looking for lighting help

[jmkins]

Hi all,
I'm having a tough time choosing lighting to put over a 40 g breeder. I have kind of decided against MH due to costs. I would still like to keep as many varieties of corals as possible. I was leaning towards the tek t-5 setup with 6 lamps. Does anyone have any experience with these or any t5 setups? I am also open to vho or pc. Or does anyone have any extra lights they want to unload?
thanks

[reeftechie]

T5's are great, they are very cool compared to the overdriven VHO bulb. If you’re going to keep SPS then don’t go with T5's or VHO's only as you will be limited in what you can keep. If price is an issue you may not want to get into Corals and go with a FOWLR or something along those lines with softies and things along those lines, but as far as Hard Corals your going to have a hard time keeping them alive and coloring up. SPS are not cheap at all, MH's, Calcium Reactor, etc. Doesn’t just end with the lighting, although I am sure we all wish it did :D.... Good luck with whatever you do.


You should check out the INMAS meeting at Inland Aquatics on the 24th of July in Terre Haute, Indiana. Going to have a great time, and maybe somebody will have some lighting they want to get rid of.


RT

[Cpt. Jack Sparrow]

VHO lighting may be a good alternative for your tank. You usually will need to run more wattage for success but it can be done with great results. You can look at jshorter's gallery on here. He runs a small sps tank on VHO with excellent results. Also check out Sally Jo's tank from GARF. She runs a 55 gal. with 6 VHO that contains over 120 diff types of stonys.

[reeftechie]

OMG 6 bulbs do you know how hot that has to be, and how much room that takes up, she has to be losing light from the amount of bulbs. 6 bulbs is at least 16 inches and a 55 is like 12" wide so she is 4" over that has to look like CRAP. Do you have pics of he canopy?

RT

[jmkins]

I wish that I could make it to inland but I have too many obligations as is. I'm not to familiar with the terminology of lighting but with the retro kits would it be okay to hang them from the ceiling versus buying a hood to house them. I probably could afford MH if I bought a cheaper retro kit. The tank is only 12 or 18" deep so I figured that MH may be overkill and with that depth I could get away with less lighting. The only problem is that I dont like the way MH looks most of the time so I would want to add a couple of VHO, T5 or PC to the lighting anyways. I can handle some pretty complicated set ups and have a roomie who is a grad student in EE so we should be able to put together the wiring in record time. The kid is like MacGuyver when it comes to wiring.

[emurray]

Take this for what it is worth, as I am by NO MEANS an expert... I am a newbie myself.

I just thought that I would chime in and tell you that I have seen a FEW nano-reefs at www.nano-reef.com that are flourishing under PC's

There was one tank in particular... don't have a link, but in the thread the guy had a 10g, with 2x36 watts of PC and he had clams, a lot of SPS and softies and everything was growing well and exhibiting great color.

This guy claimed to have lot of experience, with much bigger tanks, and he himself said that MH is definitely, without question, the best lighting set-up around. Of course, he had all of the SPS up near the top of the tank, and the lights were only an inch or so away from the water. His tank was only 10g too, so not very deep at all. The advice the guy had was that... "so often, failed reef hobbyists blame their failure on crappy lights... it makes them an easy scapegoat. There are so many other parameters that need to be taken into consideration." I guess the bottom line is that, sticking Metal Halide lights on your tank, does not mean that you are instantly ready for SPS. It all comes down to being very knowledgeable and impeccable husbandry.

I have a 10g and I am using the CurrentUSA Orbit hood. The 20" 2x 40watt model. It was $125.00 at premium aquatics. From what I have read, it is the best brand of PC available- lots of really cool features. I have nothing but beginner softies in my tank right now, but for what it is worth, I can say that they seem to be flourshing. I plan to attempt one of the easier SPS in a while, after my tank matures a bit more, and I can read up on calcium dosing, as I don't know much about it.

Good luck.

[Cpt. Jack Sparrow]

Reeftechie, the heat from VHO is minimal when compared to pc or halide. I am holding onto my 48" uri right now and it is not burning. If you want to see the 55 gal go to the garf website. It is well documented.

[jmkins]

This to me is the hardest thing to actually research due to a lack of real info and level of personal opinion. It isn't to hard to find supporters of each type of lighting on message boards and several are having success. I don't want to buy up every coral I can but know that within the next few years would like to maximize the options of what I can get. I also understand that lighting isn't the only factor in keeping corals but it is just the hardest for me to get any real data on.
thanks

[emurray]

I completely agree. If there is anything that I have learned since getting into this hobby, it is that everybody out there does things differently. I guess you just have to listen to everybody and then make your decisions based on that. I went with PC because it was affordable, and a lot of people seem to think it is the best way to go if you are not getting MH. Also, since I am doing a nano, that makes a bit of a difference. It seems that 90% of nanos are on PC and the other 10% run MH. I also don't plan on keeping with the 10g forever, so my low investment in the PC's won't be as big of a bummer when it comes time to upgrade to a bigger tank, with bigger lights.

[playful1]

I have a 96w powerquad over my nano, and I keep lots of sps in it and the flourish...I also have an icecap 660 w/ 4 46.5" tubes over my 55 and all is well, however I'm putting 2 400w MHs and 4 160w vhos over the 170 so all I can say is get the most you can afford because you will want more light...

[jmkins]

I know I will want more light. Hey I'm in Lafayette as well.

[playful1]

I nkow a guy that is selling a 250w MH pendant ballast and all w used bulb for 100 shipped...

[jmkins]

is it de or se? tell him to pm me about it I will probably buy it. Thanks playful1

[playful1]

se

[playful1]

http://reefcentral.com/forums/member.php?s=&action=getinfo&userid=9428

[emurray]

Here is that link to the guy who did SPS under very low wattage PC. Pretty cool read regardless.

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=14237