Which MH to buy??

[Anonymous]

I currently have six VHO lights on my 90 gallon tank. 48Long 24High 18Front to back. I have mainly soft corals but I don't want to limit myself.

It is tax time and I want to spend my money on lights. MH to be exact. But I don't know what I need. 56000K, 10,000K, 175Watt, 250Watt, 400Watt, German, Japanese.....

It's all Greek to me.

I will build my own hood, so I only need the bulbs, ballast, and end cap thingy.

Please help

lighthouse

 

[Anonymous]

Ok, I checked out premium aquatics. Here is my last question before I buy. (I hope).

I want to order the 400watt dual PFO retro for $189.00. (PFO400). This will allow me to have (2) MH bulbs right???

I will need two bulbs. BOTH 400watt 6500K (Japan) at $59.95.

Is this
right????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Thank you so much.

 

[Anonymous]

You don't HAVE to buy both bulbs at 6500K, but the uniformity of color, intensity and light across the tank would be better if you kept the same bulb in both fixtures.

You're gonna get out of this cheap at around 300 bucks. Lucky you!

 

[Anonymous]

Lighthouse,

You've opened a subject that can best be summed up this way. I you get 5 reef keepers in a discussion, you will get 6 opinions.

IMHO, Metal halide is still superior for SPS corals.
On the subject of Wattage and color temperature for Metal Halide lamps for a ninety gallon tank, 2 175 watt 10,000 German lamps would be my choice. Depending on your personal preference for the perceived color of the light, you may want to add 2 48” actinic standard, HO or VHO lamps. This will also let you do a dawn/dusk scenario.

You may want to get your mushrooms used to the new light by starting off with the fixture spaces 1 foot or more from the top of the tank. Many reefers that keep only mushrooms actually have better luck with florescent lamps.

I gather from your statement that “you do not want to limit yourself” that you are thinking of expanding your collection to include LPS and SPS corals. You may find that to keep all you corals happy, you need to position you SPS and other hard corals close to the light, and your mushrooms closer to the bottom of the tank.

The 400W 6.5K lamps are becoming popular with reefers with large tanks. (I am considering 3 of these for a 180 that I am building) But this IMHO, would be too much for you tank. (not to mention the electric bills)

Compact florescent lamps also have merit, they are hard to beat for light output per watt in a small space, but overall, I still prefer HM.

Also, strongly consider solid state ballasts for your MH and florescent lamps. The increased light output, longer lamp life, less electricity wasted & cooler operation make them IMHO, worth getting. IceCap & BlueLine both make fine products.

Regards,

Scott

[This message has been edited by Scott D Passe (edited 06 February 2000).]

 

[Anonymous]

OK, you want some input? Here's mine:

1)DO get PFO's (excellent brand name/price, proven over many years).

2)DO get 400W (you will eventually anyway)

3)DO get them from Marine Depot (free shipping and great customer service).

4)DO get whatever bulb you like (I like the look of german 10K's with actinic but personal preference).

5)DON'T get them from Champion lighting (bad service, bad attitude, you will be sorry).

6)DON'T get electronic ballasts (whack out X-10 controllers, unproven as yet, don't save you much anyway, lotsa problems)

Just my opinion.

elvis

 

[Anonymous]

elvisdoc,

800 watts of MH light over a 90 gallon tank that contains mostly soft corals ? I certainly can think of several mushroom species that wouldn't appreciate that much light.

I have had IceCap solid state HM ballasts in service since they first became available. The only real problems I've had is with the lousy American 10K & 6.5K 175W MH lamps. Also IceCap MH ballasts used with German 175 watt 10K lamps, have as much light output as 250 watt lamps and conventional ballasts.

Check out the Aquarium Frontiers Article at this URL.
http://www.icecapinc.com/article.htm

X-10 systems can have bugs, but I worked around all of them.

Regards,

Scott


[This message has been edited by Scott D Passe (edited 06 February 2000).]

