fishdrummer August 18, 2006 August 18, 2006 hearing lots of great advice re lights. with only reef rock in my 180 gallon .. and as I put the tank back into working order... this what i have for now: 3 x 175 watt MH 2 x 96 watt power compact ballasts (4 bulbs total) is that enough to add hard corals ?
Caribbean Jake August 18, 2006 August 18, 2006 hearing lots of great advice re lights. with only reef rock in my 180 gallon .. and as I put the tank back into working order... this what i have for now: 3 x 175 watt MH 2 x 96 watt power compact ballasts (4 bulbs total) is that enough to add hard corals ? 175W are only enough for Merulina, Pocillopora and Digitatas. SPS like Acroporas, Torts, Staghorns and others require a minumum of 250W, or better yet 400W MH. This has been my experience, I share with you. Jacob
dhoch August 18, 2006 August 18, 2006 By hard corals you can mean multiple things... for some hard corals as CJ said yes... LPS as well... Dave
fishdrummer August 21, 2006 Author August 21, 2006 am i better off with MH or the t5 if i go for hard corals?
dhoch August 21, 2006 August 21, 2006 No one light (MH or T5) is better with hard corals... each has it's pluses and minuses and it will depend on your particular setup which is going to be better. MH are point sources of light... This means you will have localized high and lo light areas in your tank based on where the MH bulb is. T5s are linear light and because of this will give you less low light areas... Are you planning on doing the wiring/hood yourself, or buying something prefabricated? What is the dimensions (length x width) of you tank? Dave
sturnmeyer August 21, 2006 August 21, 2006 am i better off with MH or the t5 if i go for hard corals? There you go...starting the great debate yet again.... Personally I love the T5s and haven't found anything that I can't keep, but I have space and temperature considerations to factor in. That's what led me in the T5 direction. I would say it would depend really on you and what you plan on keeping. This is a huge debate and I personally don't think you'd make a bad decision going with either but you'll find some that disagree. I just know what I've found to be true in my systems. Scott
fishdrummer August 21, 2006 Author August 21, 2006 thanks all. i have wall mounted 6x 2 x 2 180 gallon acrylic tank. it has a 2" sandbed and three aquasaped liverock sections. it drains into a 75 gallon refugium full of live rock in my fishroom...both converge on a rubbermaid 40 gallon sump. two iwakis have return lines plummed into the main tank. the lights, temp and osc are controlled by an neptune/x10 controller. i would like to keep stony corals with some frag help before i started family building i had 3 x 175 metal halies and some vho but quickly learned that wasnt enough. ..this time ill do it the right way with your help. i also need a good skimmer without blowing the bank but i also dont want to get to a point where i regret the purchase ttrade up (like a dope i had an etss and sold it off with the 1/4 chiller during the last move). thanks again
dhoch August 21, 2006 August 21, 2006 You still didn't answer my question... DIY or prebuilt? As for a good realtively inexpensive skimmer... ASM... for a tank that size I would do the G4x... (definitly get the gate valve mod, and potentially the recirc mod). Dave
jason the filter freak August 21, 2006 August 21, 2006 For good measure how many watts per gallon should you have for easy to moderate light requiring corals, and how far should you have your MH fixture off the surface of the water? Does it matteR?
dhoch August 21, 2006 August 21, 2006 fishdrummer... do you allready have a hood for the tank or would you have to make one? Jason - watts/gallon is not a good measure... and easy to moderate depends on what corals you are talking about. As to how far off the surface for MH... most keep around 6-8"... closer than that and you'll probably have heating issues. Dave
fishdrummer August 21, 2006 Author August 21, 2006 For good measure how many watts per gallon should you have for easy to moderate light requiring corals, and how far should you have your MH fixture off the surface of the water? Does it matteR? the floor joists above the tank allow for approx 3 feet - how many watts do i need? for MH was assuming three 400watt fixtures or is that overkill? im intrigued by the t5s for they cooler approach.. can they handle this? where would i get the best deal an ASM skimmer.. as a wamas member?
dhoch August 21, 2006 August 21, 2006 For a tank that size most people I have seen use: 1 x 400 MH and 2 x 250 MH (center and two sides)... there are other configurations, but that will work. with 2 6' 160W VHO suppliments (actinics) For T5 I would go 6 or 7 5' 80W bulbs (with 1 or 2 6' VHO 160W suppliments actinics) If electricity is a concern just think all lights on MH: 900W MH + 320W suppliments T5: 700W Main + 100W suppliment (assuming 7 T5, 1 VHO all on IC ballasts overdriven)... Can T5s handle what? (See my site... my tank is 7 x 5' T5 80W over driven + 1 160W VHO actinic)... I've got mixed reef, but have great SPS growth, and a very happy now closer to 4" crocea AT THE BOTTOM of my tank As for the ASM skimmer... asmskimmer.com (at least I think that's it) Dave
fishdrummer August 23, 2006 Author August 23, 2006 thanks all. went with the asm g4x @ asmskimmer.com
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