3 mh over 8' tank

tsalter · #1 07/15/2004, 10:23 PM

Would any of you do this? It would come out to one halide every 32" It would take some what careful aquascaping to keep high light corals under the lights.

I am planning a large reef but am not wedded to having corals ALL over the tank. Would like a combination of both coraled areas and open space for swimming room. Would this setup look too unnatural? I run one mh over my 3' tank now and don't mind the look.

Thanks

Tom

sabodish · #2 07/15/2004, 10:31 PM

i have an 8' tank and have dark areas with 4 halides, i wouldnt even consider doing it with three if you want an sps reef...the ends would be really dark..but, if you want to keep mushrooms and other low light corals, it might work just fine.
-mike

o2manyfish · #3 07/16/2004, 01:17 AM

Also it depends how wide the tank is.

Mine is 33", So far I have 5 along the front, and I think I am going to end up with 3 along the back.

Dave B

Blntz · #4 07/16/2004, 01:33 AM

Soft corals...sure, anything sps no way. Soon as you set a coral in place you will see it streching out for the light. Reaching like plant for sunshine. Not all that pretty.
I have a 180 s[s thats 72" long it has 5 metal halides 2- 250w 20000k, 3 175w 20000k and 2 160w VHO's, 1 atinic and 1 10000k. It took some time but even my soft corals adjusted. Including one Nepathea that is right up top, pink and awesome. Take your time, spend the money, you'll be much happier in the end.....Its truly a nice feeling to get a new coral or frag and know for sure its going to be colorful and grow.

One more thing what type of hood is it? Can you upgrade with kits? I took a hamilton hood and added 2 more 250w bulbs. This is a cheaper way to go. As long as you have a drill and some patience....but doesn't everyone in this hobby have patience..

tsalter · #5 07/16/2004, 08:45 AM

Thanks all.

I was thinking of doing a standard 240 8x2x2 but will probably scale back to a 180. My thoughts were to combine high light areas under the lamps for sps and open areas of sand for lots swim room. but I just don't think I can pull it off and make it look right with three. I think three halides in my limit for now as far as electricity costs in the lighting departent. Maybe I will have to do a smaller reef and a larger fish only.

Blntz- It would be my own hood. Luckily I have alot of patience and a large workshop. I like your five bulb setup that would be nice over a 180. I was thinking of going with a few of the aqua medic oceanlights I saw one in action last night pretty neat little setup!

jeffbrig · #6 07/16/2004, 01:44 PM

tsalter,

I feel your pain on the lighting limits. I'm looking to do a 72x30x27 and I'm trying to draw the line at 3 MHs as well (at least for now). My tank will be a room divider with LR and coral down the middle, directly under the lights. I figure if the edges are too dark (30" is a little wide for MH), I can always supplement with daylight VHOs. Does anyone foresee problems with this type of setup?

o2manyfish · #7 07/16/2004, 04:49 PM

JeffBrig,

Take a look at the Lumenarc Pendants. For your application they would give you the most amount of light output.

Dave B

myreef · #8 07/17/2004, 03:05 PM

I have 4 400's on my 80x30x30 tank....where onl 72" are vieable...the other 8" is the overflow and I even thought about 5 halides over it....just didn't want to do one over the center brace...I had a 84x36x30 tank before and had 7 halides on it...so I guess I understand trying to get a lesser amount of halides on the tank....I just can't imagine doing it.

dendronepthya · #9 07/17/2004, 06:28 PM

I would do it. You can get additonal spread simply by raising the lights. On my 60" 120-gallon, I have only 2 MH (30" each). They are roughly 18" above the water's surface. The tradeoff is intensity for:
1. Greater spread.
2. Lower electricity bills and fewer bulb replacements.
3. Ease of access. You can build the canopy in such a way that you can reach into the tank and do maintenance with the lights on.

Here are some pictures I took today of my tank. There aren't any noticeable dark areas except where the plating corals are creating shade.

tsalter · #10 07/17/2004, 09:14 PM

Dendro what are you running for bulbs? Your tank looks nice.

T

dendronepthya · #11 07/17/2004, 09:29 PM

Thanks. The tank is lit by 250W double-ended 10k's. For the photos above, I also turned on 4 - 110W of VHO actinic (which are usually never on because they bleach my corals). The MH bulbs are actually pretty yellow at this point. They are about 3 years old. Considering the age of the bulbs and their height off the water, I think you can see that it is definitely possible to keep all sorts of corals. Note, in the second image, there is an acropora right on the sand that has been growing well for some time.

tsalter · #12 07/17/2004, 10:29 PM

Cool,

As I posted before I have one halide on a 36" tank now and it gets somewhat dim at the very edges. I still can grow most everything even at the edges of the tank. Granted I don't keep my high light acros out there. But I do have a green slimer very far from the halide. and lots of montipora out there growing well. some of the corals do grow towards the light but it is not unsightly or weird looking. I think the bulb is only 8" off the water. the funny thing is that my fastest growing coral is a birdsnest that will bleach under direct halide lighting but grows like a weed in a shaded area. It is currently softball sized and I have rasied it from a 1.5" frag.

I understand that my lighting is somewhat marginal but I also use a very high par bulb with t5 suppliments. I appreciate everyones comments. I am not fishing for someone to agree with me but I have seen alot of ~3 foot single mh lit tanks and wondered what this would look like on a larger scale.

Dendro 3 years on the same bulbs!!! wow.

t