How do I beging to plan lighting?

[dearis]

G'day

as I said in a previous post i have started planning a large reef tank (10ftx2 1/2 or 3 x 2 1/2)

Plan on keeping corals and an anenome to host clown.

Have begun researching lighting, I would like to include daylight and lunar but where do i start? Any recomendations including brand recomendations or planning tips would be great

Regards Darren

 

[ChrisRD]

What types of corals will you be keeping? What type of anemone?

 

[dearis]

I still wotking out a wish list for coral, as for the anenome i think it is a BTA Entacmaea quadricolor for Gold stripe maroons....

 

[ChrisRD]

For a deeper tank like that if you want to keep your options opened on corals I would plan on halides. 250 watters would do it if you stick with higher PAR lamps (personally I like 10Ks or 14Ks with VHO actinic). If you're going to be heavy into SPS and clams you might even consider 400s.

For a tank that length you're probably looking at 4 to 5 lamps depending on what reflectors you want and how many cross braces you'll have. The Lumenarc IIIs would be ideal reflectors for a wide tank like that.

Running that many lamps I think I would look into electronic ballasts like IceCaps to help conserve energy (and possibly lamp life).

I'm sure others will have suggestions too, but HTH...

 

[rayman]

i have a 4X2X2 foot tank and would suggest one 250 w MH using 14k hamiltons add 110 watts of power compact ( 2 bulbs @ 55 watt ) per 2 - 2/1/2 feet of tank lenght at 2 foot deep

i can pretty much have any thing i want in there as far as corals go

also place my bulbs so they point front to back not side to side as a lot of light spills out the front if placed side to side

i am using single ended bulbs

hope this helps

 

[dearis]

going to have to do some more research, i like the idea of having whatever i want not having to worry if i have enough light.

Can someone explain what the difference between 14k and 10k is?

and Vho?

Regards Darren

 

[mutley29]

Hi Darren

I think most people, (myself included) prefer 10k's with VHO or maybe T5 actnic supplementation.
I've noticed vastly improved growth in my system using 400 watt 10k's with VHO actinics than the 20k's i was using before.

Have a look here Aquarium Lighting guide for MH info

Hope this helps

Anton

 

[rayman]

mutley29, i read that alot of people like the 10k's but every one i have talked to that is doing alot of fraging localy are using the 14k's with good growth, thats why i picked them up, also there IMHO very easy on the eyes when looking at my tank

 

[dearis]

to get a clear idea.....

10,000 burn cooler than 14000k is that right?

and if so is the 14k brighter in the tank?

 

[rayman]

i dont know about running cooler, that i doubt as heat is generated vai electricity used not the colour of the bulb per say

the 10k and 14k are colour temprature not heat generated

 

[dearis]

a tank 30inches deep would 10k keep all SPS LPS and clams, anenomes(bta) happy?

10ft tank 5 x 10k at 250w or 400w???????

 

[ChrisRD]

10K and 14K is the CCT (Corrected Color Temperature) which refers to the color of light the lamps produce, not the temp that they run at. Do a google search on "color temperature" and you'll find lots of information explaining this unit of measure, for example:
http://www.schorsch.com/kbase/glossary/cct.html

Keep in mind that these ratings are often inaccurate and in some cases can be very misleading. If you check Sanjay's site you'll see his test results often reveal very different color temps from the manufacturer's claimed ratings. When you see a CCT = 0 rating that means the lamp was so blue it surpassed the detection levels of the equipment he uses.
http://www.reeflightinginfo.arvixe.com/

It's hard to make specific lighting recommendations because a large part of the decision is personal preference, however, an example of a lighting combination that could work well for you is something like four 250 watt XM 10Ks driven by standard magnetic (ANSI M58) or electronic ballasts in the Lumenarc reflectors (which cover a 30"X30" area well). You could then use four 5' VHO actinic tubes as supplemental lighting. From the top down it would look something like this...

-------VHO--------- ----------VHO--------- <-- 2 X 5' VHO here
___XM____XM____XM_____XM <-- 4 X 250 watt halide here
-------VHO--------- ----------VHO--------- <-- 2 X 5' VHO here

I would try to place the more light demanding animals higher in the tank.

HTH

 

[dearis]

if i use a higher K buld like 12-14k i could remove actinics from the list? i was recomended from an aquarium lighting store. The recomendation is below

Posted: Sun Apr 02, 2006 11:58 pm Post subject:

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To have an increasing/decreasing light intensity from dawn to noon to dusk as you have described, the more lamps you use the more gradual you can make the transitions and the better you can simulate the sun.
My first example will do this quite well.
2 x 150W on 7:30am
4 x 150W on 8am
6 x 150W on 9am
8 x 150W on 10am
8x150W + 1x400W on 11am
8x150W + 2x400W on 12am
8x150W + 3x400W on 1pm
8x150W + 2x400W on 2pm
8x150W + 1x400W on 3pm
8 x 150W on 4pm
6 x 150W on 5pm
4 x 150W on 6pm
2 x 150W on 7pm
lights off 7:30pm

Mounting would be, all 150W lamps mounted at the front shining back on the reef, The 400W spaced evenly centred

This lighting set up will suit just about any coral I can thin of, including clams, anemone, SPS, LPS and Softies. You also have the ability to increase light to any particular colony if required.

