lighting for 270 gal, for the begining

[jureprek]

how many lights do i need for starting 270 gal reef aquaria 80 cm deep! Please suggest. thanks

[tubs]

That's a pretty high tank - about 32" high?. How long is it? Already I'm thinking 400watts for that depth but for how many would depend on how long your tank is. Typically a single bulb for each 2 feet of length.

[jureprek]

my tank is 170 cm long

[tubs]

That's about close to 6' feet right so you likely want 3 metal halide fixtures and depending on the depth of the tank (front to back) you can mount them perpendicular or horizontally to the lenght of the tank.

Where are you at if you don't mind my asking?

[jureprek]

I am thinking about buying metal fixture for 2*175 watt (metal halide) and 2*24 watt ( blue lamp ) and i am going to have rocks in aquarium allmost to the top of aquarium, that means that i'll have a lot of rocks. Du you think i should buy any extra light.


Thanks!

[Joaco]

Hello jureprek,
my tank is 190 cm at the front, 55 cm at the side, and 70 cm tall. I'm planning to go with three 400 watts MHs for it, in your case, I really don´t think that two 175 W will be enough for your tank, depending on what you want to keep of course.
Pretty big tank you have for a first reef, be prepared to spend a good deal of money on it's setup (unfortunatelly I found out from own experience )

170 cm are about 67 inches
80 cm are about 32 inches as said above, too tall for just 175 watts

1 inch = 2.54 centimeters

Where are you from? I live in Argentina, we use the metric system here as well

Joaco

[Joaco]

This is a pic of my tank when it was still empty. It's 70 cm tall, yours is 80 cm, so 4 inches taller than mine. Too deep for just 175 watts...
To compare with the tank, I'm 185 cm tall (6+ feet)

Joaco

[tubs]

Jureprek,

At least here in the states, the cost difference of the fixtures and bulbs between 175w and 400w is minimal. I do agree that 400w is needed for such a tall and wide tank to give you the best ability to keep a great variety. Don't want to find yourself wanting to upgrade later on and looking back at what a waste of money you paid for the 175s.

[jureprek]

So how much do you think i should have 250 w or more!

And sorry abot the units!, am from europe exactly from a small country Slovenia.

[jureprek]

Do i have to buy special fixture for 400 w or 250 w, or is it the same as for 175 w.

Thanks!

[tubs]

Welcome to Reefland Jureprek,

For each wattage, yes there are ballast made specifically for them. The difference in price for the PFO brand are:

175w $82.00
250w $90.00
400w $94.00

The bulbs in different wattages also have similar pricing structure. Just be sure to account for the heat generated by MH. An open top or well ventilated canopy is best to keep the heat dissipated.

[jureprek]

this is what i am going to buy

[Joaco]

Slovenia, cool!
the fixture on your pic looks like a German Giesemann, is it the Sunrise 260 model? As far as I remember, they dont come with 400W, just 250W maximun, and not all models.

www.giesemann.de

Joaco

[jureprek]

no it is dupla electra

[Ninong]

Hi jureprek, welcome to Reefland!

The fixture in the picture you posted looks like the Dupla Electra Combi with two 150w HQI double-ended lamps plus two 24w compact fluorescent lamps in the middle. This would be an excellent fixture for your tank. However, if they offer the 250 watt lamps, that would be even better, but I don't believe that they do.

The water column in your tank will be very tall and the 250w size would give you better penetration to the bottom but the 150w size would be adequate provided you place any Acropora spp. and other high light demanding corals near the top of the tank.

Are there any other brands of lighting fixtures that are available at a similar price? You may want to consider AB-Aqualine or Giesemann fixtures if they are available at reasonable prices as both of them offer 250w HQI double-ended lamps in their fixtures. In fact, Giesemann even offers fixtures with 400w and 1000w metal halides.

Regards,

Ninong