Looking for LIGHTS

[Chicken_Eye]

I am needing a retro fit type of lighting to put in to my 100gal canopy.

Here is a pic of my 125 fresh water. My 100 gal salt is the same canopy and stand.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v723/quads4_life/125%20gal/DSC01208.jpg


The canopy inside is 60" long by 10" tall from top of tank to bottom of underside of the canopy.

Or if anybody has anybetter ideas for lights I am open to suggestions. With out spending a small fortune

[LoneStar]

What are you planning on keeping in the saltwater tank? Thats one of the biggest questions in choosing lighting. If its fish only, VHO's (actinic and 10ks) would look nice. T-5's would work well too. You can get both of those in retro fits that will save on money too.

[Chicken_Eye]

I found these on line but I know how some things go if it looks to good(CHEAP) to be true then it probly is

http://www.aquatraders.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=280

[Chicken_Eye]

What are you planning on keeping in the saltwater tank? Thats one of the biggest questions in choosing lighting. If its fish only, VHO's (actinic and 10ks) would look nice. T-5's would work well too. You can get both of those in retro fits that will save on money too.

oops it would help. I am wanting to do corals (mostly soft) and inverts but I dont want to spend a lot of money then 6 months down the road need more lighting. In the future I would like to have a full blown reef tank with stony corals and everything.

I have been looking at the Nova extreme but it only comes in a 48" as the biggest

http://www.coralreefsupply.com/index.php?aquarium=detail&detail=441

I have also looked at the outer orbits but I think the 60" version will be to long for my canopy so that is why I am thinking a retro fit.

[LoneStar]

Another thing to consider is your budget. From your links it appears to be $400 to $500?

If you are going to gradually move up the ladder in what you want to keep (softies to LPS to finally SPS) I would either buy what your going to evenutally get later on down the road OR buy what you can use for now and then use that equipment with new lights in the future. Trust me I have been there. Jumping into 'deals' and then just changing the way I want to do the lights later on.

You could get 2 Lumenarc reflectors. Some of the best ones out there and they have a wide spread of light. Then you can do 2 250w metal halide electronic ballasts. IceCap and ARO are some good brands that come to mind. I'm sure there are others. The electronic ballasts drive the bulbs better and are more energy efficient. The next part would be what type of bulbs to use. You got 10ks, 12ks, 14ks, 20ks, and some inbetween ;) If you pick a 12k and up bulb, you may not need actinic support. But thats always debatable :lol If you don't need the additional actinic support that will save you money. I hear the 12k Reeflux bulbs are very nice and do not really need any actinics.

Now this may not be for you and some people may think why waste your money going this route. Well this is just an option. Something to consider. If I went anywhere NEAR this setup I would have saved a lot of money in the long run, since I'm all about doing SPS now. For others, a 'off the shelf' package will work just fine.

If your interested you can get the Lumenarc reflectors at:
www.reefexotics.com

A lot more lighting options are also at:
www.hellolights.com

http://www.reefexotics.com/lumenarc.jpg

Each reflector is roughly $120 each. If you buy at reefexotics they give you mogul socket kit with wiring for free.
The electronic ballasts can average $100 to $120 each for a retro ballast.
And of course depending on which bulbs you like they average $60 or so per bulb

So with adding in a little bit of wire and what not, you are roughly at what you were going to spend for the above mentioned lights. Just a thought and in no way do you have to go this route. But it gives you ONE more thing to think about :)

[Chicken_Eye]

So If I went with 2 of the large ones of these kits would it get to hot inside of my canopy?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v723/quads4_life/lumenarclights.jpg

Then if I need to I can add some T-5's or PC's later?

[caferacermike]

That last package is the way to go. I don't even need to open the link to Aquatraders to tell you that equipment is junk, not to mention a true fire hazard. On my 75g I have 2x250w DE 14K Pheonix in retrofit reflectors, powered by Icecap ballasts. I couldn't be happier with the setup. The lumenarcs are super nice but you could probably skim $150 from your total if you went with nice parabolic/spider reflectors. The ones I got from hellolights.com were $29 and included both socket and UV shield. A total w/bulb retro using the DE reflectors and ARO ballasts are under $200 at hellolights.com

[Chicken_Eye]

caferacermike, do you have a pic of your set up? Also do you know if I will have a heat issue being inside of my canopy?

