Upgrading from 75G - will current eqiupment cut it?

[madmax7774]

As some of you know, I am upgrading my 75G (20" tall) tank, but I am now considering NOT going the planned 90G and Going all the way up to a 110G tall. (30" deep) I am looking at the AGA 110X reef ready. My big dilemma is whether or not my lights will be strong enough for such a deep tank. I curently have 2 175W MH 20,000K lights and 2 Normal output 48" 10,000K florescents. as my light source. I am worried that this will not be enough light to penetrate a 30" deep tank. What do you guys think? As of right now, my inhabitants are mostly softies, but I am slowly aquiring more and more SPS frags, and hope to have lots of hard corals.

Also,

I recently upgraded my protein skimmer from a coralife 125 junker to a Euro-reef RS80 It works great, now that i have modded it with a collection cup overflow, and a gate valve. My worry is that this will not be enough skimmer for a 110G system. Euro-reef's site is no help because they list a recommended rating and a comparative rating whatever that is. In the experience of the club members, do you think an RS80 will keep up with a light-to-medium bioloaded 110G tank.

John

 

[zoozilla]

Hello -

 

Since you are adding SPS and your tank is 30" high, you can get by with your current 2 x 175W MH 20,000K but you have to either place you SPS closer to the top of the tank or move your lights down closer to the surface of the water. You can also add more PAR by going 10,000 K on the Halides. But if you can spare the cash, I'd go with at least 2 x 250 Watt (Your corals will thank you)

 

Depending upon how well/often you do water changes, feeding regimen, amount of bio-filtration (Live Rock, Live Sand) etc, you should be able to squeak by with the ER RS80. But,I would suggest something bigger or at least add another Skimmer along side your RS80.

 

IMHO, lights and skimmers are two pieces of equipment that you should try NOT to skimp on.

 

Good Luck with the Upgrade...

Edited January 15, 2007 by zoozilla

[ReeferMan]

agreed

[madmax7774]

ok, so lets say I upgrade the lights first. I sell off the ballasts from the 175's and replace them, and the bulbs with a higher wattage. For $383 I can go dual 250W or for $419 I can go with 400W is the extra $36 dollars worth the cost to go with 400W bulbs. Is 400W too much? I worry that dual 400's would overheat the tank. Since my Bio-lode will be lite, and I am adding a automatic water change system with this tank upgrade, I will address the protein skimmer in a few months, after I have saved some more money up. As far as bulbs go, I am going to go down to 10,000K I think, and supplement with actinics

[steveoutlaw]

I would look at the retrofit kits on hellolights.com. You can get 2 250w kits, including the bulbs, for $350 shipped. Go with the M58 magnetic ballast and the XM 10K bulbs. I've got a 30" deep tank and I'm very happy with mine.

[ReeferMan]

i say dual 250w with 14k bulbs no suppliments

[Coral Hind]

For $383 I can go dual 250W or for $419 I can go with 400W is the extra $36 dollars worth the cost to go with 400W bulbs.

 

Something else to think about. It isn't just the extra $36 dollars but an extra 300Watts of power to pay for each month and more heat to get rid of. If it was me I would stick with the 250's and use 14K bulbs which were already mentioned. I just went from 20Ks to 14Ks and I actually had to lower my photo period. Just my opinion.

[VicSkimmr]

Have you considered the other effects of having a 30" tall tank? Its not fun having to stand on a step stool and reaching your entire arm, all the way to your pits, just to reach a frag that fell to the bottom of the tank. Just some food for though from someone who's dealt with it before

[lmeyer]

I've been told in the past that past 24 inches depth you might want to consider 400s. I'm planning on going with 250s, but I'm planning on having a 30" tank with a 6" sandbed. Don't forget operating costs when you compare the price of the 250s to the 400s. Initial cost is only $36 more, but you'll be paying far more than that over time.

 

If you are running your 175s with a 10 hour photoperiod and paying $.07/KWH, your lights currently cost $7.35 to run per month or $89.43 per year.

 

Increasing to 250s, your running cost will go up to $10.50 per month or $127.75 per year.

 

Increasing to 400s, your running cost will go up to $16.80 per month or $204.40 per year.

[madmax7774]

Thanks for the warnings about the 30" tall tanks, but I have no direction to expend in except for vertically because of my tank location, wife's preference's etc... So in the interest of more room, I will put up with the height issues. I am leaning heavily towards 250W bulb as I am worried about heat issues. At this point, I am just trying to narrow down which ballast to use. I have had much success with my XM mogul bulbs, and I am thinking I will probably stay with the XM brand. I am leaning towards a pair of ARO electronic ballasts I think...

mostly it is depending on price at this point...

[zoozilla]

I am leaning heavily towards 250W bulb as I am worried about heat issues

 

Do you have a canopy or open top? What's the typical water temp with your current 175 Watt setup? If you go, 2 x 250 Watt 14,000 K (Without supplemenation) you should do okay with some small fans. Better yet, if you can spare a few bucks go with a Chiller. If ambient temperatures during the summer months in your home is High even with the AC running, the Chiller, though initial cost can sometimes be high, will be Priceless

 

Typically, running bulbs with Electronic Ballasts run cooler than Tar Ballasts...

Edited January 15, 2007 by zoozilla

[madmax7774]

I have a totally enclosed top, However, I did design in some serious cooling fans and air ducting to keep the hot air rising out of the hood. With the 175W bulbs I never had a heat problem. My tank is on the fisrt floor of the house, so it is always the coolest floor in the summer time. I am hoping the 250's will be just right in terms of low heat, high light. I have some thoughts on adding a water cooling system to the fishtank that circulates water through the vent in my A/C exchange in my furnace. It would be a relatively easy and cheap way to help cool the tank if need be.

[jason the filter freak]

PSSST what are you doing with that scratched up 75?... I dunno about the chiller they put off alot of heat as well...

[SteveM]

I have the exact tank you are looking at. It is deep and sometimes it is a pain to have to use a stepstool to reach to the bottom of the tank, but I still like mine. It has a lot of room for my fish to swim around in.

 

I started out with just a Dual Aqualight power compact with 4 65W in it. All I had were some softies so it seemed to work okay for them but I wanted better lighting so I added 4 54W T-5s. I have both light sets on top of the tank now and it is much better. Although I can't have any SPS's unless I put them at the very top of the tank under the T-5s, I am still able to have LPS and all the mushrooms and softies I like. Every thing I have in the tank seems to be doing great with the lights I have but I am still considering upgrading to MH. I will be interested to see what you choose. Keep me updated with whatever you pick and how they work out for you.

[fab]

For a bit of a boost in cooling consider putting a fairly simple scheme together that draws air across the length of the tank and exhausts it from the hood. Vertical exhaust can work. Use some horizontal pipes with a bend to go vertical or route them elsewhere for the exhaust. You can put the fans on a thermostat control to draw air out only when the tank temperature gets above a threshold value. This might keep you out of "chiller territory" and will be a lot cheaper to operate.

 

fab