DIY light

[strayvoltage]

I am going to need a 7' light for the 200 I am goig to put up. I think I will build my own light. I am going to use the sunlight supply T5 retro fit kits. Only problem I see is that two 36" will be short and two 48" will be two long. So I am thinking a 48" 54W butted up to a 36" 39W, then for the next row change the position of the 36 and 48. I am thinking 4 or 5 rows like this.

The question I am looking to have answered or at least opinions on is this. What do you guys think the effect might be having the lights of two different wattages butted up like that then change them for each row?


I am thinking by changing the up for each row should still give me an evenly light tank. 4 or 5 rows maybe even 6, I still have to get the measurements and see how many I can fit and not have a fixture that covers the entire top of te tank.

[strayvoltage]

This may not be the way to go. Six rows made up with a 54W & a 39W would only be 558W. This 200 gal tank is 28" tall. I am not sure about how deep these lights would be good for. Still have to plan more on this. Might just have to end up using four 250W mh lights.

[reeftexas]

John-my 72"constellation T5 14X39 546 watts does ok for my 125 gal and I think its only 21 inches deep.Better go with the MH lights.Plus it will look awesome.See ya, Jeff

[jmait769]

I’m thinking you may have to go MH also for a tank that deep or mount the corals high. :) My tank is 22” high with the six bulbs. My sand bed is about 21” from the bottom of lights. Your bottom would be close to 27” if you held the light above the tank like mine. Maybe you could use the T-5 for supplement lighting?

Jay

[killingseed]

250W mh lights is a nice way to go with 24" height and some t5 to supplement with.

what is the width again

[strayvoltage]

The tank is 84LX20DX28T.
I am thining I will prob need Mh for the depth. I am going to keep using the 72" 6X96W PC light I have to start out. I will get some kind of idea by how it doe or should I say how my corals do.

There is this guy in El Paso that has a 250W clip on light, and if he ever sets it up to see what it is like maybe he can tell me. Hint hint.

[killingseed]

you could put 8x 48” or 46.5” t5 staggered, which would be still 4 per side. Which is still not a lot of light even for soft coral in a tank that deep. one of those odd size tanks makes it hard to even using a standard hood.

[reeftexas]

I wonder who that could be??????? LOL Give him a break he is Trying to get there.Later jeff

[strayvoltage]

I may have a new light by the time I get the tank up, or maybe not. Either way I do have the 6x96 and after doing some measuring, I think I can put the light right down to the top of the tank and have it only 2 inches higher off the bottom than it is now. So I will prob end up doing that and then I can work out a new light to build or maybe buy. Or I may Keep the 6x96 and just add two 150 or 250 clip on MH fixtures or maybe hanging pendants.

As soon as that guy (Sam) in El Paso gets that nice new 250 MH clip on out of the box, I am sure he will le me know how it looks and the quality of it.

I currently have a 150MH 20K clip on on my 12 Ap. It looks really good to me. With the depth of this tank I may have or need to go 250. I will get it all figured out one of these days.

Don't ever read a post here if it says Bg Tank in El Paso unless you want to do a lot of work.

[killingseed]

well 24" is the 250 point but it depands on what you are going to have in the tank. that tank lenght may require 2 mh's maybe even 4. as for pc's i no longer care for them they are ok for starting something till you move on but i dont plan on ever using them unless them came with a nano even then i'd rather have a 150 mh or t5's over it.

VHO might be another option you can look into. Couple 110w bulbs to help get more power and penetrate deeper into the tank

[strayvoltage]

My 125 that I have now is 23" tall and I think it has done well for the time it has been set up, a little over two years. I have a Crocea clam on the bottom that has grown a great deal in a year and a half. I like the MH light on my 12 gal and it is doin very well also. I guess I will have to keep thinking on it and see wha I come up with.

I do think the pc lights can do a good job, as long as there is enough watage and the right colors. If you want things to really grow then just stick you some 6700K bulbs on and you will have to frag like mad. I know when I first put my light on it had half 10k and half 67k everything grew like weeds. When I changed my bulbs I went with no 67k and i could tell the difference in how much slower the corals grew.