[LoneStar]

Yeah you can always use the parabolic/spider reflectors and save some money. They will work OK. The lumenarc's just give a better spread of light. You can always upgrade the reflector later. But its just like you were saying, spend money now only to spend more later down the road.

If heat is an issue, you can add fans to your tank. Possibly modifying your canopy to vent heat out. If you add fans close to your water level, that will keep it 'cooler' through evaporation. But just keep it topped off ;)

Other options are pendant MH lights. There are lots of either DE (double end) or SE (single end) ones. Usually these will cost more. Just a retro style reflector would be cheaper.

[Chicken_Eye]

A friend of mine from another reef site told me about these he said that he has the same canopy but he is just useing the 250w.

So if I went with two of these mounted in my canopy I will be good for anything I would want to do in the future? Or am I overkilling my 100 gal with 800 watts? I may add two retro fit T-5 actinic's later

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v723/quads4_life/400retro1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v723/quads4_life/400retro2.jpg

[LoneStar]

I'd probably just go with the 250w setup. Does that site offer that pacakage for a 250w at a comprable price to the 400w? 400w is alot of light and alot of heat! How long is your tank and how tall is it? You probably would not need the 400w lights if your tank is not all that deep.

[Chicken_Eye]

My tank is 60x18x24 I believe. Its still at the store I dont have room for it untill I move into my new house I will try and get the exact measurment some time.

[caferacermike]

You won't need the 400w version. Get the 250w. I have 700w on my 75g and the results are great. I've been trying to find the pics of my retro fit from hellolights but they are buried deep in the heart of MAAST. I started with a Jebo/Oddysea fixture like the one from your link. It was garbage. I gutted the entire fixture and built it the way it should have been. It looks really good now.

http://www.hellolights.com/25hlmhrekith.html You pick the bulbs and each kit is $200 with bulb. That's a great deal.

http://www.hellolights.com/25methalbalk.html Sweet deal for SE.

Your link does name the ballast manufacturer. Some are crap. The ones at Hellolights are known quality.

[Chicken_Eye]

They have EVC and Ice cap ballast here is a link to the site with the Ice cap 250W

http://oceanencounter.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=OE&Product_Cod e=I2HRK&Category_Code=ICRM

[Chicken_Eye]

Ok I found out my tanks exact measurments are 60" long 18"wide and 20" tall

[LoneStar]

If its 20" tall then 250w lights would work perfect.


60" long, you may get some shadows using 2 lights. Thats really not a problem if you aquascape your rocks to your light spread. You can always change reflectors later if you feel you need to.

[Chicken_Eye]

ok that is prob what I will go with and also add some t-5's to add as actinics

[Brett Wilson]

If you really want to confuse yourself you can check the reef central lighting forum. lots of info.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=590771

Sanjay has some good lighting tests http://www.reeflightinginfo.arvixe.com/
(though the site isnt pulling up for me at the moment)

If personal opinions matter I'd get 3 setups of:
250W 14000K or 20000K bulbs (Phoenix or Radium but not the XM 20000K 'cause it washes the tank out too much).
Icecap or ARO electronic Ballasts

Actually, I would order this right here with the phoenix bulb: http://www.hellolights.com/25hlmhrekith.html

Hellolights has been one of the best stores I have dealt with in this hobby. Very easy to work with and they also have great prices.

[Brett Wilson]

If single ended is your thing here is their SE kit. I'd recommend the aqualine busche 10K (awesome growth but you should add actinics) or the radium (cause it looks so cool - expect better colors and slower growth)
http://www.hellolights.com/25methalbalk.html

[caferacermike]

If you really want to confuse yourself you can check the reef central lighting forum. lots of info.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=590771

Sanjay has some good lighting tests http://www.reeflightinginfo.arvixe.com/
(though the site isnt pulling up for me at the moment)

If personal opinions matter I'd get 3 setups of:
250W 14000K or 20000K bulbs (Phoenix or Radium but not the XM 20000K 'cause it washes the tank out too much).
Icecap or ARO electronic Ballasts

Actually, I would order this right here with the phoenix bulb: http://www.hellolights.com/25hlmhrekith.html

Hellolights has been one of the best stores I have dealt with in this hobby. Very easy to work with and they also have great prices.


Hilarious. that's the exact same thing I wrote with exact same link.

[Brett Wilson]

That's what I get for skimming the first few posts ;)

Good taste in lights, btw :D

[Ross]

I agree with everything said, go with the metal halides, you will not regret it.