Pies Posted April 26, 2004 Report Share Posted April 26, 2004 There is a strong possibility of me setting up a new tank to replace my existing tank Will be large (1000 litre 650mm-700mm deep, upto 900mm metre wide). So here are my questions: 400watt single ended vs. 250watt double ended - There is a lot of information on reefcentral.com about how doubble ended 250s are about 10% less effective than 400watt Singled ended. So I am considering using 1 250watt every foot of tank, staggered 200mm front to back. Use T5s or fluros or just do it all with Halides? I use T5s now but have seen many tanks (Brendons tank for 1) without any fluros and wounder if there is any benifit? Mixed bulbs? What about using 3x 250watt DEs and 2x 400 watt Single Ended for just 5 hours a day to simulate HIGH NOON lighting? Thats it. Your thoughts and suggestions on lighting. I think either way it will be DIY as I can't find a reasonable price on fixed lighting. Anyone got a good supply of pre-made MHs? Thanks Pies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted April 26, 2004 Report Share Posted April 26, 2004 After seeing some of the colouration gradients across my acros, I would have to say that I think many lower wattage bulbs, rather than a few high wattage bulbs is the way to go. I think you get a more even distribution of light, and therefore more even distribution of colour. Although not from experience, I hear that the 250W DE are quite powerfull. What bulb colours are you looking at? I would go for maybe 3 10k's and 2 20k's. I'm looking at bumping my 10k's up to 15k or maybe even 20k, cause they need to be replaced. Maybe it will affect coral colouration? (Even though even Eric Borneman is not convinced of the effect of colour temperature on coral colouration, people seem to have more success with higher temp bulbs.) I don't use any flouro's just the two 400watters. Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef Posted April 26, 2004 Report Share Posted April 26, 2004 I agree with Layton, the more even the light across the tank the better. It also depends what you are keeping, blasting the tank with lots of light wont help torch corals/euphyllias/ trachs etc as they need moderate light. I have found that that the 250w de are as good as 400w se. otherwise I would be using 400w if they were better. Why don’t you do a plan of your tank and work out were you are going to put your coral, and then you will be able to plan the lights. There is no advantage of disadvantage using t5, floros normally give your fish better colours as metal halide tends to fade the colour of coral and fish when you are looking at them, especially the 6500k/10k. Electronics metal halide ballast would be a nice addition. 250w bulbs are generally cheaper than 400w. A nice mix of bulbs would look good; say 10k and 15/20k. The higher Kelvin will offset the 10k effect that you get. And, save up for the power bill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetskisteve Posted April 26, 2004 Report Share Posted April 26, 2004 Jeez Reef everytime i read you tank details you have a different skimmer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted April 26, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 26, 2004 I agree 100% about the distrubution of light. I have talked to a few people on RC who have upgraded from 250DE to 400SE and don't think there was any change. I have not talked to anyone who used 250, went to 400s and thinks it was a worth while investment. So this is the way to go, more 250DEs as oposed to fewer 400s. I've seen plently of tanks running 400 watt lights, and they certainly don't look much different, but its hard to gague really. I agree with the mixed bulb types 10k 14k 10k 14k 10k is a likley combination. Layton - Beware that chaning to higer kelvin bulbs will remove some of the 'punch' delivered. An example - JetSkiSteves tank was running 14ks last time I saw it, and it was probably the nicest tank I have ever seen. Great colour, great growth, very clean everthing looked great. The other week when I was up he had replaced his bulbs with 10k BLVs (he was using these originally) and personally I didn't think it looked as good. The tank was VERY bright and some of the colour was a little more washed out than on the 14ks. I use 10ks and don't think my light looks as glaring, but its all a matter of taste and its to hard to put tanks side by side to compare! Layton - Have a talk to Brendon about what bulbs he uses, he called them 'blues', which are the same as the bulbs a guy uses down here. Very crisp colour. I would have used 14ks this time but I think it would have taken away to much light. If I had 3 bulbs I would have gone 12-14k, but I think if I did this with 2 bulbs it would have sucked out too much light. Layton - Add a 3rd bulb to compensate for the increased kelvin on the bulbs? This is what I will do. Still not sure about fluros, it is cool to see a tank under actinics, but so many tanks don't have them I am not sure I will bother? Still not sure. Thanks for you thoughts. Pies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted September 24, 2004 Report Share Posted September 24, 2004 Just to continue this little query from a few months back.... I have 2 x 250W 10K MHs and was looking at putting 2 x 5 ft actinic blue T5's down the sides. From what I have read, it is still extremely important to cover the blue spectrum as and I quote "the natural habitats of many popular reef aquarium organisms have a bluer light spectrum--a light spectrum around 7100K that is commonly referred to as actinic. (Deeper water is bluer because as one travels deeper into water the longer light waves, toward the red end of the spectrum, are filtered out.). For effective lighting you need both the full spectrum daylight provided by the metal halide bulbs along with the actinic lighting provided by the power compact bulbs" So if I get a couple of ballasts and T5's, whats the recommended brand? I hear Arcadia are "ok" in this area but nothing to rave about. Any other suggestions? Anyone selling 2nd hand? (dont want your crap stuff though ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef Posted September 24, 2004 Report Share Posted September 24, 2004 arcadia are not that good, they look nice, but the ballst and bulbs are second rate. ballast are about $100, blue narva blues are about $60. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petplanet Posted September 25, 2004 Report Share Posted September 25, 2004 If my T5 Arcadia is anything to go by then I agree with Reef. Looks good but even wholesale it is $176.00 for four tubes. Mine has blown six so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted September 25, 2004 Report Share Posted September 25, 2004 well I certainly wont be going arcadia then. what are those other ballasts you're talking about reef? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted September 25, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 25, 2004 I brought some T5s that Reef imported. Very nice units and a very fair price. I have had 2 bad tubes (DOA) though. I don't think the T5s where a particulary good purchase, but I would have needed to use normal tubes so the higher output makes them better than VHOs I guess. I belive there are much better tubes available now than there was 2 years ago? Pies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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