lighting for a 150

[dually]

Hello all I am posting for the first time and thought maybe someone could set me straight I have had aquariums for about 8 years now and have finnaly got the tank I always wanted. It is a 150 gallon reef ready tank
i just put about 150 lbs of live rock in and about 150 lbs of sugar size oolitic sand. The tank has been up and running for about 2 years as a fish only. The first problem I had was that the temp would go up to about 98 degrees so i got a chiller, the reason for this is that the tank is in the built in to a closet/wall so the heat can't escape. i will vent the room eventualy
but my question is really lighting. I was planning on getting a icecap vho
2 bulb setup for a tottal of 320 watts. do you think that this will be enough to keep some soft corals till i can get metal halides. then what kind of halides would be enough to do lps and sps corals. 3 400 watt halides seem a bit much but i am not really sure. I have been shopping around and the more I look the more questions I have. has anyone bought lights from aquqtic lighting systems ( there add in fama is the one that states You can afford metal halides) they seem to be a good deal but i know you get what you pay for. I have also been looking at sunlight supply and there ballasts seem better but I don;t want to spend money on looks instead of things that work. if any one can help I could use it.
thank you in advance Ross.

 

[dually]

just bringing it back to the top

 

[Anonymous]

hi there, i also have a 150 that i am putting together, just waiting for the southdown, i will be using 2 400w mh and 2 6'vho actinics i thought about 3 400w mh but thought that would be overkill also. i have seen this type of setup(2 400mh and vho) on other tanks, my 150 is basically the same size as a 125 but is a bit taller. i have seen people with 3x175 mh and vho's also so it is up to the person. basically you will have some spots in your tank that will not be as bright as other spots, with mh you can also have you sps if your into that also. i have a 55 also that has 1x400w mh and 4x55wpc's that is overkill but it sure is nice looking in my tank. if you just want lps you could also use just 4 vho's but it will limit the types of corals you can keep.

steven

oh, p.s. are you gonna run a sump/ref? a 55 gal tank makes a great one.

 

[myreef]

I have a 150 and I currently use the following lights:

250 400 250

The 400 is on from 1-4 for intense mid day sun. The others come on for the normal lighting. I also use PC actinics for dawn and dusk. I like the lighting. My tank is 5x2x2. If I had to redo it, I would probably go
400 250 400.....but I like what I have and there is no need to change, since I am getting the desired results from the tank.

 

[teevee]

i'm just beginning to set up a 150 (48x24x30) and i'll be using two 400w 10k MHs.

 

[dually]

thank you all for answering, I think I am going to get 2 vhos for nor and then get either a dual 250 or 400 watt retro fit and see if I need more. hopefully I will be able to do some soft corals eg. leathers and maybe a colt coral with just some vhos for now and then use the vhos for actinics later.

 

[saltybp]

I have a 150g and have 4x95watt VHO for a total of 380w. I successfully keep the following corals (in brackets is how the coral is growing and the location in the tank):
Bulb Anemone (recently split - Mid)
Mushrooms (rapid growth - Low)
Cult coral (excessive growth - Low)
Toad stool (excessive growth - Low)
Green button polyps (slow growth - Mid)
Yellow Polyps (slow growth - Low)
Green Star Polyps (slow to Med growth - High)
Purple Acro (slow growth - High)
Green Monti (med to high growth - High)
Pulsing Xenia (no growth - High)

 

[saltybp]

I have a 150g and have 4x95watt VHO for a total of 380w. I successfully keep the following corals (in brackets is how the coral is growing and the location in the tank):
Bulb Anemone (recently split - Mid)
Mushrooms (rapid growth - Low)
Cult coral (excessive growth - Low)
Toad stool (excessive growth - Low)
Green button polyps (slow growth - Mid)
Yellow Polyps (slow growth - Low)
Green Star Polyps (slow to Med growth - High)
Purple Acro (slow growth - High)
Green Monti (med to high growth - High)
Pulsing Xenia (no growth - High)

 

[Mikef1]

I have a 150 with 3 175 10k halides and 4 96 watt pcs. I can keep just about anything. I am happy with them but would stipp probly get the 250 watt mhs if I had the chance.

 

[dually]

150fowlr I really would like to thank you for the detailed report on what corals you can actually keep. that is exactly what I was looking for. I have been shopping around and people have been telling me to keep any sps or lps I would need to have 3 400watt mh and that seems so excessive. thank you again for replying.