too much light for softies??????

[dclegern]

Setting up my 75 long tank tonight.

picked up these beauty halides, just concerned it'll be too much light.
21" high tank, 75 gallon........
pulsing 300w of metal halide!!!

anyone think that's too much for an all soft coral tank?

[Kristy]

No, that sounds just fine to me. Definitely not too much light!

[Salty]

I had a leather directly under my 150 for like 3 weeks and it went bananas, and when I say under, I mean like 4 inches below the surface.

[Squiers007]

No, doesnt sound like too much light, just a waste of electricity in my opinion. Unless you are planning to keep SPS in the future there is no need to run halides on a softy tank. But thats just my opinion.

[jroescher]

Mine are thriving directly under a 250w MH.


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[alienspacepirate]

Not that I have any experience with this but I keep hearing the more light the better.. but I'd be concerned about heat generation. I'd think about a chiller or a fan or something because your really going to heat that water up (and your house) bigtime.

[Salty]

Everyone is always talking about heat and yet, at most, my lights have heated up my tank 2 degrees after a 12 hour light cycle. I run a heater in conjunction to keep my tank a toasty 81. Unless you have a canopy and no fans, or keep your house really warm, I see it as a non-issue. Just my opinion though

[corruption]

Its not a non-issue -- just a non-issue for you. Theres a lot more factors that contribute to heat in the tank than this -- number/type of pumps, amount of supplementary equipment, ambient temperatures, where the tank is situated, tile vs carpet, etc etc etc... If you're able to get away with halides and no chiller, then you got lucky :) I've got 2x250w + 2x54w halides over my 75, and I needed a chiller. Ambient house temperature sits around 70-71, tank sits on a tile floor (with the sump half an inch above the tile) -- I couldn't keep the tank from pulling more than 4-5 degree shifts.

-Justin

[corruption]

Oh, and as far as too much light for softies -- this is definitely a per-specimen kind of thing.. you'll need to see how things react -- but for the most part you should be perfectly fine. I have a 4+ year old Devil's Hand leather that is directly under one of my 250w's, below it by about 5-6 inches (depending on its extension that day) and loves it :)

-Justin

[Salty]

Its not a non-issue -- just a non-issue for you. Theres a lot more factors that contribute to heat in the tank than this--

But we are just talking about this.


I've got 2x250w + 2x54w halides over my 75, and I needed a chiller. Ambient house temperature sits around 70-71, tank sits on a tile floor (with the sump half an inch above the tile) -- I couldn't keep the tank from pulling more than 4-5 degree shifts.

That Icecap is a BA light for sure, but 608 watts is alot different than his 300. Just sayin though...:)

[corruption]

I'm not denying this -- and I'm not saying he'd have to go for a chiller.. my point is its not really a non-issue -- you just got lucky with the right set of variables that let you bypass it :)

I agree, the light is definitely a different beast on mine vs his -- but not knowing his sump configuration, the reduced volume of water or overflow points (extra O2 exchange) could make the heat build up just as much.... or perhaps he's' running a Mag18 as a return pump. That would add a LOT more heat than most the components in my configuration... I was more pointing out that there is no one factor that determines that need :)

-Justin

[Salty]

Werd

[Squiers007]

I just wanted to bring this up again since noone commented on it in my previous post. In my opinion if you are only planning on keeping soft corals then there is no need to waste the electricity and introduce the possibility of heat issues by using metal halides. You could easily get away with using T5's, or PC's for that matter, which would save you $$$ in electricity costs. Just my 2 cents.

[corruption]

The problem with that statement -- is its not just about power savings for everyone. Aesthetics go a long ways for most peoples purchase/planning -- and as much as I love T5's, they just don't have that same punch that halides do... The glimmer lines are really a huge selling point for most people.

The other option, of course, is LED's -- you get the glimmer effects, and a widely adjustable color range... but DIY isn't for everyone :)

-Justin

[Squiers007]

I see your point, but for me the shimmer effect is not worth paying the extra electricity costs, not to mention the cost of replacing bulbs every 8-9months. But, to each his own.

[corruption]

Well, if I had my way, I'd have some crazy LED's over all my tanks... as it stands now, I've got one tank with T5, one with halide/t5/led, and 2 with pure LED... its just too expensive to do over a big tank for my tastes right now -- I already bought my IceCap beast :)

I'm 100% convinced that LED is the next big thing though -- beautiful colors, the glimmer, and less power use than T5... the holy trinity :bigsmile:

-Justin