Lighting a 220gal Tank Options

[scubadude]

Ok heres some of the options I was thinking of!

1. 3 - 250Watt HQI Metal Halides.

2. 2 - 250Watt Iwasakis and 1 250w HQI and 2 110 VHO 03's

3. 3 - 250Watt Iwasakis and 4 110w VHO o3's

4. 1 - 400watt Iwasaki and 2-250Iwasaki and 2 110vho o3

5. 2 - 175watt 10k and 2 - 250watt Iwasaki and 2 110vho o3's


I already have 3 ballast for 175w MH's two 10k ushio bulbs, and one 12k sunburst......My new 220 will be replacing the 90 and the 20 gal reefs that I am currently using the 3-175's on.....I can use the the 3 - 175's if I want....but I think it would be better to go with higher watt bulbs. I also have 2 110 watt VHOs....they can actually go to 6'...right now the bulbs are 48" I believe though on my 90. My main concerns are I want high quality lighting as I will have SPS and Clams....as well as LPS and softies....but I want to be energy effecient....Since im running 3 MH's as it is and 2 VHOs I dont want my elec. bill going up any higher than it is....Im using dolphin ampmaster pumps so i cut down on the elec. consumption there im sure. all thoughts appreciate. I also thought about the 1000w MH but was sure about the energy effeciency on those. and dont think one of them would give alot of spread with the tank. Tank is 72"x24"x30"

[blue]

hey scuba,

I would go with 3 400 watt either 10K's or Iwaskis and then use the three 175 watt halides with 20K bulbs for some actinc and you could use your VHO's also thats is what i would do. I dont know what kind of corals you are wanting to keep but i think 400 watt halides will work much better on a 22 the 250 watt halide IMO.

Blue

[Starmstr]

Currently on my 60" tank I'm using 250 x 400 x 250 with 4 5' 03 vhos surrounding the 65k's. Since both ballast are dual I have purchased another 400 and whould have swapped out a 250 but alas I'm at the limmits of my breakers.

[scubadude]

Originally posted by blue
hey scuba,

I would go with 3 400 watt either 10K's or Iwaskis and then use the three 175 watt halides with 20K bulbs for some actinc and you could use your VHO's also thats is what i would do. I dont know what kind of corals you are wanting to keep but i think 400 watt halides will work much better on a 22 the 250 watt halide IMO.

Blue

Blue:

You think I have a power plant in my backyard??

[blue]

Well i thought since i had a powerplant in my back yard every reefer had one but i dont think it will consume to much power i would run a circuit for just the tank though. Just didnt want to let thos 175's go to waste

Blue:eek3:

[Ironreef]

2 175w, 2 400w save electric ,have good lighting and use your 175w

[thezookeeper]

I'll have to think about this and get back to you. I would say you should nix the 175's and sell them. Go with at LEAST 250's, if not 400's. The 400's might be better honestly. In fact, (yes I am thinking about this as I type)...I'd DEFINATELY go with 400's. Then as many VHO's as you can jam in there. Hopefully more than 4. I'm thinking 6 if that's possible? Maybe 8? How many VHO's can you run with your current ballast?


Joanne

[thezookeeper]

And I hate to tell you, but there's no way your electric bill is not going to go UP. But I'm sure you figured that out. My reasoning for not picking the 250's is the width of the tank from front to back. One MH is only supposed to cover 2 feet. SO...that's why I picked 400's. If the width was only going to be 24", then I would have gone with 250's. With 400's, should you choose Iwasaki's, which I would, you'll need more actinic, even with the MV ballasts should you go that route. I would say not to even bother doing one HQI light. If you'd go that route, go totally that route. Don't just buy one to throw it in there. Well, I wouldn't. Just thinking as I go again. I'm sure they'll be more. HTH!


