What lighting do I need

[loans_n_fishes]

I am wanting to upgrade my lighting soon and was wondering what my opinions are. I have a 75gal tank. Eventually I will want to keep clams etc. Right now I have softies. It does not have a canopy and sits next to my couch (light may be in eyes if can't set directly on top of tank lid).

So...I was thinking MH is the only way to go for this?? Are there any PCs that would work? If I need MH, what actinics do I use? How do I set this up?

Anyone have a light system available? I may trade my RO/DI system that I won yesterday at the meeting since we are getting a filter put in for our tap water. 8) If this sounds reasonable, I will advertise it in the "for sale/trade" section later.

How hard is it to make a canopy? Anyone have plans or make one for cheap?

Thanks for the input!

Angela

[Ram_Puppy]

hey bud.

First, making a canopy is pretty simple if you allready have the tools, if you don't then you might want to get with one of the guys here that is good at working with wood. because canopies don't need to support that much weight you don't need to go heavy duty on them.

Just get your front, sides, and top, back is optional but reccomended to control light pollution into the room.

You'll want to put some vent holes in and mount some fans to keep your lights cool.

as for lights:

If you build a canopy you can save money by getting a retro-fit kit. these are usually systems that consist of bulb, reflector, and ballast and neccessary wiring. it can save you a nice amount of money.

If you are not going to build your canopy, you can get a pre-made lighting system that will fit over the tank, but you will have more light pollution leaking out unless you set it right on the glass, this is a no-no if you have halides, as you will probably crack your glass.

You don't have to go with halides to keep clams and SPS, there are guys here, and on reef central that are keeping them under T-5's.

every lighting systme has it's pluses and minuses.

VHO - great actinic bulbs
PC - cheaper than T-5s puts out more light than VHO, but VHO actinics are generally still better.
T-5 - puts out the most light for the real estate of all the bulbs, but needs an expensive reflector and popular opinion says the actinics suck.

Metal halide: Puts out more light than any other lighting system currently in use in aquaria, only suitable light for deep tanks (400 watters for more than 26" in depth) (although I went with 2 X 250's)

Often the best lighting is a mixture some of the above.

For instance, my cube is 30" deel, but I plan on keeping softies at the bottom and not that concerned about losing 4 inches of penetration (when 2 inches is full of sand as well)

I have 2 X 250 watt HQI metal halides, and 4 X 26" T-5's running blue plus and actinic bulbs.

If you want to keep clams and SPS in the top of your tank, I would get VHO actinic, and T-5 10K's (or whatever color temp you love) if you want to keep them low in your tank as well, then you might want to invest in halides.

[loans_n_fishes]

What wattage do you think I will need? I have seen those that recommend 5 watts/gal for clams and SPS. Do I have to have this much?

I have found a PC that is 260W, but not sure if that is ok...

[GaryP]

Remember that with PCs, you will need to replace your bulbs every 4-6 months. With MH you can go a year.

[Ram_Puppy]

personally, the whole watt per gallon thing has always confused me, the intensity of a 250 watt MH is far greater than that of a 250 W PC fixture... so i can't really help you there.

[alton]

I have 2 - 175w MH lamps in an existing light fixture 3" above my 75 gal. glass tops. I am using Coral Vue electronic ballast and lamps.

[Bug_Power]

I have a 180 I know I'm on the dim side in my tank, but I have 6 48" 55w T5's My Torch/plate/candy cane/mushrooms/ and a plating Monti we thought was dead so I used it for decoration all don't seem to mind. I was really suprised when I saw the monti growing in the tank. I have the cheapo Jebos as well. So a quality reflector system overdrive with t5's would be plenty AND T5 bulbs even overdriven will last ALOT longer then VHO and MH's. Plus the blubs are fairly cheap!

[cbianco]

Remember that with PCs, you will need to replace your bulbs every 4-6 months. With MH you can go a year.

Hey Gary

I have read in many places that PCs normally have to be replaced (roughly) once a year. Why do you say such a short period of time? I know that PCs loose their spectrum, but do they loose their spectrum that quickly. If you could, I would appreciate you pointing me in the direction where you read that.

Thanks Gary! :)

Christopher

[alton]

I replace my 96w power quad every 8 months in my 29. This is because I do not have a lense over it to protect it from the elements. In my 200 gallon (fish with LR) I only have a 6' Orbit fixture with 4-96w PC's and my Xenia and Kenyan trees seem to do fine and growth rates are great. And those lamps are over a year old. Not every lamp or ballast combimnation is the same. Some last longer than others. I have kept SPS under PC's and growth rate wasn't bad. With a 21" tall tank you have a lot of choices. If you had a taller tank you would be limited to MH. Personally I like the color and look of MH.

[GaryP]

I wasn't referring to spectrum. I was referring to output. Bulb output starts to go down after about 1 month. If you are on the ragged edge of not having enough light with PCs you may have to replace them more often then if you have more light. Like alton said, he can go 8 months. It just depends on your system and what you are trying to keep in it. For SPS and some clams you need to replace them more often then with softies and a FO system. That's one reason people don't commonly use them for SPS. You can overcome this with more bulbs, but your cost still goes up. Because now you have more bulbs to replace and more electricity to use.

[Thunderkat]

Metal halides are terrible, just upgraded to some on my 75 and they are not that good. I have two really bright spots in the middle of my tank and the edges of the tank are actually kind of dark. There is also a shimmer effect on the edges that I do not like. When I get to my next duty station I think I am just going to load up the tank with tons of sand to make the tank more shallow and use the flouresent bulbs.

[GaryP]

That's probably not because of the MH, but rather the reflectors that you are using. Some are better then others at spreading the light.

[alton]

I just gutted a 4' Orbit and used the same reflector that was in it. And my tank looks fairly even. Thunderkat what kind of fixture are you using?

[matt]

2 250W double ended mini pendents would be ideal for a 75 gallon tank IMO. Since you have an open top tank this is the easiest solution; jjust hang them from the ceiling and plug 'em in. They're pretty focused so you won't have light blasting all over the room, and the light quality is terrific. If you want to build a canopy, you can do the retro fit as suggested, but make sure you get quality reflectors, and it does have the advantage of being able to use VHO actinics to improve the color. But, there's a good heat advantage to an open top tank in this climate, and there are many excellent bulbs to choose from so the actinic support is not as important as it used to be.

Most people would disagree with thunderkat on this issue; for a reef tank, especially clams, MH lighting is the preferred choice. The shimmer lines come from the light being a point source, and are considered very natural and desirable; like sunlight making patterns on the ocean with the waves.

[Ross]

Agreed with matt, go with metal halide. I have seen tons of tanks which i have based my opinion on, metal halide is the only way to go. If you go with PC's you will be wasting your money and time. They dont have near the intensity of a mh.