My new project

[jl1199]

I just got a great deal on a 150 gallon tank which is 48" long 24" deep and 31" tall. It came with 4 55 watt PC's. I was wanting to add 2, 250 MH with Lumanarc reflectors. Will this be good or should I put 400 watt MH with the lumanarc reflectors. What type of light is better a double ended or socket

I plane on putting a calfo overflow across the back of the tank with a 1.5" hole on each side for the drains and a 1" hole in the middle with 2 lock line returns. I have a mag 9.5 and a mag 18 which one would be better to use for the return. any suggestions on the set would help.

Thanks
Jonathan

[jroescher]

An aquarium in the same room as a pool table. That's a scary sight!

[jl1199]

I am moveing so it wont be there long.

[LoneStar]

With a 31" deep tank, I would go with 400w lights. Depending on what corals you wanna keep, 250w lights may not penetrate that deep to do much good. Just go with electronic ballasts :) I've always used SE bulbs and haven't had any issues with them. I know Lumenarc has a DE pendant though.

As for your return pump, I think the biggest factor is how large your sump will be. You can have high flow through a LARGE sump and still have plenty of contact time for your skimmer to draw from. But if you have high flow through a SMALL sump, it will not work well for you. But I'd ditch the Mag pumps and get a good external pump. More effecient on power consumption and it will not heat up your water as much. ;)

[Bill S]

I'd condiser 400w as well. That's a DEEP tank. And, with 400w, you will need some way to cool that tank.

[erikharrison]

I'd condiser 400w as well. That's a DEEP tank. And, with 400w, you will need some way to cool that tank.

agreed, 400w!!!!

[Ram_Puppy]

400 watt lights definately.. two is enough.

I would reccomned icecap electronic ballasts, and if your going to go DE (which I think is a good idea since DE bulbs are brighter than SE) then reefoptix makes a de pendant you can use.

also, icecap has some fans that have a temp probe on them, you put the probe on yuor lights, and the fan adjusts it's speed as neccessary so you don't always hear a turbo prop going off!

[brewercm]

I have used these 400 watt Elect ballasts before and really like them.

http://oceanencounter.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=OE&Product_Cod e=EVCEB400&Category_Code=EVCEB

[erikharrison]

it's crazy how tall that thing is, looks as tall as my column!

[txstateunivreefer]

crazy and heavy i helped him unload it it weighs a good bit the thing is very very tall dreaming about my dream tank i wanted one 30 inches and after seeing that one i had second thoughts it will be a nice tank tho

[jl1199]

If I am not doing sps would I still need to go with the 400 watt.

[hobogato]

i would say that you dont even have to use metal halide if you arent doing sps. 250 watt halides should be fine for everything, even sps - they would just have to go close to the top of your rockwork.

[jl1199]

Ace, how are the ballast from hamilton tech. I found a duel 250 watt ballest that I am intrested in getting

[hobogato]

sorry - no idea.

[jl1199]

How fare off the water should i put the lumanarc reflectors.

[jl1199]

I finally finish seting up my new tank. I had a calfo put in across the back of the tank with 2 1.5" holes drilled for my sump and fuge, and 2 1" holes drilled for my return. The calfo and holes were done by Louis (thanks). I also added about 100 lbs of sand to give me a nice four inch sand bed. My return is powered by a mag 12 and my skimmer is powered by a mag 9.5. My fuge is a 30 gallon tank that I had drilled to flow into my sump. The lighting system is a 400 watt duel ballest from hamilton technology with lumanarc reflectors and coralvue bulbs. I hope after some time that it can look as great as some of the tanks I have seen on the website. Thanks for all of the advice!

Here are some pics of the final product.