Joanne

[Ironreef]

If you don't have a dedicated sps tank. You don't need all 400w. Theres many ppl who have nice tanks with 175-250w. With sps. 400w=$$$$ in power. Not to mention alot of heat. You can buy all new equipment but that cost$$. I would try to use my current lighting as well as new. But if $$ isn't an issue. FWIW I just got a nice Polcipora (sp) frag nice fuzzy green. Belive it or not it came from a 75g(?) that just had 4_40w no. It's brown with a slight green. Hope it colors up. But he frags many pieces of this healthy sps. IMO water quality is more important ..the sps maybe brown but they live. I do like to have alot of lighting myself. Just stating what I saw today

[PerryinCA]

I think that you'd do well with a couple 400 on the ends and 2 of the 175 watts in the middle. I think Ironreefs idea was a good one. I personally believe in TONS of light is best. If electricty weren't a major concern, Blue's idea would be my first choice (that or 2 1000w 10k, and actinic VHO for dusk/dawn). Or, putting a couple 400w in hte middle would give some high light areas, and less needy coral on the outskirts.

Using the 2x2 will also leave you worrying less about the heat (allthough 2 400w still get rather hot).

Have thought at all about putting a single 1000w lamp on a light rail? That would cover the whole tank, would keep the coral from bleaching in a lot of cases, and would keep the coral from growing toward the light source and youd get more natural growth forms. Having a rail in a hanging style fixture would be really cool!

God I wish I had the ability to try something like that...but I'd have to drop out of school to pay for it. Only a few more years and I'll be there.


-Perry

[ChrisIsBored]

Here's what I have planned for my 200G Oceanic tank...

84" x 24" x 24"

2 x 400W 65k Iwasaki's towards the middle sides of the tank.
2 x 250W 65k Iwasaki's placed closer to the center(partly over the glass brace)
72" VHO's for actinics... not sure how many yet. Each bulb is 160W's but i'm still not sure how many will fit along side the MH's. I'm hoping to have bulbs in there.

They won't be on at the same time through the whole day so electricity shouldn't be TOO bad. VHO's for dawn/dusk... 250's on an hour after that... 400's on maybe 2 hours after that.

Still have too much other stuff to purchase before I get to buy the lighting and canopy but that's where I'm at right now...

Good luck!

[blue]

scubadude,
Dont know if youd be interested or not but the guy who was going to by my halides backed because he lives in new york and the trgedy and all. So i if your interested i will trade you my duall PFO 400 watt halide set up for your dual 175 halides. Just an offer let me know.
Thanks,
Blue

[ChrisIsBored]

Hey blue how much would you want for the Dual 400W PFO?

Contact me by email chrispugh@hotmail.com

[scubadude]

blue,
thanx for the offer, but I want everything pretty much brand new if I do this...and If I do 400's then im gonna proly go with Iwasakis and the graybar ballast!

I think I have decided to go with 2 - 250 HQI's at first and I will try them and if I like them then I will probably go with one or two more....and hopefully I will like them enough that I wont need anything else. That way I can sell my setups as a whole after I move my corals. I know that the 400 iwasakis are really hard to beat, but if you read Sanjay's report on the spectrum, par and all that other good stuff the 250w HQI's are running better than most other 400w MH's except the Iwasaki and I dont think its far behind that one, and it has a more white-blue color...NOT yellow! HQI is evidently the new way of Reef Lighting IMO

BTW Perry I liked the idea of a 1000w on a moving light rail! If i ever get rich then I will just get 2 - 1000w 10k bulbs for this tank!...man that would be pretty awesome!

[Strangelove]

Scubadude,

I'm setting up a 220 this fall, as well. I've been pondering the same lighting questions and I'm pretty sure I'll go with 3 400w 6500k and 2 72" actinics. There goes the electric bill .

I also plan on using an ampmaster 3000 to power MY PM Bullet-2 and the return. Are you doing something similar? If so, I'd love to see your sump plans.

GENE

[Ltspd]

Well Scuba I will tell you about a friend. This friends tank is the one in the pictures for this years MACNA. The one with the engineer gobie in the shot. This is a 360g tank appox 36x32x72 and is lit by (2)400w bulbs (Iwasaki's) and (6)48" VHO actinic's, or around 3+ watts per gal. This guy has huge acro's, montipora's, hydrophora's, a Dersea clam that is atleast 12+" long, and lots of other stuff I have no idea what they are . I have several frags in my tank from his. I havent seen a reef tank that compares yet.

My point is that I dont think you really need all that much wattage. Its quality of light that matters. This was explained to me by my mentor, the guy with the 360g tank, the one I can see in real life and touch and feel all the stuff inside. If you got a power plant to run a tank great, but I dont, and the more money I can save the better.

[SCETT316]

I would go with the 250w HQI's.