Lance's 225 gal tank

[PoonTang]

Originally Posted by Lance

Ok, I'm finally ready to hang my new light fixture, but before I actually start drilling holes in my ceiling I have a question for those of you who have run 400W lighting before: How high above the water surface should it be hung? (I'm thinking about 12 inches?) The tank is 72" x 24" deep and 30" wide. (mixed reef) The fixture is a 72" Sfiligoi Infinity XR4. It currently has 3x400W Giesemann 13000K Megachrome MH, and 4x6400K T5's and 4x actinic T5's, and 8x LED moonlights. Wattage will increase from 942 watts currently to 1662 watts with the new fixture so I will start acclimating the corals with a one hour on and one hour off schedule, gradually working up to 8 hours of MH, and 12 hours of T5. Most of the corals can be moved fairly easily and the large GBTA will most likely move on his own if he doesn't like the new lighting. Any advice and suggestions are appreciated.

I hope you are going to give BC Hydro a little bit of advance warning before plugging that baby in. I wouldn't want you to overload their turbines or anything .

[Lance]

Originally Posted by PoonTang

I hope you are going to give BC Hydro a little bit of advance warning before plugging that baby in. I wouldn't want you to overload their turbines or anything .

Yeah, 400-watters will suck the juice I'm sure! I'm hoping the extra wattage will mean shorter time the MH's need to be on though, so the hydro bill might not be too bad.............. I hope.........

[sitandwatch]

Apply a good sunscreen and wear sunglasses before turning it on

[Mrfish55]

I would go at least 12" from water surface, 1- less shock to current inhabitants and 2- better spread. Mine is 8" and I think that is too low, if I had the space I would go 14-16" If you need a hand when you are ready to hoist it into position give me a call.

[Lance]

Originally Posted by Mrfish55

I would go at least 12" from water surface, 1- less shock to current inhabitants and 2- better spread. Mine is 8" and I think that is too low, if I had the space I would go 14-16" If you need a hand when you are ready to hoist it into position give me a call.

OK I'll try it at 16". I can always lower it more later if the corals need it.

[Lance]

I was a very busy boy yesterday. I finally got around to hanging the new light fixture, but had to make a few changes first.
I ran a new 15 Amp circuit from the basement. I already had three circuits for the tank but the air conditioner/dehumidifier was on one and didn't leave a whole lot of juice for much of anything else. So now I've got three dedicated circuits for the tank.
With the added flexibility of another circuit I made some other changes: The two MP 40's and two powerheads are now on separate circuits from each other, so if one of the GFCI trips I still have the other two PH's running, as well as the big return pump which is on a third circuit.
I used to run the old lights through the controller but the new light draws too much juice for the controller to handle. The light is on three timers: one for the MH's, one for the T5"S and one for the LED's. The controller runs the two heaters in the sump, the sump light, the ATO system, dosing system and the tank and sump fans.
I was a little concerned that the new lights would overheat the tank and I would have to run the air conditioner more often. Yesterday was a warm day and I watched the tank temperature closely. No problem. The controller kicks the fans on at 81 degrees and they only ran for about an hour at mid-afternoon. Tank temp. only reached 81.2 without the air conditioner being on, so all is well.
As for the new light: Whooooaaa! 1512 watts is a lot of light! (the old fixture was 942 watts) I hung the fixture 16" above the tank and ran the lights on a two-hour on/two-hour off schedule. As the animals acclimate I will lower the light another 2" and work up to a 7 to 8 hour schedule for the MH's and 12 hours for the T5's.

[marie]

With that much light in the room, you are going to have a hard time watching TV lol