180gal lighting questions/recommendation

[71goalie]

my wife and i are thinking about buying a 180 gallon tank. it will be reef with fish. we seem to by mostly interested in mushrooms and pollyps. may want to try a clam or two. we are thinking about going with (2) coralife aqualight dual strip power compacts to start with, eventually going to possibly a total of (4). these fixtures are 192 watts (96 watt actinic, 96 watt 10000K). what do you think? i really like these fixtures. they seem to be well built with there own built in fans and they also have a nice, low profile, which will be beneficial to where the tank is going to be placed.

i look forward to all your input!

Thanks.

Doug

[zooqi]

Doug
I have used 8 vho 110 watts bulbs and four pc light on most of the 180s that i have setup and I like it because I had most of the corals that you can name under it and I also have clams. You probably should be fine with just 2 pcs if you have hard time fitting four in the canopy. I kinda don't like PC's 96 watts in 180 because you have to set them too close to the poing that ends of two are too close (not touching bu too close) and I had to replace them once a while because they crack when they heat. With that many lights you want to make sure you have good fans to cool the tank too. :)

[71goalie]

we weren't planning on using a canopy. these fixtures have 2 built-in fans in the enclosure. you make a real good point about them touching. have your anyone else seen this done with this particular fixture. the LFS i'm looking at the stuff is telling me to just put them the fixtures end to end on the glass tops. coralife also shows legs that keep the fixture 2.5 inches off the tank, but i'm not exactly sure how the legs work on the fixture.

[zooqi]

The legs will attach the light box and then it sits from one corner of the tank to the other side and it wont move righ and left but you have to make sure it sits straigh first. Some you can just snap them on and some you have to take the screws off and put them on the light box.

[nixnutz]

FWIW...I have a 48" Coralife, 4x65 watt PC fixture (2x65 actinic + 2x65 10k) which I was running over a 55 gallon reef with all soft corals and some LPS. As far as maintaining the corals, it did a nice job. The corals had little or no growth under these lights, but did open nicely. The lighting combination looked very good on the tank and made for a nice display. My fixture had the fans too, heat in the tank was only a problem with the glass tops on. I had no experience with the cracking Mo described, but I only had one fixture, not two.

Now the legs...THEY ARE JUNK! They're made of cheap plastic and over time become brittle. This makes them very easy to break. They are VERY tricky to install (you have to screw them into slots and should have at least two people when doing it) and I believe you'll have trouble using them side by side. They are designed to rest on each end of the tank. The combination you described will require that the "inside" legs rest on the center brace. IMO you're going to have trouble getting them to rest properly on the center brace which will affect cosmetics and function. Furthermore, if those "inside" legs break, you'll have a "lights in water" problem. :eek2:

"the LFS i'm looking at the stuff is telling me to just put them the fixtures end to end on the glass tops." This will work, but it has it's problems too. I did that with my fixture when I first got it and what I discovered is that salt begins to accumulate on the glass and begins to cut down the amount of light coming through. This is not a problem if you don't mind cleaning the glass tops every other day. :( Also, those glass tops will create heat and evaporation issues.

OK, this post is long enough...sorry guys. If I can answer any other questions, let me know. I hate to sound like I'm blasting these fixtures, because they are good fixtures. But, like everything in this hobby, there always seem to be a down side.

HTH
Rahn

[71goalie]

i'm beginning to rethink these fixtures. i am now looking at the coralife mh/vho fixture listed @ dr fosters smith. this looks like i can do everything with one fixture. can you tell me what you think about this? does this fixture nee to be hung? like i said, i don't want to build in a heat problem - no chiller. this is going to be a big jump for me 30 gallon to 180 and the lighting i have now is terribel.

[GarSrtn]

I'd got with MH/VHO. Check out www.hellolights.com. They often have good prices.

[nixnutz]

I didn't want to sound like a prude... :D , but that's what I'd reccomend. Eventually you'll want to get into SPS, especially if you hang around this crew long enough :rolleyes: . Believe it or not, the SPS aren't too bad and there always seem to be frags of something available that you can grow yourself. The other benefits are in the presentation and growth. I switched to MH right after the last frag swap (thanx again sixpack) and they're everything everyone told me they would be. The corals are growing MUCH faster and those shimmer lines are...well...priceles! ;)

My advice, which is quite humble in this company, is to go with the lights you will eventually need. My 48" coralife is sitting beside the tank gathering dust till I can figure out how to integrate it into my setup. It's eventually going to be actinic supplement for the MH, but not till I get a bigger tank... Honey, where's the checkbook? :D

Best of luck!
Rahn

[71goalie]

When any of you get a chance, could you check this fixture out? I'm thinking about the 72" Black with VHO upgrade. Next question I have is how do I go about mounting this? Would you recommend a canopy? I was even thinking about building something out of metal tubing so I can hang the fixture over the tank without hanging from the ceiling. Hellolights does not seem to carry this fixture.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=3775&Ne=40000&N=2004+113178

[GarSrtn]

Hellolights has a bias towards DIYers. One can purchase a retro (basically all the guts of a lighting system) and screw the parts into a can (for the ballasts) and a wood box (for the canopy). This allows one to save money (or get more light for the same money). Ex: The fixture you indicated is $775 for 3x175W MH and 2x140W VHO w/o bulbs. A retro from hellolights.com would be $451 for 3x250W MH and 2x140W VHO w/o bulbs. Even if the parts to finish cost $200 (very unlikely) you'd still be $125 under the cost of the Coralife fixture, and you'd have more powerful lights.

I have a fixture similar to the Coralife (made by Hamilton). It's ok... That's the problem: it's ok.

I could see to ways to raise the Coralife from the tank: 1) Suspend it from the ceiling (an option you specifically excluded). 2) Build a wood frame that would rest on the top edge of the tank. Then just place the fixture on the box.

[71goalie]

thanks Garsrtn! I'm not opposed to building my own canopy. Just looking for the most bang for the $$ and you bring up some really good points. What is the typical height for a canopy? How far will I need to keep the fixtures off the tank so as not to create heat problems?

I do not see the retrokit you mentioned in your reply. Am I missing it?

[71goalie]

how does this kit compare with hellolight's:

http://www.aquariumlight.com/product_info.asp?dbid=354

this kit comes with the VHOs. MHs are extra.

[GarSrtn]

Similar setup from Hellolights is $495 (with URI actinic bulbs).

[71goalie]

are you picking this out of the "build your own" section? I don't know what ballasts to select or bases. not sure what all the codes mean.

almost feel like i'll have to become a lighting expert!! :)

aquarium lights' fixture comes pre-wired with a nice ballast box. a little more expensive than the hellolights. anyone ever buy from aquarium lights?