Lighting?

[linjam]

What kind of light should i use for a reef tank?

[envy]

depends on what you want to keep

[cpreefguy]

Yep, it depends on your future gaols for your tank. Ask yourself a few questions. Do you want to keep coral, or fish only?
If you do want to keep coral, what type(s) do you want to keep? Soft coral will require a lot less light than SPS and clams...
Also, take into consideration your budget, whether or not you have a canopy, etc...

[alton]

Go look at others tanks and then mimic the look you want. As far as which lighting is best is an arguement in itself MH vs T5HO vs CFL like Chevy, Ford, and Dodge. One word of thought the fish only thing should never come up because there are so many low light corals out there that fish will will not eat. Xenia, Mushrooms, and some GSP's come to mind. Remember some corals are hardier than fish and they help filter our tanks.

[RayAllen]

Also do a search for other theards. There are many threads on lighitng on a daily basis with the same info. Welcome to Maast.

[linjam]

price isnt a problem. i just want the best light for all corals sps, lps, ect...

[RayAllen]

with a little research you will find that T5's and MH are the way to go. That way you can keep anything you want depending on wattage of corse. T5's are fairly new and becoming much more popular do to the amazing colors they can bring out in your corals and they are much better on the monthly electric bill. MH have been around a while and are very trust worthy. The also run very hot which will lead to a more expensive electric bill and the bulbs cost more.

[apedroza]

Then you definitely want to go MH. The size will depend on the size of the tank. I have 2-250watt SE MH lights with lumenarc reflectors and 2-36watt HO t-5 actinics on a 70gal.

[erikharrison]

I saw Ace state this in another post, it got me to thinking. He said don't get an all in one light because if one part fails.... its just not as easy to fix. Metal Halide and a T5 High Output combination would probably be optimal for any type of reef.

[bronck83]

Then you definitely want to go MH. The size will depend on the size of the tank. I have 2-250watt SE MH lights with lumenarc reflectors and 2-36watt HO t-5 actinics on a 70gal.

I'm about to do the same over a 75 gallon with 30 gallon sump. Do you run into any heat issues? Do you run a chiller?

[alton]

If money is no problem -
http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem~SearchStr~infiniti%20moonlight~action~ view~idProduct~GL1581~idCategory~FILTFIMHMTMDMLM8~ category~72_inch_Giesemann_Moonlight_Infiniti_3x25 0W_HQI_+_4x80W_T5_Light_Fixture___Black_72in~vendo r~.html
And Aquatech services and sells them.

[linjam]

Obviously on my first tank im not going to spend that kind of money between 1200-1600 yea not 3600 plus. once i am educated enough on the ins and outs of this hobby yea no prob to purchase. Thanks SA!!!

[erikharrison]

If you do have the money, that would be a VERY wise choice, especially if AquaTEK services them. Those are some of the most sought after fixtures because they are built well and they are aesthetically pleasing! The majority can't afford them, nor can the majority afford a 72" tank either. You could get a little over half that size, and it would be a wonderful addition to your tank. I think Kurt spoke about the other, less expensive yet still high end light. It's an aquactinics T5 HO (High Output) with individual Icecap SLRs (Single Lamp Reflector). It's other competitor would be a Tek T5 Light.

[alton]

Sorry about the sticker shock, but my boss has the older model of that light and it is awesome.

[RayAllen]

Obviously on my first tank im not going to spend that kind of money between 1200-1600 yea not 3600 plus. once i am educated enough on the ins and outs of this hobby yea no prob to purchase. Thanks SA!!!


LOL, I would never pay $3600 for lights even if I could afford it, so I dont blame you for sticking with your budget. You can get some great lighting with $1200-1600. Slim to none on Maast have paid that much for lighting. Seems you see more wealthy people on reefcentral.

Ray

[Jynxgirl]

Its all up to the person. Go look at peoples tanks. I know when I saw a T5 tank I was like WOW. But after sitting in front of it for a while, that wow kind of left and I just couldnt get over missing that shimmber that halides do. Look at the reflectors people use. Look at the ballasts they use. Everything works differently when you intermingle them.

And the most important think is the kelvin ratings. That is a whole another can of worms. 10k, 12k, 14k, 15k, 20k... and each bulb looks different. One 12k will look like a 20k and another 15k will look like a 10k. You have to decide if you like crisp white lighting or blue lighting, or what inbetween. And then you have to keep in mind, how they look on their ballast may not be the same on your ballast using the same bulbs you like.

And also, the haldies are going to heat up your tank. If you have a smaller tank, the faster they heat up your water.... so add a chiller on to the price of the halides. I stagger my lights to be on. Only about 2 hours out of the day are all three of my halides on at the same time. I dont have too bad of heat issues during the summer that way.

:D Good luck! Jill

[Jynxgirl]

After reading on that light, I am thinking.... Does a light really make our fish, inverts and corals believe they are not in a tank and in a natural environment? Maybe the small inverts who cant see will spawn more readily or what not, but does it really have that much of an effect on our corals and fish to follow the moon cycle? I am off to search the archives to see if there has been a discussion on this type of thing.

[princer7]

I really like the halides so much so that I have them on my cichlid tank as well. The shimmer just makes for an amazing effect.

I just set up my 58 gallon reef tank and went with the 2 lumenbright reflectors for 250 watt SE halides. In hind sight I my have been able to get away with a single 250 bulb if I had gone with the Lumenarc reflector.

I have heard that the lumenarcs have a wider throw of light - better for a 3ft long tank. I had too much light drop off on the sides with just the single lamp.

[caferacermike]

I'm running 2x250w halides 14K with 2x 96w pc actinics. I would have gone with 4 T5's had they been widely available at the time. Only for the fact that I could blend more colors. It's been a good light over my 75g tank. It's a cheap Oddysea fixture I gutted to retrofit my own reflectors, sockets, Icecap and Fulham ballasts. I do not run a chiller and have never once felt the need to.

[caferacermike]

For a similar fixture to that Geismann look into Sunlight SUpply Maristar fixtures. They are the same set up for half the price. I really really like them. Last I knew that was the light hanging over the display tank at the Tek.

[apedroza]

I'm about to do the same over a 75 gallon with 30 gallon sump. Do you run into any heat issues? Do you run a chiller?

I have had this set up for 2.5yrs and have never needed a chiller. My house is run on window units for AC so in the summer I use a nice size desk fan to keep the lights and water cool and it seems to work just great. In the winter I have no problems with the cold as the lights keep the tank pretty warm and the heater makes up for the rest.