Retrofit suggestions?

[MrSquid]

Lighting is the last decision to make on my 24" high 125 (planning a mixed bag of corals - mainly LPS, softs, polyps and clams- would like to try some SPS though). I have two 15-amp lines running to my tank and I have a Reefkeeper 2. I do have a canopy over my tank, so I need to stick with a retrofit.

I'm really just looking for fixture (and supplier) recommendations at this point. Then I'll go from there for bulb temps.

As of now, I'm leaning heavily towards a 72" Hamilton retrofit with 3x175w MH's (electronic ballast) and 4 96w PC's.

Will I see a big difference if I move to T5 or VHO instead of the PC's? I'd like to keep the water shimmer, so I do want to keep the MH's in there. (could step to 250w's if it'd make a huge difference in the grand scheme of things)

Fixture/supplier suggestions?

Thanks!

[OceansWonders]

I like the coralife aqualight pro I have used them on a 90 and a 125 the only thing I do is replace the noisy fans that come with them with sony sflex fans that are silent.

[MrSquid]

wow...quiet around here today!

[FishDad2]

I have a similar setup with a 6' tank and a canopy...albeit the tank is a little larger, at 225 gallons & 30" high. Your intended use also sounds very similar to mine at the outset...LPS, softies, zoos and clams, and I also wanted to try some SPS.

Figuring that I'd only dabble with the SPS, I went with the 6' Hamilton retrofit, using 3 x 250w HM and 4 x 96w PC bulbs. For the LPS, softies and zoos it has been great. However, my experiments with clams have not gone too well, as they really need lots of light...lots of light!!

SPS has been a mixed bag but most are doing fairly well. The difficulty I have is in maintaining their bright colors on all but the highest levels of my reef. Even with the lights only a few inches from the surface of the water, it's difficult for the 250w halides to penetrate to the deeper parts of the tank at a high enough intensity to really meet the needs of most SPS.

To complicate things, despite my initial intent to focus on LPS, softies, etc., my interest has now shifted to the SPS. Consequently, I've bumped up the flow in the tank to make the environment more suitable to the SPS, but that's not been well received by many of my LPS.

It's important that you understand the needs of the critters you intend to keep before you buy any of your equipment, as lighting is only one component. I've tried but have found it very difficult to meet the needs for both flow and lighting in the same tank for SPS and LPS ... not to mention the softies. If you're going to make an environment ideal for LPS and softies, that environment isn't likely to be ideal for SPS, as it will have too little flow and too little light. Same holds true that an environment ideal of SPS will have too much of both flow and light for the LPS and softies...particularly the softies.

The 175w lighting you reference above should by adequate for the LPS, softies and zoos, particularly with the LPS at the top and softies & zoos down below. But if you think you might want to go with SPS in the long run, plan accordingly now or you'll find yourself in the rather expensive position I'm in now of contemplating removal/replacement of my 250w system.

Also, check with Hamilton to see if you can upgrade the 175w to a 250w just by switching out the ballasts and bulbs. Unfortunately, I can't move from 250w to 400w, as the more powerful lights need different wiring, so my options are to stick with the 250w system or replace the whole thing.

If you're lucky and there is an upgrade path to go from 175w to 250w just by swapping out ballasts & bulbs, you should be ok to buy the 175w system now...upgrade years from now if you find you need to. But if you can't upgrade the 175w system to a 250w system, you might want to consider getting the 250w now and raising it off the water's surface and/or adjusting the photoperiod to accommodate the brighter lights.

I'm not too happy with myself for not getting the brighter lights at the outset just to save a little $...don't make the same mistake I did!!! 250w won’t be overkill given the depth of the water but, depending on what you ultimately want to keep in there, 175w could possibly be underkill.

[MrSquid]

bump...any other thoughts on retrofits? Particularly a thumbs up or down on Hamilton? If not them, who? I've been looking at piecing T5 and MH systems together, but the reflectors on the MH-only retrofits may be too large for my canopy if I want to get T5s (or anything else) in there too. The Hamilton is one full sized reflector.

I'm not brave enough to plan on an SPS-only tank. If in the end I can't do SPS, then I guess I can't do SPS.

[FishDad2]

I know what you mean about not being brave enough for SPS...that's EXACTLY what I thought when I planned mine too!!

All I can tell you is that, if you plan it right, you can do it...don't be afraid. So if what you really want is an SPS tank, don't settle for the LPS and softies just because you're not feeling brave enough to try SPS.

Remember, if you outfit with lights and pumps for SPS now but later decide to go with LPS and softies, you can raise the lights off the water, cut back on the photoperiod a bit and dial down the flow on your pumps (if you plan ahead of course and buy the right pumps). But if you only get enough horsepower at the outset for LPS and softies, moving to an SPS tank means significant added expense of replacing equipment.

Good luck with your decisions...I wish I'd found RC before I built my tank!!

[MrSquid]

OK - time to get this back on track. The intent of the original post was just to get suggestions on brands of retrofits that people are liking.

Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

[ReefWreak]

retrofits.... I would get luminarc or lumenbright reflectors, icecap 250w ballasts, wire those puppies up, throw in some 10k XM, 12k reeflux, 20k XM, 20k Radium, whatever bulb/color you want to run, and fire her up. If you're looking for actinic, nothing beats a VHO (ESPECIALLY NOT PC! DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON PCS!!!)

I wouldn't bother with a kit for retrofits. DIY really isn't difficult with halides. VHO/T5 is where it gets more difficult, but still by no means impossible.

HTH!

[smcdonn]

go to affordablelighting.com. They sell electronic ballast for excellent prices, and they are the same as icecap ballast. Stay away from the retro kits on ebay, although they have great prices, most of them are just cheap magnetic ballasts

[MrSquid]

I don't quite have the room for Luminarcs. It's a canopy, and the split is that the back part is 11" and the front is 7.5".

Looking at these T5's

Just need to find some MH's with smaller reflectors... Otherwise I'm going to have to go with an all-in-one retrofit like the Hamilton or the Coralife.