What would you do? - Tank Lighting Upgrade.

[scherzo]

I just bought a 4X54W TEK5 Light for my 90 Gallon (4 foot - 24" Deep) FW (in wall) tank.

I'm thinking of converting it to a reef sometime in the fall or new year.

Since it is behind a wall I don't really mind the look of retro-fit lighting so my question is.

If you wanted to have the widest range of possibilities (getting fairly good par at med to lower levels of the tank) would you:

1) Add 2 more T5HO Retro Fit bulbs to the current 4X54 T5HO
2) Add 4 more T5HO Retrofit bulbs to the current 4X54 T5HO
3) Add 2 more 175W MH to supplement the 4X54 T5HO
4) Scrap the 4X54s and get 2X250W MH

Cost should be considered.. wouldn't want to go NUTS over this upgrade...
Cooling isn't an issue because it is in the basement of the house and it potentially could have a 75 gallon sump which is on the basement slab floor which stays cool.

- My head spins with all of the possibilities.

[Jason McK]

5) keep the 4X54 T5s and add 2X 250W MH

That would be my choice

J

[fkshiu]

Getting everything to fit over your tank may become an issue. How wide (front to back) is your tank?

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

I agree. Add 2 x 250w MH and you're good for pretty much any coral. You can then do a nice mix of bulbs on the T5s to get the best colour combination so your corals will really pop. It would also give you the option of from start of day to night: 2 T5s (1hr), 4 T5s (1hr), 250s (8 hrs), 4 T5s (1hr), 2 T5s (1hr). Then you would have a very gradual brightening & dimming of the tank throughout the day.

If you decide to go 175s instead, try out the Iwasakis (but these are expensive bulbs) with high PAR.

[scherzo]

Correction* It is a 24" deep tank

18.5" Front to Back

With the Tek5 Light I have on top.. that only leaves me with about 8-9" of space (front to back) for additional lighting. Are there reflectors about that size?

I do like the fact of being able to run the bulbs in different colour combinations as well as doing the gradual daytime lighting thing.

Then I run into the question of .. where would I put the MHs? I can't split up the T5s (unless I destroy the enclosure of the TEK5 light).

[Ron99]

Add 2 or 4 more T5 if you can fit them. I have an 8 bulb T5 right now and it is great. And you can mix and match bulbs to tune the colour as you like it.

[MikeP]

Adding more T5's to what you got is the only option if you are really attached to that Tek fixture. I recommend the MH and T5 combo, sell the Tek light you have and go with the 250 watters like suggested then add some retro T5's to get the color you want.

[scherzo]

Add 2 or 4 more T5 if you can fit them. I have an 8 bulb T5 right now and it is great. And you can mix and match bulbs to tune the colour as you like it.

How deep is your tank?

[TJSlayer]

I would probably sell the 4 bulb and pick up the 6 or 8 bulb unit just for space reasons.

or retroft a canopy your self with whatever you want...

[Snappy]

5) keep the 4X54 T5s and add 2X 250W MH

That would be my choice

J
This what I would recommend also, make sure to get hqi (double ended bulbs) not moguls.

[Navarchus]

add 2 or 4 more t5 if you can fit them. I have an 8 bulb t5 right now and it is great. And you can mix and match bulbs to tune the colour as you like it.

+1

[Doug]

I ran one of the cheaper 4 bulb units over my 90g. Great for soft corals but not enough for sps. A pair of 250w halides I put over the same tank was no comparison for the sps corals. Like night and day and the corals showed the difference.

Now the high end t-5 fixtures may a different story but never owned one. If you like the t-5 look, then I like the idea of adding another 2 or 4 bulb fixture. Guess it depends on how many bulbs one wants to replace every year and the corals you wish to keep.

[scherzo]

Guess it depends on how many bulbs one wants to replace every year ...

I've been doing this light thing (for FW High Tech planted) for a while and never really thought about this. Great point.

[wickedfrags]

What type of corals do you see yourself keeping? LPS, zoas/palys, SPS, mixed reef?

If you go with 400W halides you never need to worry about "upgrading" again, and can keep any coral you like in terms of light. 2x250W would also work with florescent lights for actinic/dusk-dawn effect. I personally use single ended bulbs, lots of selection in terms of light spectrum and cost.

