Help with lighting upgrade

[Anonymous]

I recently bought a new house and moved my 120 gal. into it... everything survived the move and is doing well. This last weekend we got an offer on our old house, so when that closes next month I'll finally have a little bit of cash to put into the tank.

I want new lights. I currently have the Current USA outer orbit fixture with 2x 150 watt DE MH, and 2x 130 watt PCs, and it sits on the edge of the tank. I really like this lighting unit because of its look and simplicity, but I feel too limited by the 150 watt MHs. There just are too many corals that I can't keep unless they are in the top half of the tank, and I would like to have a more balanced tank (not just softies/zoos down low and SPS up high).

So what should I get?

I want to leave my tank open-top, so I am looking for pendants or an integrated canopy that I can hang from the ceiling.

Should I go w/ 2 x 400 watt SE... DE? IS 400 watts worth it, should I just get 250 watt DE pendents (way cheaper). I don't want to use actinic supplement (unless its part of an integrated canopy) so I'd likely go with either 14k or 20k MH bulbs.

What would you do?

 

[pwj1286]

Get LumenArcs. 400 watts. Nice for a large wide tank. Thats what I am about to do.
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[Anonymous]

For a 120, if it were me I would get a 250 watt version of what you have or one that hangs from the celing. This would allow you more flexabilty than what you have. You may not be able to keep the super light requireing SPS at the bottom, but you could do most. Unless ofcource you want to run 20kk bulbs. If that is what you wnat to do the 400watt may be better.

 

[Anonymous]

Can you get lumenarcs in a pendant?

I currently have one 250 watt Aquamedic 20k pendant
http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant ... eanlight-p

that was over my old sump. The cheapest thing would be to buy another one of those.

My big concern with getting 250 watt pendants is that I will probably one day decide that it isn't enough and will upgrade again. I already don't know what I'm going to do with the very expensive integrated canopy I have, and I don't want to start acquiring very expensive lighting that will sit on a shelf in the closet. I want my next lighting purchase to be my last lighting purchase for this tank.

 

[Meloco14]

Well just getting another 250 pendant would definitely be the easiest and cheapest. The general rule is that 250 watts is enough to penetrate a tank up to 24" tall. And the other general rule is to have one bulb per 2' of tank length. So, assuming you have a standard 120, 2 of these pendants would be perfect. The only problem is that if you upgrade to a larger tank these lights might not cut it and you may have to go and buy the 400 watters. I use 2 250w DE PFO mini pendants and I really love them. The only thing I don't like is the lack of actinics and moonlights, but those aren't necessary anyway. And they do now have moonlights that you can attach to pendants, but they are kind of expensive. I have the 14K phoenix bulbs and I like them a lot. They seem to be much brighter than the hamilton 14k, and not yellow at all. They achieve a nice look without actinics. Also, I have never used the lumenarcs but I have heard nothing but praise for them. But, the biggest selling point about them that I have heard is that they throw down a larger spread of light than other reflectors. IMO, this is not necessary in a 4' tank with 2 bulbs. But again, it probably doesn't hurt, either.

 

[Anonymous]

I currently have the Current USA outer orbit fixture with 2x 150 watt DE MH, and 2x 130 watt PCs, and it sits on the edge of the tank. I really like this lighting unit because of its look and simplicity, but I feel too limited by the 150 watt MHs.

WTF? You just recommended this to me and got my hopes up?


IIRC, double-ended HQI give off more light than single-mogel lamps of the same wattage, right?

What are the dimensions of the tank?

 

[Anonymous]

Can you get lumenarcs in a pendant?

Lumenarc is the reflector, it's 20"x20" and about 12" high(I believe)
They do have a "mini" version which I think is 14"x14"

 

[Anonymous]

I currently have the Current USA outer orbit fixture with 2x 150 watt DE MH, and 2x 130 watt PCs, and it sits on the edge of the tank. I really like this lighting unit because of its look and simplicity, but I feel too limited by the 150 watt MHs.

WTF? You just recommended this to me and got my hopes up?


IIRC, double-ended HQI give off more light than single-mogel lamps of the same wattage, right?

What are the dimensions of the tank?

The tank is 48" x 24" x 24"

I recommended it to you under the assumption you were considering a 75 gallon tank and wanted to keep softies. If my assumptions were correct I still highly recommend this lighting system (though it sounded like you were now leaning toward a bigger tank).

I want to turn the 120 into a dedicated SPS and clam tank. We have a 65 gallon tank that is set up as a softie tank, and I wanted to go a different direction with the bigger one.

Actually I am considering just moving up to another integrated canopy that has 250 watt DE, as per Wazzels suggestion. This one has peaked my interest (and it costs less than the outer orbit fixture I bought).

AquaMedic Ocean Light 2 x 250

I'm still just exploring options at this point, it will be at least a month from now before I buy anything.

 

[Anonymous]

I noticed a 100L was longer but shallower, so I am thinking of that now.

 

[Anonymous]

I have a 100L, 6feet wide, 18" tall & deep, it's nice.

 

[Anonymous]

six feet or five?

 

[Anonymous]

six.

 

[Anonymous]

Ahh, the one I am looking at

http://truvuaquariums.com/55gto100grr.html

is 60" x 18 X 20 = 21,600 in^3 x 1 gal / 231 in^3 = 93.5 gal

Yours is 72 " x 18 x 18 = 23,328 in^3

x 1 gal / 231 in^3 = 100.98 gal

Both are called 100L


Seems like TruVu ain't TruVolume.

 

[stilmas]

I run 2x250w 14k HQI pendants mounted in a hood on my 46g Bow. Some of my existing shrooms and button polyps don't like the intensity so much, but everything else LOVES it! So, decide what you want to do from there, I'm running 12+ watts/gallon.