As mention in my first post, I don't like using tubes, its a personal thing.
Actinic is just a certain part of the light spectrum, MH lamp cover this part of the spectrum, and using 14000K lamps or 20000K lamps will provide the same effect you would get from using actinic tubes.
No too long ago 10000K lamps were the newest and greatest lighting for aquariums, the colour of 10000K can be yellow looking so we added actinic tubes to introduce more blue, but these days higher Kelvin lamps are far more common and with their higher out put in the blue part of the spectrum, you can get the same results with out having to add actinic.
However these are my points of view, many people still like to use them.

Have it so the lamps that start first go off first.
I don't have any suggestions for moon lighting, I have never used them. I have read of so that are programmed to work on the 2 week lunar cycle, may be a search on moon light will find what you are after. Also try the other Partners, some on may be stocking them as there has been as lot of talk of them over the past few months.

 

[ChrisRD]

if i use a higher K buld like 12-14k i could remove actinics from the list?

Actinics are optional whether you're using 10K, 20K, or whatever. It's a visual preference thing...

To have an increasing/decreasing light intensity from dawn to noon to dusk as you have described, the more lamps you use the more gradual you can make the transitions and the better you can simulate the sun.
My first example will do this quite well.
2 x 150W on 7:30am
4 x 150W on 8am
6 x 150W on 9am
8 x 150W on 10am
8x150W + 1x400W on 11am
8x150W + 2x400W on 12am
8x150W + 3x400W on 1pm
8x150W + 2x400W on 2pm
8x150W + 1x400W on 3pm
8 x 150W on 4pm
6 x 150W on 5pm
4 x 150W on 6pm
2 x 150W on 7pm
lights off 7:30pm

The lighting setup described above is going to be very expensive (looks like a total of 11 halide fixtures!?) and that lighting schedule is unnecessarily complicated IMO. Sounds like advice given by someone who wants to sell a lot of lighting... :wink:

Personally, I don't think there is much benefit to the whole dawn/dusk thing except the cool look you get with the actinics-only stage, and possibly some benefit to the fish (ie. they get some warning/acclimation time when lights go on/off)

Actinic is just a certain part of the light spectrum, MH lamp cover this part of the spectrum

Agreed - that certain part of the spectrum is the 420nm range (violet). Many 10K lamps are strong in this range. Many of the bluer halides like 14K and 20K are not. I'm definitely generalizing here though - to know for sure you have to see a spectral plot.

and using 14000K lamps or 20000K lamps will provide the same effect you would get from using actinic tubes.

Nope. Many of the 14K and 20K lamps peak around the 450nm range (blue) and you will not get the same fluorescence from these lamps as you do from good VHO fluorescent actinics. Again, this is just a preference/visual thing.

these days higher Kelvin lamps are far more common and with their higher out put in the blue part of the spectrum, you can get the same results with out having to add actinic.

You can get plenty of blue light without fluorescent actinics, but you won't get the same look as say 10K+actinic. Some prefer the look of fluorescent actinics. Also, many of the bluer halides have lower output which is another reason why many people prefer whiter (ie. higher output) lamps like 10Ks supplemented with actinics vs. using say just 20K halides.

JMO & HTH

 

[Anonymous]

The problem I've with actinics is that I like to have MH bulbs right smack dab in the middle of the tank, and I've primarily been stuck with rather thin tanks (18 inches wide) so that really doesn't leave much in the way of room to put linear bulbs unless you have some small reflectors (I've used the mogul socket bulbs so reflectors are typically larger than DE bulbs).

You might just want to go with a mix of bulbs, 10kK for growth and 14kK (or 20kK) for some coloration. Actinics are kind of nice because they allow a "cool down" period where you can still see stuff in their glowing goodness while not burning up a bunch of light (akin to moonlights IMO, not useful for anything more with a lot of MH though). Of course with that large of a tank and say 5 MH bulbs across it you can have the 14kK bulbs be the "actinics" and have them on. I'm with chris on the overly complicated MH setup, because while that setup definately will be nice, that's over twice the replacement cost when they all go south.

Definately look into reflectors though, those diamond luminarc ones seem to get some rave reviews and give a huge coverage area not to mention makes the light more or less uniform (you probably could get away with only 4 lamps).

Depending upon what corals exactly you want, I would probably go 3-250w 10kK bulbs and 2-14kK bulbs, stagger the 14kK bulbs to go on before/after the 10kk so you get that "warming up" period, just note that bluer bulbs don't last as long so they will be replaced more frequently. You should get a good mix of blue to mull out some of the yellow that 10kK always seem to have accompanying them. And if you has space might want to toss a couple VHO actinics over your tank for kicks and giggles, or just have actinics near the 10kK bulbs.

And a FYI, really think about that clown/anemone combo, I know you really want one, but clowns dont NEED hosts, and there will be quite a time when the anemone won't be happy where it's is, although having separate rock structures might help a bit, they will cross over a bottom (whether sand or bare) to go to a "better" place. Not to mention IMHO there are only 2 "sure fire" clowns that will host a BTA, both of which are a bit agressive Maroon & Tomato, while others very easily can, many species are a crap shoot.

 

[dearis]

Thanks guys......will look at the diamond luminarc now

Regards Darren