MH is a must now

[Saltysteve]

Well MH; it just has to come now :lol:
I am thinking of constructing my own hood to match the stand. The hood of course will be constructed to allow proper clearances etc for heating and mounting fans. My tank is 48 inches long, almost 50 gallons with a black 1.5 inch center support. I want to use one 400 watt 14 000k setup. Going to use polished aluminum or just paint white. What do you all think? Enough light for anything I want? SPS , Clams etc

Thanks

[danny zubot]

Its enough light for those types of corals but that center brace will give you problems. If your MH is too close you run the risk of melting it, plus t will cause a shadow in your tank.

[muck]

Id go with 2 x 250W MH. :cool:

[OCDP]

haha it's funny when I first started the hobby I was fixated on just getting a tank with two clowns ...

I never would have thought something as simple as lights could become so interesting.... corals became more interesting, starting me off on the Coralife auqalight fixtures... I thought it was the brightest fish tank light my eyes had ever seen... it was the coolest thing.

Well of course the lights had to still be brighter, bigger, and yes more expensive. Long story short... it only took me a year to switch over to the halides from PC's ..

Halides are the way to go.....

You'll be soooo happy to go MH

[Saltysteve]

I can't wait :cool:
My first plan included 2 x 250 lights but now the thinking has changed to include a bigger tank in the future, like everything else :lol: upgrading is inevitable. If I go with a 400 now, I can use it and go 2 x 400 for a bigger tank. If I go with 2 x 250 now , I feel I may be upgrading again?

How bad do you think the shadow would be :eek:

[Invigor]

i have a piece of glass in the center of my tank 12" wide. it gets salty and I can't see thru it, and I don't get shadows. :D

can't go wrong with 2x250w hqi setup :D unless you go with 400w hqi..but that's another story.

[Ruth]

I have a 3X400W over my 230 so the middle light is over my center brace and it is noticable to the eye the difference in the two lights that are directly over the water and the one that is over the center brace FWIW.

[Saltysteve]

Thanks, I was thinking of cutting the black plastic off and replacing with glass. Also, I hear you about the HQI, just not in the budget but it will be soon LOL.
Another reason to go ahead with just one 400 watt system :biggrin: :biggrin: :wink: I know I'll be spending again LOL

Is there anyone else running with this type of arrangement, any and all opinions are valued!

Thanks

[reeferaddict]

Just my 2 bits... I think a 400W is going to give you a wonderful bright area in the middle dropping to a lower intensity at the ends... 2x400W would be extreme on a little tank like that... but 2 x 250 would be good... (make sure you have fans in the hood!) ... As for future upgrades... 250W is sufficient for tanks up to 24" deep...(or so popular opinion seems to be anyways...) I am currently running 2 x 250W 10,000K MH, 2x96W Pc Actinics, and 2 x10,000K PC's.... 900 W on a 6 foot long 135.... LOTS of light! Only guys I know that are running 400W are SPS guys.... (oops! and GALS)... with deeper tanks.

[Funky_Fish14]

Well, im going to supply my input seeing as I also have a 48" tank with a 400W halide over it and a center brace. The shadow looks bad in FTS but in reality it is not that bad. My corals are all very happy, and even light lovers are fine at the end of the tank. Here is a link with some pics:

http://www.canreef.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=18403

The halide is about 10-12" up and the centerbrace gets hot but it is still strong, it does not become softer. My tank is a 75g BTW.

I have since changed the aquascape but I'll try to get some pics. Now the shadow is even less noticeable, and event the xenia under the center brace is doing fine. I will get some pics of it if I can.

Chris

[Saltysteve]

Lots of good input, appreciate it.
Chris:

That single bulb lights that tank up beautifully. Sure can see the center brace shadowing though. I was talking with some guys, a few ideas came forward. The first one:
Run 1 250 watt 14000k MH bulb slightly offset from center and then install my 4 X65 Watt PC lights and ballasts on either side of the brace, run 50/50 bulbs.

2nd idea:
Same as above (which is a great idea, I thought) but construct the hood to overhang over the edge of the tank to provide support so I can cut the center brace :lol: :lol: :lol: :cool:

Any input?

[Funky_Fish14]

Hey Steve,

The amount of light I get in that tank from the completely closed hood(and im sure you saw my reflector aswell) is awesome. Like I said though, the center brace shawdow is actually not as visible as it seems, here take a look at these pics:

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b337/Funky_Fish14/LeftSide.jpg

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b337/Funky_Fish14/RightSide.jpg

As you can see it isnt that bad. Infact its not even as bad as it looks in those pics. I have a new aquascape now and the shaddow is hardly noticeable, but unfortunately, no matter what i do I cant get the camera to show it properly. Right now in the tank, to find the shadow, you have to look for it. Im not moving my rocks anymore because im very happy with the shadow being almost un-noticeable.

Its too bad your wayyyyy too far to come by and see it in person. I personally am quite please with having a single 400W 10K XM SE over the tank and no other lights! I know there is a slight chance you may not believe my word on the shadow but I have no reason to b.s. you about it. :mrgreen:

The idea about offsetting the bulb a little is a good one and I was thinking about doing that at first but unfortunately I didnt have any other light fixtures.

I have thought about cutting the center brace myself but my dad(an engineer, hehe) thinks it will compromise the strenth of the tank too much and I didnt want to build the stand/hood so that the top of the tank is pretty much then attached to the hood/stand, it would be a PITA to move the tank, and the hood theoretically should not come off if it is the support for the tank.

On a side note, I want more blue in the tank so I will be adding a 48" 20K or actinic/blue T5 in there just behind the halide. I think adding this with some light comming from the sides will decrease the shadow even more than it is currently in the tank and make it almost invisible.

Just my 2 cents, but HTH.

Chris

Edit: Steve I noticed you said your center brace was 1.5".......I just measured mine and it is 2" so your shadow should also be smaller than mine.

Also, im not saying dont go with 2x250W halides.........if you do.....all the better, im just giving you pros from my side since I know you do want to save money. The corals even on the ends doing extremely well. I have a green fungia happy as can be on the far left right now and the mogul socket is partly blocking some light from it, and I also have a birdsnest colony mid-level in the tank off to a side(12" from the right) and I recently fragged it alot and it has already grown back little tips(fragged it about 3wks ago).

Wow long edit haha. Again, just my 2 cents.

Chris

[Saltysteve]

Thanks Chris
Sure appreciate the input, great looking tank!
I'm going to go for it, one single 250 for now with the 260watt PC's inside the hood as well. I was thinking the extra light from the PC's may cancel out the shadow as well. Looking forward to it :lol:

Thanks again!