cost to upgrade ballasts. I am trying to determine if I should and can only buy the reflector without the ballast Does anyone know? Also does the reflector have a glass surface or how does the fan work with the reflector.......... Anyone familiar with this setup! and how to best buy it meaning buy the whole assembly or the reflector with or without a fan. I need 3 or 4 for the new tank & 3 for my old tank MUCHOOOO bucks... Any ideas Thanks

 

[Anonymous]

Hey Osama...

My tank is a little longer (78") and taller (37") than yours, but not as wide (32"). I am using 4x 400 watt Iwasaki bulbs powered by PFO EYE (mercury vapor) ballasts. I am also using 4x 96watt actinic PC's powered by an Icecap 660 ballast. The light is more than enough, and I usually only have all 4 MH's on at the same time for 4-6 hours.

However, there are a few things that I plan to change, and a few that I wish I done to begin with.

1) I don't like the MH's parallel to the front of the tank. The PFO reflectors (like most reflectors) throw too much light onto the front glass, making it look cloudy. I plan to turn all my MH's perpindicular to the front. Of course, this makes life a little difficult since I will now have reflcetors and bulbs running different directions, thereby increasing the size and complexity of my canopy.

2) I don't like the PC's. Although I have used PC's on several other tanks, the ones on this tank prematurely fail on a regular basis. Perhaps the non-waterproof endcaps that came with the PFO retrofit set-up is the problem. In any event, I plan to replace the PC's with 3x 6' (160watt) actinic VHO's. The guys at Icecap told me that the 660 ballast will handle all three bulbs. More light and better color.

As for things I wish I had done differently (or at least took a closer look at), I would have prefered to use 20,000K MH's instead of actinic PC's or VHO's. Using only MH's would have made my canopy design a lot simpler. I actaully looked into this at one point - using 2 or 3 400watt 20,000K MH's in addition to the 400watt Iwasakis - but was talked out of it by someone that said the coloration would uneven across the wdth of the tank. But I have since talked to others that have used and are happy this lighting arrangement.

So if I were you, I would consider using 3x 400watt Iwasaki MH's and either 2x 400watt 20,000K MH's or 2-3 actinic VHO's. If you go with all MH's, then I would place then all perpindicular to the front of the tank, and perhaps offset the 20,000K MH's slighltly closer to the front of the tank.

 

[mhurley]

Osama,

As I said, I've got both Radiums and XM's on my tank. I like them both, but the XM's more. That said, the Radiums are really not that blue once they burn in. So I'm curious if the tank you saw had new bulbs in it. I swapped out 2 of my 4 Radiums for XM's a month or two ago just as an experiment and I like them a tad more than Radiums-more crisp/white/blue if that makes any sense. If you're interested in testing out a burnt in Radium without buying one, let me know, I've just got them sitting here as back-ups. Only about 2 or 3 months burn on them.

Mike

 

[Osama]

Thanks MM & MH:
At the end we have to enjoy our expensive hobby & the labor we put into it. Tank lighting is crucial to this pleasure/enjoyement..
It seems from the various opinions that 3 vs 4 (400W MH) that more is better. I will check if I can fit 4 with the reflectors and will place them Perp. to the glass. I can then fire 2 over a longer period & all 4 over a shorter period & plan my coral placement accordingly. Sounds like I am convincing myself to go for 4.... I have VHO on my 180g and I am happy with them so I will go for 4X165W VHO's Super Actinic. For MH bulbs I would go for the 10k's and see how they look with the Super Actinic VHO's. I can also try Mike Hurley's radium just as a check. This way maybe I can also get him here for some more suggestions.... With a starphire front panel of glass this tank could be addictive even more than it is already!!!!! If my LFS can get as excited about moving forward as I am .....
MH Sorry about my ignorance but please tell me what are XM's??
Again thanks guys. Anyone wants to contribute ideas to reflectors & where to get them from ...

