Am I a bit excessive on my lighting?

[thuddly]

I have a total of:

3,000W metal halide

260W actinic

12 Dual Bluemoon LED.

Do I need to downgrade? hehehe

Please let me have your opinion.

[thuddly]

and what kind of growth can I expect with this lighting? (assuming everything else is in check consistently)

[thuddly]

I also bought 450 metal halide watts for my 125 gallon refugium

That is probably too much for chaeto and my mangroves right?

What do you suggest I do in this case?

[thuddly]

Also, my SPS corals are located within 12 inches depth...

[dvanacker]

so is this for your nano tank then?

If this was a legitimate question you think you would have left some details.

[thuddly]

No this is for our 800 gallon.

Why are you being nasty to me?

[erbio]

dvanacker, this user is legitimate. I referred him to Reefcentral.

You're not very welcoming to new users.

[DrBDC]

What are the dimensions of the main tank and the fuge?

[DrBDC]

[rkl303]

+1 what are the dimensions of the tank. what kind of reflectors are yo getting. etc. 3000w might be just right depending on how deep and/or wide your tank is...although I haven't heard of anyone using 3000w of lighting on a tank...you must have a lot of money is all i can say.

[thuddly]

86 x 35 x 37

plus a standard 72" 125 gallon sump in the basement.

three 1,500 little giant pumps

the lights came with reflectors, I'm not exactly sure how to describe them.

[jamesdawson]

A few pics would describe them and your setup.
Now my interest is piqued!

James

[ricks]

I run (6) 400 watt 20k on HQI. Along with (4) 160 watt actinic, and (4) 96 watt PC's on my 500 gallon. Works great for the SPS, also work great for the local power company.

thuddly, if your just starting out better think about monthly costs to operate large SPS systems. Somewhere around 1.00 per gallon per month.

Also your size works out to be 482 gallon tank. Maybe you meant total system water..

Happy reefing

[erbio]

Glad you finally got an answer!

[thuddly]

I was including the sump and soon to be propagation tanks in the total.

I am switching from soft corals to sps, I have been in the hobby for two years and built this tank.

I will get pictures soon.

[erbio]

Ricks, can we see a pic of your tank?

[Horace]

Welcome to RC

if you want good answers, you gotta give good questions .

If you want to get good responses, you must tell us specifics about your situation, in this case the size of your tank and what inhabitants you intend to keep are pretty vital pieces of info. Other good pieces of info would have been the exact type/models of lighting your using.

So in the future, try to give us as much info as possible, and remember pictures are worth a thousand words

[Oldude]

Welcome to RC. I agree more information is necessary & pictures are a real benefit.

[dvanacker]

Sorry didnt mean to be mean.

The question seemed strange because usually someone who is asking about lighting is starting out with a smaller system and is new. Also you must include ALL the details.

Even in the end I beleive only a real visual of the tank or light meters can tell if you have the appropriate amount of light. Too many variables that easily get left out like effiency of reflectors, distance of lights from water, water clarity etc.

[rharr21]

Sounds like you have lots of light. I too did not think you were serious when I first read this thread.

I would love to see a thread on your tank build. What type of equipment, livestock, etc. do you have?

[Coderabit2]

My LFS has 3x1000w MHs over their 850 bowfront and the growth is phenomenol! The growth on that tank cuts 250w bulbs to shame.

[ricks]

erbio, I'll try and post to gallery shortly.. Posted some pics several months ago. I'm not good with camera or downloading photo's. But kids home from college, maybe I can recoup some of tuition cost. And have them help me...

[mcliffy2]

How is that divided up? 400w or 1000w halides? with that deep of a tank you will want 400w at least. The 400w halide (I assume you meant 400, they dont make 450) on the fuge is a waste of energy tho. You can use clip on halogens like you buy at Home Depot or something like that, or a cheap pc unit, and that will do the job for the fuge.

[tattooreef]

dont feel so bad as of right now i am running 1700 watts over my 365 display and planning on adding some vho supplementation to the mix which should bump me up to about 2100, but like everyone has said it just depends on the size of the tank( mine is 130'' x 24'' x28'') and i honestly dont think it is enough but i refuse to pay more of a power bill than what i already do

[CUNAReefer]

Hey Thuddly,

How have your corals responded to your lighting? Your going to get all types of opinions when it comes to this topic, so I would rely on the look of your corals to tell you if your lighting is excessive.

Got any pics?

James