Are (3) 250 watt MH's sufficient for a 60x18x26 tank?

[Blue Dolphin]

I am trying to decide on lighting. I am starting my tank out with no corals in the beginning but will be adding coral at some point.

Will (3) 250 watt MH's (10,000k) work well on a tank that is 60x18x24?

Should I plan on adding any other lighting to this?

[NH_Reef]

Some aticnics would be a good idea as well. I am setting up a new 220 and will be adding 3 250s and also re-using my 2 existing 150s with a more "blue" bulb to make up for not using my PC aticnics.

[deansreef]

3 x 250 should be fine for just about anything, just my .02 cents!

[Blue Dolphin]

I thought about adding maybe some other lighting, but glad to hear I can start with this and be ok.

Thanks for the input.

[Blue Dolphin]

How about (3) 175watt MH's?

[rpgraff]

The answer depends on what you intend to stock the tank with in the long run. Just saying you want to add corals at some point doesn't really tell us enough information. You would get different recommendations depending on if you want an SPS/clam dominated tank or a mixed SPS/LPS or softie tank.

Also, you want to think about several issues, the first one being that a metalhalide/reflector combination will typically light a 24"x24" square area at about 28" high. What that means is that you could use 3 lights with some over lapping, or use two lights and mount them a little higher and maybe bump up the wattage to compensate for the light loss because of the added height.

The color temperature bulb you choose will determine if you want/need aditional lighting:

6500K bulb - You need actinic supplimantation for the corlas and in my personal opinion to neutrailize the yellow color cast of these bulbs.

10000K bulbs - You should use some actinic supplimentation, not all these bulbs are equal and some need more than others.

12000K-14000K bulbs - These don't necessarily need additional actinic supplimentation, particuliarly if you use a DE version on an electronic ballast. But if you like/want that really deep water blue look, you will want to add some.

20000K bulbs - These do not need actinic supplimentation at all and have that deep water blue look. However if you want a whiter looking tank then you would add some 10000K supplimentation to it.

[rpgraff]

Originally posted by Blue Dolphin
How about (3) 175watt MH's?

Actually on a 60" wide x 18" tank I might be tempted to consider (3) 150watt DE bulbs in a reefoptixIII or PFO minipendent and mount them lower so they cover a 20"x20" square area.

But with a 24" high tank that might be difficult unless you have a DSB of 4-6" in height.

[JB NY]

As rpgraff wrote. It depends on what you are stocking. 250watt MH lighting is too much for lots of coral, a good match for some corals, and not enough for a few.

What are you going to stock?

[Blue Dolphin]

Boy....

Not sure what corals I will eventually end up with. What would be a good lighting recommendation that would give me a pretty wide margin of adjustibility?

Perhaps something like what you see with the WindowsXP Plus! "Aquarium" screen saver? :)

[rpgraff]

How deep of a substrate will you be using?

[Blue Dolphin]

Likely 3" - 4", I am still reading up on that.

[rpgraff]

A pair of 250 watt metal halides should pretty much allow you to keep most things. You have two choices, using Double ended bulbs or single ended.

A 250 watt double ended bulb will actually put significantly more light in the tank than single ended. This is because the shape/design of the bulb allows for a more efficient reflector design. It will cost a little more up front than SE's, but in my opinion its worth it. Others may think otherwise.

As far as a bulb choice, if you use 10000K, you will probably want to add some VHO or T5 actinic for the corals and to balance out the color of the light for your visual perception.

Or you could use a 12K-14K bulb which has more blue in it, but isn't strikingly blue like a 20000K bulb would be.

I'm using a Megachrome 13K double ended bulb running on an Icecap electronic ballast. The bulb is slightly under driven with an electronic balast so it has a little bit more blue in it caompared to using a magnetic ballast.

These are my personal choices, other combinations may work just fine as well. maybe others could give give you there preferences.

[Blue Dolphin]

Thanks,

I really appreciate the help.

I can go with (2) 250 watt bulbs and fill in as advised. The cost of going with the third 250 watt up front is cheap, and I just don't want to wish I had gotten three instead of only two.

[rpgraff]

Originally posted by Blue Dolphin
I can go with (2) 250 watt bulbs and fill in as advised. The cost of going with the third 250 watt up front is cheap, and I just don't want to wish I had gotten three instead of only two.

Oh my, don't let all the reefers that complain about the cost of metal halide setups hear that ...LOL...

The third light is one of those iffy sort of things with your size tank. thats because metal halides arte typically considered to cover a 24"x24" square area at there prescribed operating height. For instance, my PFO mini pendant I bought for my DE bulb will light a 24x24 area at a height of 28"

In your case with a 60" tank you are inbetween. Thats why I recommended double ended which will have a higher output than single ended bulbs in case you decide to go a little higher with two to cover a 60" long tank.

You could also try using 3 single ended 250's and mount them a little lower so they each covered a 20" square area. Thats as long as lower doesn't cause heat issues with the tank. I tend to prefer not to get the bulbs too close because of that.

Other than taking some basic considerations in mind, these types of decisions are a matter of personal taste becuase the corals have the ability to adapt within a certain range of intensity and color make up of the light.

[Blue Dolphin]

I was looking at using single ended bulbs ($35 each.... not a bad price). The additional socket and (3) lamp power supply were not that much more for going with three as opposed to two. I think the difference was like $50.

Anyway.... I want to keep them up a bit from the water. I am going to build a custom hood, so I should have lots of options on height, etc..

Thanks again!

[rpgraff]

Which bulb are you going to use (brand/color) and which ballast out of curiosity.

Don't forget a good reflector.

[Blue Dolphin]

The bulbs are made by Plus lighting Co, ltd. It is 10000k. It is a "probe start" bulb?

The balast is made by PFO Lighting company. 2 year warranty.
Comes with reflector.