Will my lighting be enough???

[wastedincome420]

When I bought my 105g set up from a friend This is what it
came with for lighting............
2 IceCap 660 ballast's
1 good & 1 bad all Atinic URI VHO bulbs=48"
1 good & 1Badd daylight URI VHO bulbs=48"
Ok I think that the previous owner had them hooked up w/
1 atinic&1 daylight on each ballast, I plan to run the atinics on
1 and the daylights on the other so that I can have the atinics
come on earlier the the daylight...sound rright????
By the way since the tank is 5ft long an the bulbs are 4ft long
they are mounted so that they are staggered
Is this going to be enough lighting for a reef tank or am i going
to have to add MH in the future??Also if so how many and how much wattage??
I am still new w/ this hobby so please bear with me OK;)


Wastedincome420@aol.com

[Ironreef]

you may want more lighting later depending on what you keep But i would run 2 actinic and 2 50-50 now.

[organicreefer]

actually ,you could run 8 bulbs between the two icecaps,plenty of light,if you like just flourescents.

[Ironreef]

Yup i missed the 2 ic660 i was thinking 1. i would run as many as you can fit.

[wastedincome420]

Thanks for the input. I would like to run my atinic bulbs on one ballast
So that I can try to have somewhat of a sunrise sunset effect....(have
the atinics come on about 1hr before the daylight bulbs and stay on about 1hr after the daylights go off.Does this make sense??? I do like the look of MH but they cost so much But I would like to be able to keep some clams...Can that be done with just VHO???I'm sure that
upgrading to MH would be nice....If and when I do get MH what kind of MH should I get to go along w/ the VHO??How many bulbs??How
many watts? What spectrum???
Now say I stick with just the VHO setup I have now.......What am I limited to keeping?What should I not get so that i don't just kill a nice coral??
Once agan Thanks for all the help
Mark
Wastedincome420@aol.com

[Ironreef]

actinic on one ballast is a good idea. I haven't been able to keep clams =derasa or squamosa in a 55g with 4 110w vho. More you might but My longets was @18mo. halides they thrive IME. You probally can keep almost everything =low light sps if you use as many vho. How many??? halides depends on what you want to keep. I would get at least 250w. 6.5 are good bulbs last long and cost little $$ compared to 10k. You have enogh suppliment vho. If you want a dedicated sps/clam tank, don't have a heat problem have plenty off $$ for power bill I would get 400w. if $$$ is a problem I would go 250w and nothing less. But if you aren't interested in sps vho is good. If you must have clams I would try 1 250w halide put it in the middle thats another option for less$$

[wastedincome420]

IronReef thanks for all the input
Well i always wish $$ is no object but it allways is. But i do try to do things the best i'm able. So ya think that a 6.5k MH would be the range I'd need......I would keep the VHO atinics and add on on the NH.
What do ya think of using 2 175w along w/ VHO atinic and daylight??
Most likely I'll end up running just VHo for a while till the tank has been setup for a lil' while, I could use the $ more on some nice LR for now. So tell me what ya think.
Mark:eek3:

[Ironreef]

For the $$ 250w is better than 175w. If you want to use less watt/power I would go with 150w 6.5k skip the 175w IMO. 175w I'm not saying is bad but for the $$ 250 is almost the same. if power is an issue 150w makes 6.5k. The only good 175w is ushio not much choice. But i guess if you use 150w 6.5 is the only better bulb excuding hqi. So I would suggest reading more on halideballast ,bulbd then go from there. That would be best bet and same more in the long run= not buying 2-3x