 

[Anonymous]

Scott,
Just some thoughts. Read that article a while back. Not knocking the 175W IceCap system, per se, in fact, they sound OK as far as PAR output but IceCap uses systems 'tuned' to the bulb...no interchangeability to different type of bulb unless you send the ballast back to the factory...not ideal, wouldn't you say? So if you are ready to make the committement to only one bulb choice, they sound OK. As for a 175 putting out the light of a 250W, OK, but why not just buy a 250W? Price difference is marginal between 175 and 250w... Have yet to see test numbers on their 250W unit, but it may be somewhat brighter as well...again it's tuned to the bulb...BlueLine is not, so highly doubt they are brighter. The ones I had seemed dimmer than a standard coil 400W ballast a la PFO. And did not run cooler. BTW, the heat issue with PFO's is bogus, IMO, as my dual 400 is only warm to the touch, not hot.

Another problem with the IceCap e-ballasts is you cannot get a 400W system from IceCap at this time and they have no plans to make one. Getting 400W for any MH system seems to be inevitable...you and your corals just end up wanting more light...see this on these boards over and over. Why not get the right light the first time? 400W PFO's.

BTW, two 400's over a 90 would rock!

elvis

 

[Anonymous]

elvisdoc,

A couple more thoughts:

#1 Late model IceCap ballasts are no longer tuned to German vs. Domestic lamps. Only wattage needs to be the same. I don’t know if they have been “compromise tuned” or are self-adapting. I have older models which were tuned for domestic MH lamps. They are being sent in to be re-tuned for German 175’s which they are doing for free.

#2 If I were lighting a SPS and or clam only tank, 2 400 watt MH lamps would be fine. But as I still think this would be too much for soft corals.(on a 90 gallon tank)

Regards

Scott


[This message has been edited by Scott D Passe (edited 06 February 2000).]

 

[Anonymous]

He said he didn't want to limit himself.
PFO dual 400W MH would not limit him to softies.

And would leave money for "end cap thingy".


elvis


PS. 250W would probably be fine.

For a couple of years.

 

[Anonymous]

You can get 2 PFO 400w ballasts with cord and endcap for 183 dollars at www.premiumaquatics.com. Since you have the VHO already, make them all actinics and use the 6500K Iwasaki's, which are 60 bucks each. I personally like 6500K and actinic. The light is really nice.

If you get into higher kelvin bulbs and are using those VHO's for actinics, you will probably have way too much blue light in the tank. While not detrimental, it might make the tank appear too dim. It will bring out those colors tho!

Don't forget the reflectors!

------------------
My wallet lies at the bottom of my reef. Along with my brain.

 

[Anonymous]

Hey everyone,

I'm with Sculpin! I have a 29 gallon reef that I have recently upgraded to 1-250w 6500K MH w/2-75w VHO Actinics... 400watts total. My mushrooms and deep water leathers love it but are towars the bottom. I mainly keep Acropora sp. but do have some others (ie Fox, Candycane, Sinularia etc.) and I find that ALL the corals LOVE the light. SPS color increases have started taking place a few days ago only 2 weeks after the light was installed. FYI the tank is 3 years old and was lit by 4-75w VHO (2Daylight and 2 actinic) and 2-20w NO (daylights) A 90 gallon tank is 24" deep and it could use a good 10 watts per gallon!

LATER!


------------------
Sean Bradley
Photographer : Still Reefs Photographic Productions

 

[Anonymous]

I have 400 watts of combined PFO MH and PC over a 29 (which can be extrapolated to more than 800 over a 90) and have not had difficulties with soft corals (or hard corals for that matter). I simply move them to shade if they appear to be suffering. My corals, including mushrooms, flourish. And, frighteningly, I intend to upgrade my MH to higher wattage in the future. Even with the wattage I have, I have seen evidence in morphologic changes of my corals that my current lighting is insufficient in intensity.

I'd go with dual 400 W and model my LR to provide areas of shade for deeper water species.

 

[Anonymous]

THere is no such thing as too much light for a reef tank.... To say otherwise would be preposterous

. THe only way I can see too much light being a problem is if it kicks in algae blooms, but then again, it's not JUST the lights bringing on that algae either.