 

[mhurley]

XM's:

http://www.hellolights.com/400wxm10000k.html

Cheaper than Radiums, more 10K'ish color. There's tons of threads on them over on RC. Here's one:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthrea ... did=200306

Mike

 

[Cuke]

Say guys..
by chance, why hasn't anyone recommended 250 hqi's?...wouldn't this offer better performance as well as considerably less heat?...really curoious on your opinions.

 

[mhurley]

Say guys..
by chance, why hasn't anyone recommended 250 hqi's?...wouldn't this offer better performance as well as considerably less heat?...really curoious on your opinions.

IMO, I wouldn't for two reasons. It's a deeper tank at 29 inches, so the 400's will penetrate that better and he's very heavy SPS so he needs more power.

 

[Anonymous]

A small suggestion on staggering the photo period of your MH's. Have 2 (eg, the inside 2) come on first, followed by the other 2 (eg, the outside 2) 1-2 hours later. Then turn them off in reverse order. That way each of the bulbs will be burning for the same amount of time.

 

[Anonymous]

I second that, with a small modification. Stagger them so that they more closely mimic the sun's movement across the sky, starting with one side, then to the other, with peak lighting during the mid-day equatorial peak (from about 10am to 2pm).

 

[ChrisRD]

Say guys..
by chance, why hasn't anyone recommended 250 hqi's?

If you're talking about 250 watt double-ended fixtures, then yes, they seem to be a possible alternative to the 400 watt moguls (depending on what lamps you're interested in running).

I know of several instances now where someone has switched from a 400 watt mogul setup to a 250 watt DE setup and experienced similar (or even slightly better) in-tank light levels.

Sanjay's recent reflector testing (articles in AAOM) seem to indicate that this is possible due to the increased efficiency of the reflectors in the DE setup.

OTOH, if you want to run Iwasakis or Radiums, there are no 250 watt DE versions of these lamps available as far as I know.

Here are the articles:

Analyzing Reflectors: Part I

Analyzing Reflectors: Part II

HTH

 

[Osama]

Chris:
Do you know from Sanjay's data that a 250W Double Ended HQI will penetrate & have close to what a 400W PAR will provide. Bottom line is we want corals (In my case as MHurley noted I am heavy on SPS) to grow & maintain good coloring. I could not determine that by the quick look at his research which is very impressive. From his research I would go for PFO or Diamond reflector BUT I am not sure about 250W HQI double ended. If we have equals then of course we should all go for the less heat, less energy consumption/cost.

 

[ChrisRD]

Do you know from Sanjay's data that a 250W Double Ended HQI will penetrate & have close to what a 400W PAR will provide.

Well, I'm no lighting expert (but Sanjay is! :wink: )...
Sanjay's data does seem to indicate something I have seen on several SPS tanks, and that many folks have claimed - that 250 DE setups can be similar in performance to 400 moguls.

Bottom line is we want corals (In my case as MHurley noted I am heavy on SPS) to grow & maintain good coloring. I could not determine that by the quick look at his research which is very impressive.

FWIW, I've seen lots and lots of very colorful SPS under 250 DE lamps. In fact, I know a few people and a couple of LFSs that have switched from 400 moguls to 250 DEs with very positive results.

I'm sure someone here must have tried this - maybe they'll chime-in...

Good luck with whatever you choose - I'm sure it will work out well either way.

 

[Osama]

Chris & All others... More participation please.
I have re-reviewed Sanjay's article and his observation in the bottom of the second article states:
"we could try to determine whether we can replace 400W systems with 250W DE lighting system. This would be economically quite beneficial to the aquarist, in terms of savings in power and minimizing heat additions to the tank. Interestingly when comparing the total incident light over the 3X3, 2X2 and 1X1 areas there is only a slight decrease in total incident light, while the lamp power is decreased by 37%. "
I understand this to mean that we would have same approximate illumination/brightness & also depth of penetration.
I would appreciate hearing from you all if my understanding is correct and what are the negatives of going with DE 250W vs Mogul base 400W. If any has made the change also let us know please how did the change affect the growth of SPS in your tank. Thanks