[scherzo]

What type of corals do you see yourself keeping? LPS, zoas/palys, SPS, mixed reef?

If you go with 400W halides you never need to worry about "upgrading" again, and can keep any coral you like in terms of light. 2x250W would also work with florescent lights for actinic/dusk-dawn effect. I personally use single ended bulbs, lots of selection in terms of light spectrum and cost.

I actually have a 1X400W setup sitting around.. but I am a little concerned about heat with that light (especially a pair of these lights). I have a little bit of a vertical limitation and the light would be about 3"-4" off the water.

If I ran 2X250s.... couldn't I put SPS (eventually) half way up? I realize that coverage to the bottom wouldn't be great...

[wickedfrags]

Keeping 400's that close to the water could be a concern, when most people put their tank in a wall they usually have a little more hight to work with (as everything is hidden). 250's would also present a similar challenge, although not as bad as the 400W's.

You could indded keep SPS half way up and higher with the 2 x 250W, but should the SPS bug hit (which has been known to happen!), well many people want to upgrade to the 400's.

I actually have a 1X400W setup sitting around.. but I am a little concerned about heat with that light (especially a pair of these lights). I have a little bit of a vertical limitation and the light would be about 3"-4" off the water.

If I ran 2X250s.... couldn't I put SPS (eventually) half way up? I realize that coverage to the bottom wouldn't be great...

[michika]

I agree with the recommendation to go with an additional 2x250 or 175w MHs. I would advise against the 400s based on a) power consumption, b) increased evaporation, c) the oops I burned myself again factor.

I used to have 3x 400w over a 30" deep tank, and I didn't mind it then, but it was on the cusp of being too much for the tank. I loved 175w over 18" deep though, it worked amazingly well for me.

Check out Sanjay Joshi's website for more details on ballasts, bulbs, PAR, etc. Its a good place to start if you are sure you want to go with metal halide.

[fkshiu]

The cheapest route would be to try and squeeze and few T5s in with the teklight, but going all out with 250W MH with retrofit T5s for actinics is the best long term keep anything you want solution.

I second checking out Joshi's results. Careful selection of bulb/ballast along with good reflectors can save you a lot of electricity and heat while still giving you very good PAR.

[Koresample]

don't mean to hijack the thread, but i have a 24" deep tank and i am planning on running 1 X 250 MH HQI + 2 X 65w PC's, will that be sufficient for SPS and (hopefully) calms? total tank size is 24" wide X 24" tall X 18" deep (front to back)

[Doug]

don't mean to hijack the thread, but i have a 24" deep tank and i am planning on running 1 X 250 MH HQI + 2 X 65w PC's, will that be sufficient for SPS and (hopefully) calms? total tank size is 24" wide X 24" tall X 18" deep (front to back)

I would say definitely that would be fine for sps most any place in the tank.

[Myka]

5) keep the 4X54 T5s and add 2X 250W MH

That would be my choice

J

This what I would recommend also, make sure to get hqi (double ended bulbs) not moguls.

My thoughts exactly.

There are small reflectors, the Sunlight Supply Reef Optix reflectors are pretty small. PFO too. I'm sure there are others I'm not thinking of. Oh, Hamilton. You can often just buy the reflective piece without the pretty outer casing, and that would save space as well. I can't seem to find a link to any of those though. Make sure you buy reflectors that are closed in the end, not just a half cylinder shape with open ends, they lose a lot of light.

[scherzo]

Wow.. I didn't expect that many responses..

This is one of those questions that you "seasoned" reefers probably get over and over and over and over again..

What light should I get? What light should I get? What light should I get?

- rinse & repeat -

As for the "in-wall" clearance. I have a furnace near the tank with a bulkhead that goes right over one side of the tank.

Not sure if you can see it in my journal

Thanks for all of the input so far!

http://www.bcaquaria.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12488&highlight=wall+aquarium

I'll try and get out to the swap&meet on the 24th.. maybe someone will be getting rid of what I may need.

[fkshiu]

I'll try and get out to the swap&meet on the 24th.. maybe someone will be getting rid of what I may need.

Swap meet is on the 23rd! I'll be at work if you show up on the 24th.

[scherzo]

Probably no good deals on the 24th right? What time is dinner on the 24th?

;)