Do it right the first time and get the 400w's. You will probably get a bigger tank one day anyway. I'm bumping my 120 up to a 180 once I buy a house in the next few years. Gonna build. Put the tank in a wall and have a utility area behind it with a sink and all. Can't wait! And I won't let the wife in there. My own personal refugium. That's almost better than the big tank.

------------------
My wallet lies at the bottom of my reef. Along with my brain.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi All,

10 watts per gallon, so by that logic, I would use 1800 watts on my new 180 gallon reef tank. I don't think so.
I would prefer to look at my inverts, not cook them!

And yes there is such a thing as too much light.

Regards

[This message has been edited by Scott D Passe (edited 07 February 2000).]

[This message has been edited by Scott D Passe (edited 07 February 2000).]

 

[Anonymous]

There is a thing a TOO MUCH LIGHT ON A REEF AQUARIUM.I have a 20 gal aquarium with sps,lps,clams,polpys and other misc stuff.I have a sing 400 watt metal halide 6500 k light bulb with 2-55 watt blue power compact lighs on my 20.THATS A WHOPPING 50 WATTS PER GAL.I can keep any thing I put into my tank.In fact I have to shade my Green Mushroom Rock because the light is to intense.I am going to downgrade from a 400 watt to a 250 watt 6500 k bulb.So there is a thing as too much ligh.

 

[Anonymous]

I am sorry.Typo Error. I ment 25.5 watts per gal.Sorry about that.That is still a LOT OF WATTS PER GAL though.

 

[Anonymous]

Hey Scott,

I must admit that the "watts per gallon" rule is a little inaccurate but not all that crazy. My tank has almost 14 watts per gallon and a friend of mine has a 37 gallon with 4 75w VHO's and 1 400w 6500K Iwasaki which about 19 watts per gallon and those SPS corals are the finest I have EVER seen! There is a local store with a 150 gallon (72x20x21") it has 3 400w 6500K's and 2 160w VHOs which is just over 10 watts per gallon, this tank looks GOOD too. Another friend of mine has some beautiful soft corals and LPS and lots of SPS spread throughout his 225 gallon reef. This one has 2-175w 10,000K, 3-250w 6500K, 2-160w VHO Actinics & finally 4-55w PC Actinics which is about 7.5 watts per gallon. In this high light most all soft corals, LPS and SPS thrive but have to be GRADUALLY acclimated to the intensity. Be open-minded about light intensity, at these high wattages UV is a very important factor. Remember to acclimate and also remember that the intensity of the sun is nothing close to what we put over our reefs!

LATER!
*Note my sunglassed eyes to deal with the light but the corals LOVE it!

------------------
Sean Bradley
Photographer : Still Reefs Photographic Productions

 

[Anonymous]

The more you think about it, watts per gallon is a bunch of baloney. The volume of water does not matter, the depth does. THe rule of thumb is one MH bulb per 2 square feet of tank. Thats the length and width, not the height. THe height of your tank should be the deciding factor. Anything below or at 18 inches should be fine with a 175. Anything deeper to about 30 inches should be fine with 250w, and anything deeper than that should be 400w. And I think thats a bunch of baloney too...

Decide what you're gonna keep. If it's LPS and softies, you don't need anything more than a 250w with your tank. If you're gonna put SPS and clams in there, go 400w regardless of depth. The more intense the light, the better the colors.

You guys said there is a thing as too much light on a tank, but all you did was tell me a number, there was no reason why it was a 'bad' thing. Yes a lot of light mean s a lot of acclimation. No doubt! You either lower the coral or raise up the lights. Not hard at all. Once the acclimation is done, you will have a coral ready to grow grow grow...

Your mushies don't like the MH because they do best in low light levels. Thats wattage and intensity. It's their nature. I've found they do best under an overhang in low current, and I've read threads where people had troubles with them once they went to MH.



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My wallet lies at the bottom of my reef. Along with my brain.