Newbie Lighting Question

[saltydawg]

Hello All,

First off, this is my first post. A number of years ago, I had a reef setup but had to get out of the hobby due to cost and the birth of my first child. Many years and three children later, I've decided to return to the world of salt water because I love it and I want to introduce my kids to this great hobby. I have purchased a setup that will work for me; however, I'm stuck on how much light I need for what I'm wanting to do, so I'll get right to the facts and see what you guys suggest.

Tank = L48"XW18"XH30"
Sump= 30g
Skimmer= Aqua C Remora with RIO1400 Pump
Pump= Danner 9.5 mag

What I would like to do: Reef with live rock, small reef fish, maybe some cleaner shrimp. As for corals, only soft simple to keep corals, nothing fancy. Some sort of clam would be nice if I don't need to blow the bank on lighting. The depth of the tank makes choosing lighting a little more difficult. I would like to stay away from MH due to the heat and power consumption, but because the tank is so deep, I'm looking at an 8 bulb T-5 setup just to reach the bottom. Aqua Traders has a 36" 406w MH/T-5 combo or a 48" 608w MH/T-5 combo that are affordable, but I'm looking at MH's that I was hoping to stay away from. Other than those, I'm looking at the Nova Extreme 8 bulb, T-5 setup rated at 432w. Anyway, after all of my rambling on, what would you suggest as a minimum wattage for a 30" deep reef tank and if I went with the MH/T-5 combo's, could I get away with not having a chiller? Thanks in advance for your comments. This is a great site and wonderful resource!

Rick

 

[pufferchris]

I would run with the 48"608w mh/t5 combo if heating issues arise you could add a couple of fans to help with the cooling also depends on the temp in your house I run 3 250w mh and 4 bulb t5s on my 240 gallon I keep my house temp around 74 tank temp runs at around 78-80 with three fans running 2 in the canopy and 1 on the sump

 

[ichthyoid]

saltydawg;622198 wrote: Hello All,

First off, this is my first post. A number of years ago, I had a reef setup but had to get out of the hobby due to cost and the birth of my first child. Many years and three children later, I've decided to return to the world of salt water because I love it and I want to introduce my kids to this great hobby. I have purchased a setup that will work for me; however, I'm stuck on how much light I need for what I'm wanting to do, so I'll get right to the facts and see what you guys suggest.

Tank = L48"XW18"XH30"
Sump= 30g
Skimmer= Aqua C Remora with RIO1400 Pump
Pump= Danner 9.5 mag

What I would like to do: Reef with live rock, small reef fish, maybe some cleaner shrimp. As for corals, only soft simple to keep corals, nothing fancy. Some sort of clam would be nice if I don't need to blow the bank on lighting. The depth of the tank makes choosing lighting a little more difficult. I would like to stay away from MH due to the heat and power consumption, but because the tank is so deep, I'm looking at an 8 bulb T-5 setup just to reach the bottom. Aqua Traders has a 36" 406w MH/T-5 combo or a 48" 608w MH/T-5 combo that are affordable, but I'm looking at MH's that I was hoping to stay away from. Other than those, I'm looking at the Nova Extreme 8 bulb, T-5 setup rated at 432w. Anyway, after all of my rambling on, what would you suggest as a minimum wattage for a 30" deep reef tank and if I went with the MH/T-5 combo's, could I get away with not having a chiller? Thanks in advance for your comments. This is a great site and wonderful resource!

Rick

First of all Rick, welcome back!

As to your questions, in addition to Aquatraders (you could use 2 of their fixtures), also Sunlight Supply has something similar/low cost. Below is a link to their web-site, where you will find 6 & 8 bulb versions. Be advised though, that bulbs will need to be replaced annually at $20-25 per bulb, so $150-200 a year in addition to power. Search their web-site and/or speak with a sponsor about your options.

 

[texhorns98]

Rick,

As long as you don't plan on keeping "light thirsty" things on the sand bed, I think you'll be OK with 6 or 8 T5's.

 

[saltydawg]

Thanks all for your comments,

I think I'm leaning toward the 48" 608w MH/T-5 combo. It's only about $40 more than buying 2 of the 4 bulb T-5 strips and would allow for more flexibility as far as adding more light hungry corals down the road if I chose to go that way. Also, that particular fixture appears to have separate power cords for the MH lights which would enable me to use only one, at least initially, or alternate their use. That would still put me at around 348W using just one of the MH's. As for heat, I can add some fans. I have a nice wood canopy with cutouts already in place for that purpose. As for power consumption, the wattage dictates the cost, correct? 400W of T-5 running for 10 hours will cost the same as 400W of MH running the same length of time, right? One last thing, using 400W as a base, what could I expect that to do to my power bill monthly running 8 to 10 hours daily? Anyway, thanks again for all of your comments, this is going to be FUN!

Rick

 

[ichthyoid]

saltydawg;622500 wrote: Thanks all for your comments,

I think I'm leaning toward the 48" 608w MH/T-5 combo. It's only about $40 more than buying 2 of the 4 bulb T-5 strips and would allow for more flexibility as far as adding more light hungry corals down the road if I chose to go that way. Also, that particular fixture appears to have separate power cords for the MH lights which would enable me to use only one, at least initially, or alternate their use. That would still put me at around 348W using just one of the MH's. As for heat, I can add some fans. I have a nice wood canopy with cutouts already in place for that purpose. As for power consumption, the wattage dictates the cost, correct? 400W of T-5 running for 10 hours will cost the same as 400W of MH running the same length of time, right? One last thing, using 400W as a base, what could I expect that to do to my power bill monthly running 8 to 10 hours daily? Anyway, thanks again for all of your comments, this is going to be FUN!

Rick

AQS TO YOUR QUESTIONS-
1) As for power consumption, the wattage dictates the cost, correct?
Yes, watts = watts

2) using 400W as a base, what could I expect that to do to my power bill monthly running 8 to 10 hours daily?

OK, here goes...

<u>400W x 8hr/day x 30 days/month x $0.10/KWhr</u> = $9.60/mo.
1000W/KWhr

(this is based on 1 x 400W bulb, and $0.10 per KWhr power cost)

So 2 x 400 bulbs about $20 per month, plus the power for the T5's.

You can calculate for any lamp by changing the watts, hr's and/or cost of electricity per KWhr (check on your power bill), by adjusting the numbers in the formula above that are <u>bold and underlined</u>. Hope this helps.