help me decide

[glxtrix]

alright so I'm a lil stuck on what I should do with lighting.....I'm thinkin of converting my 55g freshwater to saltwater and if I do that I'll be consolidating my anemone tank and reef tank into the 55. I believe its your standard 48x13x20...I'll have to measure to make sure. Anyways, The tank I have now is mostly SPS and I have some clams, the lighting I have is 150W HQI's on both the anemone tank and the reef, tho the reef tank is a lot more shallow than the anemone tank its a 15long. The HQI ballasts I have also run 175W mogul base MH's....do you think thats sufficient light in a 55? Or should I step up to the 250's? Does anyone out there have a 55 reef and what type of lights do you have on it? Or should I just leave everything alone. The other thing I'ld have to deal with is the 55 has a DIY concrete background on it...do I leave it on there and let coraline grow all over it and possible look really cool, or should I try to remove it???? Sounds like a P.I.TA huh.
Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[rhomer]

Lee,

I have a hood that I originally built for my 55 that was 2 55watt pcs and 2 175 watt mh's and this was plenty of light for my 55.

Rob

 

[glxtrix]

Thanks for the input Rob, what did you have in the tank? Oh BTW, I'll have to send you an updated pic of the carpet, man that thing is getting HUGE!! Its absolutely beautiful.

 

[rhomer]

I'm thinking of building a new hood sized corretly for the 90. Depending on schedules I could be conviced with parting with the one I've got now.

I had a significant amount of growth from my Soli while under 175's. Most plating corals would grow great, but I had a little trouble with the branching kind. I can't say for sure that this wasn't a water quality issue though.

Rob

 

[mufret]

The 175s would be plenty of light on a 55 (check out the Iwasaki 15k's!). Another alternative would be T5's. I have a 55 reef that's lit by T5's and have had pretty good success.

 

[glxtrix]

thanks mike for the chime in, I was thinking about going T5's but cost is kinda an issue for me seeing how I'm trying to save for my wedding, so the 175's would be best for me as of now. Thanks for the bulb info too, that was going to be my next question. I'm very fond of Ushio 10K's, but I supose a change wouldnt hurt. Just for S&G's, how many T5's do you have on your tank?

 

[xyzpdq0121]

Lee I agree mu 55 runs with 2 x 175W DE bulbs and 2 x 96W PCs (That are not up and running. My tank grows anything that I want. the 2 X 250's mioght impart way too much heat...

 

[glxtrix]

yeah and the heat issue is part of the reason why I might be consolidating my tanks. My 15 reef at work at times get a lil hot, granted I have a fan on it which keeps it cool and thats regulated by a temp controller, but sometimes the air in my office is stupid wacky, like yesteday is was 60 when I walked in in the morning and I kid you not around 3 till when I left at 12:30am it had to have been 85 (not my tank but the ambient temp of the room)...I def dont want to subject my tank to those temp flux's anymore; can we say hello ich and not to mention the many other issues that could arrise. My house is kept at a wonderful 71 all the time, so I'm not worried about heat there, but very good point on the 250's heat guess 175's it will be.....unless someone gives me 250's

 

[mufret]

glxtrix;34689 wrote: thanks mike for the chime in, I was thinking about going T5's but cost is kinda an issue for me seeing how I'm trying to save for my wedding, so the 175's would be best for me as of now. Thanks for the bulb info too, that was going to be my next question. I'm very fond of Ushio 10K's, but I supose a change wouldnt hurt. Just for S&G's, how many T5's do you have on your tank?

I have 6 across it and setting it up from "scratch" can set you back a few bucks. Since you already have the 175s, I'd go that route. You can't go wrong with the Ushios. I mentioned the Iwasakis because they are getting some pretty good reviews in regards to PAR and color. I'm actually going to "experiment" with them on my 120. I've picked up a couple of the Lumenarc mini reflectors that I am going to use the Iwasakis in. Will actually be going down from 2 X 250w to the 2 X 175w Iwasakis to see if they live up to the hype they're getting!

 

[glxtrix]

awesome man, I appreciate all the info. Yeah I was lookin at the T5's and without the icecap reflectors is gonna be around 300+ and thats not with overdriven icecap ballasts...maybe down the line when money isnt tight. Is there anywhere online that has PAR ratings of the 175's? I have two 65W corallife ballasts that I can run actinics with so going 10K or even the 14K really doesnt bother me. I wonder how those bulbs stand up with a 10K ushio? Granted the PAR will prolly be slightly less due to the higher K rating, but I wonder how much off it would be....hmmmm. lol. Anyone got that info by chance?

 

[jmaneyapanda]

I ran 175 15K Iwasakis in my 90 a while back, and they were INTENSE! Some reports said they had the output of a 250 watt.

 

[glxtrix]

ahh there you are panda, was waitin for a response from you Thats always good news to hear about those bulbs. Ut oh, could the Iwasaki be replacing my Ushio crush?? lol. Anyone happen to know the PAR of these two bulbs?

 

[schwaggs]

I run 250 HQI in a 210 that is 30" deep and 24 wide. I would think 175 in a 20" deep tank would be more than enough...