Lighting question for smaller tank

[urbanhellfire]

I have a 31"L x 12"W x 16"H tank that for the past two months had only had LR and a cuc in it. It has the standard 20 watt t-8 tube in it, and that has worked just fine for the LR but Iam wanting to start adding some corals no hard just soft, mushrooms,polyps.

Iam looking to grow easy to medium care corals. My biggest question right now is what type of lighting to upgrade to? PC,HO,VHO?

PC"s look like I could easily mod my current hood to fit them in, but are they any good?

I have seen that you can get a ballast " ice cap " that
will run HO or VHO lights and that could be good choice for moving up to a VHO tube in the future?

Iam just not sure which way to go with the lighting.

Anyone help a brother out? :wink:

[Der_Iron_Chef]

I would say it depends on what you want to keep AND your price range! You might go to jlaquatics.com and check out their retrofit HO T5 kits. Those may be the best bang for your buck (considering what you want to keep as well). They're cheaper than PC in the long run, as the bulbs are at least half the price (in my experience).

[Pier Pressure]

I had thought that power compact was low end, T5's were medium, and MH was top of the line (notwithstanding the new LED's). Is this incorrect? Do power compacts or T5's give better light?

Definitely tagging along for this one!

[urbanhellfire]

Money is ALWAYS a factor:lol:.

This (http://cgi.ebay.com/2-x-96-Watt-Power-Compact-PC-Ballast-SQ-Pin-96W-ARO_W0QQitemZ290234342496QQihZ019QQcategoryZ46314Q QtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1742.m153.l1262)
is the PC setup I was looking at.

I just want to make sure iam putting enough wattage into the tank.

I don't think I would go with MH on a tank this small, (price and heat):sad:

Thanks everyone

[urbanhellfire]

I had thought that power compact was low end, T5's were medium, and MH was top of the line (notwithstanding the new LED's). Is this incorrect? Do power compacts or T5's give better light?

Definitely tagging along for this one!


I Have thought the same thing about PC's but as long as they throw the same wattage and lum's does it really matter?

Iam not sure if it does matter thats why iam here:biggrin:.

Alright everyone let there be light....:idea:

[Whatigot]

oh boy, not this can of worms again...

It's personal preference.
you will find compelling arguments for pc's, mh and t5's.
Myself, I have 300 watts of DE Halides and 260 watts of PC lighting over my 24' deep 72 bowfront and couldn't be happier.

I had a single 65w 50/50 pc over my old 36 gallon bow (18' deep) and grew just softies, mushrooms and kept the odd LPS with no problem.

Trial and error my friend, but in my opinion you'd be just fine on that tank with either pc or t5, plus you can always upgrade later if you need or want to.

[urbanhellfire]

oh boy, not this can of worms again...

It's personal preference.
you will find compelling arguments for pc's, mh and t5's.
Myself, I have 300 watts of DE Halides and 260 watts of PC lighting over my 24' deep 72 bowfront and couldn't be happier.

I had a single 65w 50/50 pc over my old 36 gallon bow (18' deep) and grew just softies, mushrooms and kept the odd LPS with no problem.

Trial and error my friend, but in my opinion you'd be just fine on that tank with either pc or t5, plus you can always upgrade later if you need or want to.


Trial and error are the two things I have lots of experience with!

I just didn't want to under light the tank and kill off any animals :twised:. and it seems that any LFS I talk to all seem to have diffrent values when it comes to lighting and what is needed.

I don't think my tank needs to be seen from space but I also want to see what going on in there:lol:

Thanks

[Pier Pressure]

My electrical knowledge is not very good that is for sure. I am still confused. Can somebody list the three different forms of lighting with advantages/disadvantages of each? Not trying to start a war here - just want to gain more knowledge. I agree that each LFS tells you a different story.

And I, too, do not think my tank needs to be seen from space! LOL.

[sphelps]

PC- power compacts: Cheap fair par output but not very efficient. Bulb life is less than 12 months.

T5HO- High Output Fluorescent, fairly expensive, very efficient, good par output, available individual parabolic reflectors are what really make these better than other fluorescents. Bulb life tends to be 12-18 months.

MH- Metal Halides, very high par output in small package, not very efficient, generate high amounts of heat. Usually best bang for the buck for larger tanks especially when considering bulb replacement (1 bulb verse 4). Bulb life around 12 months.

VHO: Very high output fluorescents, very high energy consumption with low par output= not efficient. Tends to be an older style of aquarium lighting. Bulb life 6-8 months.

For something cheap for soft and LPS corals just use the PCs, they will give you good result for what you want.

[Parker]

Also note T5 comes in two variations - Regular and Hight Output, the perfered would be High Output with individual reflectors

[urbanhellfire]

PC- power compacts: Cheap fair par output but not very efficient. Bulb life is less than 12 months.

