more lighting questions

[hobogato]

ok, so i know we have discussed all the pro and cons of all the different wattages and kelvin of MH, i have read all those posts and just wanted to get a few opinions on what i should do

starters

240 gal long tank with 3 @ 250 watt 14k SE MH, 6 @ 65 watt true actinic PC and 3 @ 65 watt 50/50 PC, and about 70 LED blue moonlights. i know some of you will say change the PC, but i like the color and i am happy with them.

i would like to add 2 more MH setups to run for a short time each day - about 3 to 4 hours, just to get a little better growth and coloration. i am going to run 10k bulbs, but i am trying to decide between two possible available setups

1. two 400 watt SE on magnetic ballasts
or
2. two 250 watt DE on electronic ballasts

heat really isn't an issue, i am just trying to decide what will be most beneficial in the way of PAR and increased growth/coloration.

right now, i am leaning toward the 250 watt DE setups.

anyone have an opinion they would share?

[dwdenny]

If you have not seen it yet here is Sanjay Joshi's lighting page that will help out a lot. If you ahve sorry. http://www.reeflightinginfo.arvixe.com/

[GaryP]

More watts = more PAR.

I would suggest you check and make sure you check your PC's to see if they are true actininc (420 vs. 460 nm). I would go with the 250 watt and reconsider only running them for a few hours per day.

I have always considered 100 watt/sq. ft. as a good starting point for lighting a big tank. You are currently at 83 watts, and that is with a deep tank. Adding two more 250 watts, would give you 115 watts/gal. You have the 25" deep 240 tank, right?

[gjuarez]

If par and growth are really your main concern then you would be better off with the 400 watters even though they are on magentic ballast. As far as coloration, anything that gives you 420nm should help. What about a combination of 10k and 20k instead of 14k. 14k have less par than the 20k.

[gjuarez]

Gary, how do you feel about this? More Par = More growth? Is that a safe assumption. I do like the idea of having them on for only a couple of hours per day. Is there any reason why 250w would be more beneficial than 400w if growth is his objective? Do you just think it would be overkill?

[GaryP]

20K = pretty blue lights, but otherwise a waste of perfectly good electrons. Lousy PAR and no 420 nm light like a 10 or 14K.

[GaryP]

Corals could care less about anything else except PAR. Of course, if you go overboard, then you are going to have a hard time keeping some of the lower light corals such as muhrooms. As an example, I have tiny blue mushrooms that will only grow in the crevices of the LR in my SPS tank.

On the other hand, if we were only concerned about growth, we would only be using 6.5K bulbs and Iwasaki would be the only bulb on the market. As with almost everything, its a matter of balancing the art and science of reefkeeping.

[hobogato]

thanks denny - i have seen some of those, but not all

jerry - i saw a chart that compared par of various bulbs somewhere (just looked and cant find it now), and it showed the coralvue 14k SE with almost the same par as the 10k, but their 20k was barely more than half the par of the 10k.

all of the PC bulbs i am using are the true actinic bulbs, so i am getting good coloration, and i am seeing some growth (ranging from almost none to about 1/4" in two weeks on my slimers)

you are correct gary, that is why i am leaning toward the 250's right now. i have never used DE's tho, and just wanted some opinions on that.

some people say the DE is brighter/puts out more par than the equivalent SE, so i thought (i know, that's a scary thing to do) that the DE 250 watt would be about equivalent to the 400watt SE.

[gjuarez]

I guess I wasnt keeping the softies in mind. When I used to have mushrooms they did do better in lower lit areas, and low flow too. So I guess I made a bad comment of 20k having more par, my bad. Ace, look into the reeflux bulbs and see how you like them. They also ahve 12k.

[hobogato]

well, the ones im looking to buy come with used bulbs, i was just gonna use those for now and then replace them with the reeflux 10k in a few months.

[JeffCo]

I say go for the 400 watters on HQI ballasts. You were talking previously about the Lumenarc's. I highly recommend them. They really light up a big area. My tank is 25" deep as well. I have a ton of softies on the bottom. Just got some new ricordia from FA, have a bunch of other ric's and brains. They are all doing very well. I also like the 14 k lights. They give good color and fairly decent growth. Actinics are good, the more the better, I think for SPS. Just my opinion.

[hobogato]

thanks jeff - only reason i havent gone with the luminarcs is, i dont have the space in the canopy for them along with my PC, so i would have to change to t5 or VHO, and i really like the PC. the 400 watters that i was looking at were magnetic ballasts, not HQI, otherwise, i would have already bought them.

[JimD]

Im running a Lumenarc as well on my prop tank. You may wanna consider ditching the canopy and rig them as pendants. How tall is your tank?

[hobogato]

cant ditch the canopy, it is built into the wall, so one side is flush with the wall. the tank is 25" tall here are a couple of pics before i put everything in it.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/tank1.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/tank2.jpg

[GaryP]

Ace, the 50/50's probably aren't true actinic. I've never really seen a 50/50 true actinic. Next time you replace them you might consider just going with true actinics. You're not going to be short on white light and the 50/50 is just a drop in the bucket.

[hobogato]

you are correct there, i was only counting the 6 actinic setups as true actinic. honestly, i just have the 50/50s because i like the way the tank looks with them and they provide an intermediate between having just actinics on and have all lights on - you know me, like to have as many timers for lights as possible :blink

[GaryP]

I was wondering who cleaned them all out the last time I went to Home Depot.

[JimD]

I can see where ditching the canopy wuld be a problem in this case. If youre planning a mostly acro tank, the 400 watters would be your best bet a 25 inches.

[hobogato]

actually, the tank is a pretty good mix of acros and other sps along with softies, lps, and clams. i have all of my sps on the top 1/3 of the rock islands, and all the others below.

[cpreefguy]

Definatly go with the 250w DE with the electronic ballasts, way more energy efficient!
Also, are your actinic bulbs Actinic 03, or the 7100k blue? If I were you, I would replace all of the 50/50 bulbs with Actinic 03, youre getting enough white light from the halides IMO. Another thing to consider is going with those Lumenarc reflectors for your halides. HTH.

[hobogato]

thanks for all the help, i think i will go with the 250 DE.