90 Gallon VHO REtrofit

[Neferius]

I have acquired a retrofitted canopy for my 90 gallon I am slowly putting together. I plan on FOWLR at first with some Soft Coral down the line as a supplement. The canopy is running off of 2 separate ballasts so I can run 2 sets of 2 bulbs ( 4 bulb total Setup) on different timers. I have read that running actinics about 2 hrs before and after the daylight cycle would be best. So I planned on running the Actinics from about 6am to 10pm and the Daylights from 8 to 8. Some questions I have though are should the bulbs alternate or be set up a different way such as actinics in the back or middle. Also what intensity bulbs would i need for this setup. I'm still in the learning stage and slowly acquiring items so I'm just trying to figure out what my next step is. Also with this will I need a chiller? Or should i just run the water to see first. Anything you see out fo order let me know. Thanks.

[rooroo]

There's only one intensity you can get for each length of bulb. I would assume your 90 gallon is 3' long, right? Measure the inside of your canopy and be absolutely sure you have 37", because the VHO 3 foot bulbs are 36" and then you need to add a bit for the endcaps. Hopefully you can use 3 foot bulbs. 3 foot VHO bulbs are 95 watts. You can also purchase NO 3 foot bulbs which are 30 watts. Be sure to get the VHO bulbs. Also buy UVL bulbs, they are better than Coralife bulbs.

What brand ballast do you have?

I would do 2 Actinic Plus bulbs and either 2 Actinic White 50/50 or 1 50/50 and one Aquasun. The actinic whites are 12K color and the aquasuns are 10k color. I run one of each and 2 Actinic Plus bulbs and am happy with the color.

You should not need a chiller with VHOs, however you should cool the canopy that the bulbs are in. This will prolong bulb life. Have 2 4" fans blowing into the canopy, not directly blowing on bulbs but just giving general air flow. This is different than T5 bulbs as with T5s you have to directly cool each bulb, while VHOs just general air circulation is sufficient. If you find that the water is getting too warm, you can add a chiller or just add a fan to the sump to evaporate the water.

As far as the arrangement of bulbs, this is completely up to you. I do my actinics in the middle and the other two on the outside, but that is because my bulbs are staggered in such a way that that gives me the best coverage. It is completely up to you how you want to arrange them. You can always move the bulbs around until you get the desired look.

[pvtschultz]

90 gal AGA tanks are 4 ft long so he has 440 W of VHO power. I personally would place the "white" lamps nearest your rock structure or directly over where you intend on keeping corals. That way they will be able to get the most light available.

[gh0st]

Just be sure and get the 46.5" Bulbs, they fit better in most canopies on 4 foot tanks.

[Neferius]

Yea it is definately 48" The canopy had the endcaps preinstalled so It is measured correctly, my only concern with moving them around is moving the endcaps because I need the ballasts to be on seperate timers. But placing "white" over the rock sounds about right since that is where the coral will attach. I have 2 different Ballasts because one came with it but was ran on a 4 bulb setup, which i have now rewired to a 2 bulb system. That one is an IceCap 660 the other is an ARO 4LX each of these are electronic ballasts and will be running 2 bulbs each. Thank you.

[pvtschultz]

The good news is that if the color doesn't look right with the white over the rock, you can always switch it up (well, kind of anyways)