T5HO- High Output Fluorescent, fairly expensive, very efficient, good par output, available individual parabolic reflectors are what really make these better than other fluorescents. Bulb life tends to be 12-18 months.

MH- Metal Halides, very high par output in small package, not very efficient, generate high amounts of heat. Usually best bang for the buck for larger tanks especially when considering bulb replacement (1 bulb verse 4). Bulb life around 12 months.

VHO: Very high output fluorescents, very high energy consumption with low par output= not efficient. Tends to be an older style of aquarium lighting. Bulb life 6-8 months.

For something cheap for soft and LPS corals just use the PCs, they will give you good result for what you want.


Iam leaning towards the PCs as I can retro fit them into my hood while keeping the T-8 tube in the hood, a little extra light cant be bad.

There seems to be some fair priced retro pc kits out there.

Thanks again!

[mseepman]

I would seriously look at this option if I was looking to retro a hood. (Look at 8th and 9th from the bottom of the page - SUN BLAZE)

http://www.prairiereefsupplies.ca/index.php?id=95

I retro'd these into an aqualight pro (replaced the painful PC's) and I can tell you the increased light makes a huge difference.

They come with a ballast, can be daisy chained together (so only one plug in required) and when you buy the individual reflector you get great lighting for cheap.

Just my 2cents though.

[Pier Pressure]

Very informative, thank you. This was a great thread to start as I have been wondering about lighting since I got into the saltwater hobby.

[spreerider]

MH- Metal Halides, very high par output in small package, not very efficient, generate high amounts of heat. Usually best bang for the buck for larger tanks especially when considering bulb replacement (1 bulb verse 4). Bulb life around 12 months.



MH are the most efficient lights that we can get for our reefs, the only more efficient light available is LPS (low pressure sodium) they are street lamps and grow lights for "farms".
Some new LEDs claim to be more efficient but if you actuall get info on the individual LEDs used they have a Efficiency less than MH.

[urbanhellfire]

Very informative, thank you. This was a great thread to start as I have been wondering about lighting since I got into the saltwater hobby.
....and my wife says iam good for nothing.:surprise:


I looked at the sun blaze lighting and it looks like it might be a good idea but this is where I show just how little I know about light.

A 2' pc fixture can be rated at lets say 2 x 65w.
A 2' T-5 HO fixture can be rated at 2 x 24w.

I know lumens mean everything, but on alot of Forums you hear people say you need X amount of wattage per gal.

Now if thats true would you not be better off going with the higher wattage bulbs?

Now iam going to stand back and put on my flame suit ( so I dont get burned )

:wink:

[urbanhellfire]

MH are the most efficient lights that we can get for our reefs, the only more efficient light available is LPS (low pressure sodium) they are street lamps and grow lights for "farms".
Some new LEDs claim to be more efficient but if you actuall get info on the individual LEDs used they have a Efficiency less than MH.

Alot of energy is wasted by MH in the form of heat. VERY good bulbs but alot of energy wasted by being turned into heat.

You still cant beat the growth under a MH bulb:twised:

[Whatigot]

....and my wife says iam good for nothing.:surprise:


I looked at the sun blaze lighting and it looks like it might be a good idea but this is where I show just how little I know about light.

A 2' pc fixture can be rated at lets say 2 x 65w.
A 2' T-5 HO fixture can be rated at 2 x 24w.

I know lumens mean everything, but on alot of Forums you hear people say you need X amount of wattage per gal.

Now if thats true would you not be better off going with the higher wattage bulbs?

Now iam going to stand back and put on my flame suit ( so I dont get burned )

:wink:


Lumens is important, but par is more so.
very simply put, par is the ability of any given light source to penetrate the depths of your tank.
Higher wattage does not always mean higher par.
if you do a search under "halides" you will find some very good articles and discusiion on this....

[urbanhellfire]

Lumens is important, but par is more so.
very simply put, par is the ability of any given light source to penetrate the depths of your tank.
Higher wattage does not always mean higher par.
if you do a search under "halides" you will find some very good articles and discusiion on this....

Lots of good stuff when I searched Halides, Iam guessing par is the light reflecting hood that forces the light into the tank so little light is wasted?

From the top of my sand bed to the bottom of my bulb is about 10" , now I can see this being a issue for someone people with deeper tanks but I think with this smaller tank I should be just fine one way or another:mrgreen:

[Whatigot]

at 10" deep, i would use pc's.
thats just personal choice.

[urbanhellfire]

at 10' deep, i would use pc's.
thats just personal choice.


I would not want to try and light OR clean a 10' deep tank:wink::wink:.....

Iam leaning towards the pcs...... today anyways.