100 gallon tank lighting...

[PeeJ]

i ordered 2x250 xm 10k halides with the pfo ballast for my 100 gallon.

the salsesperson talked me out of the 400 watters, but what do you guys think? i still have a chance to call them and go for the 400 watt system.

the tank is 5 feet long and 21 inches high. the hood they will be in is very open. there is no real top on it..just a 11 inch wide piece of pine running the length of the hood to mount the lights too so it will get pretty darn good ventalation.

so what would you do? upgrade or just stick with the 250s....im stumped

salesman said it might be a little too much light and inhabitants might not fair to well as it will be too intense.

[kaiser]

Stick with 250's. from what I've read thats all You need. You might want to make it 3 250's because of the tank length.

[PeeJ]

Good deal. It's also worth mentioning that I plan on running these lights with no other suppliments.

I hope the 10k's look really crisp. My 10k power compacts werent very white until i added the actinic to them.

[::pete::]

the 10k's are white and you might want to supplement them with some actinics. I just switched from the 20k's to the 10k's adding uri vho actinics. A good balance is what you are looking for and it depends on what you want to keep.

[PeeJ]

well i have two extra 40 watt actinic bulbs layin around. i could get those cheap fixutres at home depot and run them on there. would that be worth the hassle for just 80 watts of suppliment?

[::pete::]

How old are the bulbs?

[PeeJ]

mm basically brand new. i used them for a month, then got pcs...i actaully have a dual shop light that i could stick in towards the front or back, as the halides will be right in the middle

[dan]

what do you mean the 400s would be to much? look at jims tank!!!! he has six 400s. you just have to start slow. 30 min. a day for the first week than add an hour every week.

[kaiser]

Last I know PeeJ doesn't even have any corals. FOWLR Tank

[PeeJ]

yup kai is right...no corals. so really acclimation is no big deal. I'm startin to sway towards the 400s........help what shouldi do?!?!?!

[Jeff Post]

Does a Fish tank even need halides?

[PeeJ]

Well my goal is to no longer have a "fish tank". Plus, the ripple has caught my eye.

[dan]

OH!!!! i though you were doing corals. i'm sorry. in that case why are going with MH? if your looking for a bright tank go with VHO or more 40wers. you could with PC lighting.

[PeeJ]

i am doing corals, i just dont have them yet..thats why im buying the halides.

[PeeJ]

Another question is..will most basic corals do ok with 500 watts of 10k without any suppliments?

i should mention however, that i plan on throwing 2x55 PC between the halides eventually.

[MikeP]

PeeJ - most corals with the exception of some of the most demanding SPS will do fine with that light. Since your tank is fairly shallow you will be able to keep almost anything. You can always experiment with placing corals in different areas too to compensat for too much/too little light.

If you are getting into corals the other thing that is of utmost importance I've learned is flow/current. Some things do well in high current, some lower, some like alternating flow, some like almost becalmed water. Experimenting to find the optimal area for flow/lighting just takes time.

Good call on the 250s. On your tank 400 watters would be overkill and hot as heck.

[PeeJ]

thanks mike. it was actaully your comments yesterday that did it for me. thanks for lookin out.

what about the actinics? will most corals do okay for now without them?

howd those PCs work out for you

[MikeP]

Don't worry about the actinics for now, they are mostly for looks. A good wide spectrum 10k bulb will give corals all the light they need. You can always add pc, t5 or VHO actinics later on.

PCs work fine - they fit perfectly over the tank.

[PeeJ]

right on right on...glad i could give you a bargain :D

[matt]

2 250W 10k (ushios) is exactly what I had over my 100 gallon. It's plenty of light. I have a deeper tank now, (110, 24" deep) and it's still fine. If you have the PFO reflectors you'll be in good shape, especially the parallel ones. Mount the bulbs parallel to the tank; you'll get a better light spread. You need each bulb to illuminate a 30" by 18" space, pretty rectangular. The parallel reflectors are best for this.

Also, the XM 10ks tested higher in PAR than the ushios, so you're going to be fine. I've read that you can drive normal output actinic florescents with a VHO ballast, and get the same results as the vho bulbs, just not as long life. I can't confirm this, though!

[PeeJ]

Thanks matt. However, I do not know if this is a PFO reflector or not. Its from Marine depot. It's the ReefFlector, and is a perpendicular design. It was a toss up between this and the Spiderlight. The Reef-flector was cheap so I got that one. It looks similar to the spider light as well.

I'm interested in clams (maxima) and I really love the bright colored Acros and brains. Yay or nay with the 250s?

[matt]

Yeah, the 250s are fine. Quit worrying about it! I would consider sending back the reflectors, though, and getting the PFO parallel ones. This will result in better light going into your tank more evenly than if you keep the same reflectors and switch to 400s. If you don't believe it, check out Sanjay Joshi's analysis of reflectors. There's a BIG difference, and the spiderlight tested lousy.

I'm a little grumpy because I've been working like a maniac to get this big skimmer finished. It looks great, though, I must say.

[PeeJ]

This is the one I got

http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=PA&Product_Code =PFO-RSAMED&Category_Code=Sockets

So I should get the parallel reflector instead? The only thing I'm worried about is that with the perpendicular reflector, I could fit some 65 watt PC bulbs between the halides. With the 15 inch parallel reflector, I loose this option. And this is the only real option I have for suppliments in the future.

[matt]

You got the PFO perpendicular reflector, if that's the exact reflector you bought. There are copies around that are a little different. The PFO perpendicular did test better than the spider light, and supposedly PFO has changed this reflector to be more like the parallel one. But, the thing is, in your tank, it's more about the shape of the light spread. The perpendicular reflector, with the bulb mounted perpendicular, throws a light spread that's more or less square; a little rectangular, in the wrong way for your tank. The parallel reflector throws a much more rectangular light spread; this will give you better light along the entire length of your tank. You'll absolutely notice the difference. As far as actinics go, the parallel reflectors have brackets on them specifically for vho or PC clips. I have 2 vho tubes plus the 2 mh bulbs over the same footprint tank you have. I really researched it before going that route, including a couple of posts on Sanjay's author forum on reefs.org.

[PeeJ]

Ok Matt I took your advice and told them to send me the 15 inch parallell reflectors. Cost me an extra 6 bucks a piece. I'll send you the bill. :-D :-D


The lights should be here on Thursday or so. I'm pretty stoked. Can't wait to see how big of a difference they will be from the PCs.

Anyone got any cool frags I could buy?

[matt]

I'm pretty sure you'll be glad you spent the extra $12. As far as mounting them, make sure you put the bulbs parallel to the length of the tank. Each one should be centered over half the tank, which means the center of the bulb should be about 15" from each end. You can move them a little closer to the middle, but not much. That's the way to get the most even light spread.

[PeeJ]

Yup, thats exactly how I have the hood marked already. I might go 16 inches in from the outside, just to give the center of the tank a little more light.