Weekly Discussion - Lighting

[Anonymous]

Weekly Discussion - Lighting

What type of lighting do you use on your system and why?


About the RDO Weekly Discussion:
This discussion is meant to get at your experience and to share information that is in your head, so don't necessarily treat it as information gathering. State your opinion and, if available, use material, anecdotal or otherwise, that will back up your opinion.
Past weekly discussions will be archived in the archives.
If you have topics that you think would be helpful for the RDO community to discuss, please send me a pm or start your own thread! :mrgreen:

 

[Anonymous]

VHO because my MH/VHO was too hot, too bulky, etc.

 

[Anonymous]

I use 2-175W 10 MH Usios and 2-110W URI VHO actinic over my 75G reef. I can maintain the temperature at 83 or less with only clip-on fans for cooling. I really wanted to avoid a chiller.

When I upgrade to a 300G tank, I am going to initially go with 4-400W MH lamps. I will play around with different lamp colors to see if I can find something I like without the use of actinincs. The 300 will have an open top, so I am hopeful to aviod the chiller once again, though it will be no big deal if if I have to splurge on one.

Louey

 

[Anonymous]

Oh yeah, and the reason for the above lighting choices ---> SPS corals and clams. I want to be able to keep them and have them thrive at any location in the tank!

Louey

 

[reefann]

My 210gallon 3 400w MH 10,000k. May keep the 4 55w pc's unsure of what I want. Pretty much I want acros and clams anywhere in the tank.
My 2.5 has 2 13w 50-50 bulbs. I may keep a monti in the tank but for now only softies and a LPS.
and the 65g FOWLR has two NO tubes.
JJ
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Sardinian Forum
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BMW 3200 CS

 

[Anonymous]

AS of right now I have VHO. I was planning on adding MH later and have not had the funds to complete the project. I will be adding a 2x400watt MH system in the next couple of months.

 

[bdelaney]

I have a 175 watt metal halide pendant over a 29 gallon. It provides the most light for the buck, taking into account the initial purchase and bulb replacement over the years.

 

[-JB]

I am using 250 watt MH with actinic VHO supplementation. I mostly keep SPS and clams in a 24" deep aquarium. Personally I feel it enough light to keep all SPS. I use ozone and carbon, it helps reduce turbidity, to get the maximum light penetration in the water as well.

 

[Anonymous]

I have two 96 watt PCs. Not enough to keep clams and SPS, but I have great softies and LPS, my tank needs a heater just to stay at 77F, and they were very cheap.

I have a 400 watt MH that I don't use anymore :wink: , but I haven't figured out how to rig it on top of my tank yet.

 

[Len]

I am currently using 250W x 2 double-ended ("HQI") 10,000K metal halides by Aqualine Bushke in their Aquaspacelight fixture. It is supplemented by 4 VHO actinics. I switched from 400W 10KK to 250W to save electricity, and it worked. The 250W DE bulbs are nearly as bright as the 400W bulbs, but the distrubution is more limited now. If it weren't for the electrical savings, I'd go back to the 400W. Nothing beats MH in my book if you can keep temperature in check.

I choose to use actinics because I like how they make the tank look in addition to the usuable light they offer to the corals. I'm one of those people that love looking at the tank with just actinics More importantly, I've found that most corals have better pigmentation when I use actinics.

 

[-JB]

More importantly, I've found that most corals have better pigmentation when I use actinics.

Completely agree.

 

[StevenPro]

I have two 150 watt medium base metal halide 6,500 K Iwasaki's and four 110 watt URI VHO actinics on a 120 (2' x 2' x 4'). The MH's are operating on two PFO ballasts and the VHO's on an IceCap 660. I keep LPS and SPS. I am using this setup because I was given the ballasts.

 

[Anonymous]

I use 2 250W Radiums and 2-250W DE AB 10Ks on a 120 that is viewable from 3 sides.

I stepped down from 2-400W Ushios and 4 VHO actinics for a variety of reasons.

#1 - Heat. I can't afford a chiller and don't really want to use one if I don't have to. My tank stays about 4 degrees cooler with almost the same total wattage (1000 watts vs. 1240 watts) - plus the PAR/intenstity of MH vs VHO likely more than offsets the reduced wattage.

#2 - 4 VHOs were needed to offset all the white from the Ushios and there was very little space in the canopy. Now I have plenty. Still, the 400 watters were very overpowering. Very nice color, but I think I will be happier with the new setup.

Those are the main things. The spread is pretty darn good even with 2 DE pendants and 2 parabolics. The Radiums are parallel on the ends and the ABs are perpendicular in the middle. There is no noticeable line of blue to white, though the light is a bit more intense directly beneath the DEs and the ends are a slight bit more blue. It looks nice to me - very gradual transition. This also allows more light variety for different corals. The blend is quite nice, but I do like the look of VHOs...

As for pigment and VHOs, do you guys really think that the VHOs are getting the corals to produce more of the "pleasant pigments" or do you think the illumination by VHOs allows this pigment to be more visible to your eye? I think it's the latter. Most MH lights are strong in that 420-440nm range, but it is outshined by the yellows and greens that stimulate our eyes more.

 

[Anonymous]

On my 150, I use 4 250 watt DE, 2 10 k and 2 20 k, 3 48 inch actinic VHO (two in front one in back) and a DIY moonlight with 8 LED's.

I use the actinincs because they look bitchin.

I used to run 2 10k DE's and 1 20 k 150 watt DE in the middle, but the spread was not enough. Now the 20 k and 10 k 250's are run next to each other - almost like 2 bulbs in a single pendent.
I ornignally went with DE for the electrical savings, but like Len, I think I would go with 400's if it were cheaper.

I also really love the moonlight. It reminds me of a full moon night dive I did in Cayman.

 

[rbattle]

I use two 400 watt 10k XM's with VHO actinic URI bulbs, two 110 watt bulbs.

75 gallon tank. I love the look. Everything does well. I personally think it helps with nutrient uptake as well with all that light.

I think I am going to move to the 20K XM's next bulb change though. I guess I like the really blue look.

Hope this helps somebody!

Rush

 

[The Shaman]

I use a single 250W Ushio over my 22g. Why? I keep only SPS plus I got a deal on this setup that I couldn't refuse. Lately though, I've been considering adding 2 VHO actinics.

 

[fishfanatic2]

OVer my 29, I have two 65 watt PC's, each one is a 50/50 (came that way). THey're on separate timers, so I kinda have a dawn/dusk feel.

 

[Anonymous]

Over my ~400g (78" x 32" x 37" tall), I am using 4x 400watt Iwasakis driven by PFO EYE ballasts and 3x 6' VHO actinics driven by an Icecap ballast.

I wanted plenty of light for sps and clams at any location in the tank. So far, I seem to be having trouble acclimating sps corals to the high light levels. More often than not, new sps frags or colonies look fine for a few weeks, even if started low in the tank, but then turn brown - sometimes they recover, other times that die off. Very frustrating (and expensive).

Of course, this tank has only been set-up for a year or so, and I have had some other problems (like algae cycles), but I don't remember having these kinds of problems in my last tank (200g) that had 250watt Iwasakis and VHO actinics.

 

[t gallo]

im using four 400 watt radiums, and two 36'' vho uri actinics.
as soon as i get the time i will install two more 72'' vho uri actinics to try and squeeeeeze some more color out of the sps.