Lighting suggestions?

[gqlmao]

Hello, Im going to build a canopy for my tank, its been topless for a couple months now, I need suggestions!. I'm currently running 4 t-5s right now. SPS frags seem to do okay. My tank is a cube its 30x30x24 which is pretty deep. When im done my canopy I'm thinking of adding either an mh 400 or 250 watt or another 4 bulbs of t-5s which one do you guys prefer? the t-5s are 24 inch by the way.

Since I have two bigger angels I'm just keeping sps and other hard species of corals. What would be best in the long run? I know that I'm going to need excessive fan cooling in the summer with MH as my tank gets hot now. But I do adore that shimmer :).

Based on experience, cost, and expertise what do canreefers have to say?

[fkshiu]

If you want simplicity, do a single 250w pendant with a lumenarc/bright reflector and a 14K bulb of some sort (Ushio/Phoenix).

If you want max growth but still want colours to pop (and be able to do a dawn/dusk thing) then do a single 250W pendant pendant with a lumenarc mini/lumenmax reflector with a 10K bulb supplemented by your current 24" T5s running German actinic/actinic+ bulbs (UVL/ATI/G-man).

[Myka]

I'm lighting a similar cube... 28x28x18". I have decided on using:

PFO 250w HQI ballast (to overdrive the mogul bulb to produce max PAR per watt)
Lumenarc III reflector (for coverage)
250w XM 10K bulb (for the best output on that particular ballast)

This combination is one of the highest PAR per watt combinations for 250w setups, and will rival an "average" 400w system for PAR (don't believe me? check out Sanjay's Reef Lighting Info pages), but will produce a fairly yellow light, so I'm going to supplement with:

2 - 24" Giesemann True Actinic T5 (possibly 1:1 with a KZ Fiji Pink or Purple)
2 - 24" Giesemann Actinic+ T5 (or possibly 1:1 with a Blue+)

I should get some serious PAR per watt, and awesome color.

I've spent a LOT of time researching lighting, and was really sold on a 400w system, but decided this plan will give me only about 10% less PAR for a lot less electricity!

[gqlmao]

Really? dang, thanks for the heads up I might be able to save a few bucks on electricity :). Lumeracs are kind of big, My canopy would have to be pretty big to fit something like that in there. BTW does anyone have a good sites for building hanging or floating canopies? I know i've seen fishytimes canopy and I love it. It would be great on a rimless tank. I think I'll look into Sanjays pages.
Thanks
Stanley,

[fkshiu]

Really? dang, thanks for the heads up I might be able to save a few bucks on electricity :). Lumeracs are kind of big, My canopy would have to be pretty big to fit something like that in there. BTW does anyone have a good sites for building hanging or floating canopies? I know i've seen fishytimes canopy and I love it. It would be great on a rimless tank. I think I'll look into Sanjays pages.
Thanks
Stanley,


SE 250 HQIs use about 330 watts of electricity so the savings are a bit deceiving. Using Lumenarc minis or Lumenmax reflectors should give you enough room to work with.

[Myka]

^ I see you have the XM 10K with the HQI ballast. Can you post a pic of your tank? I'd really like to see the color you're getting, and just how much blue pull the T5s are giving you.

I don't understand how a ballast that only pushes 250w could push 330w through a bulb....? Do you have any references on that information?

[fkshiu]

^ I see you have the XM 10K with the HQI ballast. Can you post a pic of your tank? I'd really like to see the color you're getting, and just how much blue pull the T5s are giving you.

I don't understand how a ballast that only pushes 250w could push 330w through a bulb....? Do you have any references on that information?

I apologize to the original poster for the hijacking, but:

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c197/fkshiu/PictureorVideo112.jpg

And here's Sanjay's results for 250W bulbs on an HQI ballast:

http://www.reeflightinginfo.arvixe.com/tabular-ballast-data.php?Watts=250&BallastType=HQI&BallastManuf=PFO+Lighting&BallastName=8&shield=N&Submit=Submit

The column to look at is "watts". Note that the 250W SE XM 10K is a PAR monster, but uses 374 watts (!) with most others falling in around 330. The ballast is simply overdriving the bulbs the same way an Icecap 660 ballast overdrives, for example, 54W T5HO bulbs to around 80W giving you more PAR ooomph.

[michika]

I really like what I've gotten out of my 175w MH, and the luminarc reflectors are REALLY bright. I have one now on my nano, and its bright enough that it may be causing problems for my SPS.

I've seen a lot of nice tanks that are MH with T5 supplements, and they seem to have the best growth and nicest color that I have seen. If you have the time take a look through ReefKeeping Magazine's Tank of the Month's, and check out their lighting. It might help you decide on the look you want, and if you want to go with T5s or MH.

I also think Gold's in town runs a tank with just T5s, Elite does as well.

[Myka]

The column to look at is "watts". Note that the 250W SE XM 10K is a PAR monster, but uses 374 watts (!) with most others falling in around 330. The ballast is simply overdriving the bulbs the same way an Icecap 660 ballast overdrives, for example, 54W T5HO bulbs to around 80W giving you more PAR ooomph.

Ohhhhhhhhh, I get it. I didn't realise that overdriving the bulb would actually draw more power. I thought a 250w ballast would draw 250w no matter what. I never really looked at that watts column before, but it seems like most bulb/ballast configurations are way over their "rated" wattage anyway, so really it's still all relative.

I really like the color you're getting on your tank. Makes me happy on my decision! :) Nice corals too btw!