Moving on up to a 180

[Mugster]

Hi everyone. I just recently joined this forum in hopes that I may seek help/advice from some of you very knowledgable aquatic hobbyists. I am currently setting up a 180 gal in which I would like to keep various corals, anenomes, and a few anenome fish such as clowns. Would 3 175MH 10000K and two 72" VHO actinics be sufficient to start with?

I'm moving the contents of my 100 gal (sumpless, 1 400MH 6500K, 2 NO 48" actinics), which includes approx. 80lbs of LR, a few soft corals, 2 carpet anenomes, and clown fish, to the 180 gal (55 gal sump with trickle filter, with prementioned lighting).

 

[esmithiii]

Yes, but why not 400W Halides? You will want them eventually, so why not now?

I have a 180 w/ 2 400W MH and I will be adding a third soon.

Ernie

 

[IBJJ]

My 180 has 3 x 175 (10,000k) but I went with 3 x 60" VHO (2 blue 1 white actinic) If the canopy is 6ft..how fit 6ft bulbs in?

 

[mrrrkva]

If the "trickle" is a wet dry get rid of it. Go with just a sump. I also vote for the 400 or at least 250 watters. Maybe you could use the 400 you already have for the middle and 2 250's on the outers. If you want clams or hard corals in the future these are a must, and those anenomes will like them as well. What kind of protein skimmer are you using?? Just make sure you have some fans built in.

 

[toptank]

I have a 180 w/ 3 x 250s MH w/ 2 x 140watt actinic VHO. Lights are in a 12" canopy w/ 4 x 4" fans. I was running 3 x 400ers and I had a heat problem so IMOand IME unless you have a chiller than I would get the 250s as they are not that much more in price than the 175s. Why fight a heat problem unless you have too.

 

[PrestorJohn]

I'd vote for the 400's also - especially if you are partial to the color of the 10000K. I have a pair of 400's (10000K) over my 90 gallon and get by with fans for cooling.

If you are concerned about the heat and electrical cost of the 400W's, then you might want to consider 250W 6500K's instead. You'll find everyone in this forum will recommend going for as much PAR as possible.

 

[Mugster]

Thanks for all the advice. I'm going to change my order I placed to 250's instead of the 175's. And thanks for pointing out my error about the length of the actinics, I was thinking 60" not 6'. Is there a benefit to going with the 10000K or would 6500K suffice? Thanks again.

 

[esmithiii]

The benefit of the 10K bulbs is the color is more pleasing to the eye, and many use them without actinic supplementation. You loose a lot of intensity, though. 6.5K iwasakis provide the most PAR (Photosynthetically Active Radiation) or in other words usable light which you will need since you are going with the 250W instead of the 400W bulbs. I still think that you will be dissapointed later w/ the 250 and will want to upgrade to the 400W.

Ernie

 

[Mugster]

Thanks esmithiii, that's an even better idea. What I plan to do is move the contents and inhabitants of my 100 gal to the 180 gal and then move my triggers from the 65 gal to the 100. I don't think I really need MH lighting on the triggers since there won't be anything else in the tank other than base rock for hiding places, so I can move the 400MH to the 180 and add 2 250's for now. Saves me some money too!

 

[500 G]

I had 3 250w 12000k sunburst halides & 2 60" daylight vho (from my 110). Tank looked great