Lighting a hex/reef.

H

hultman

Curmudgeon at large
Sep 19, 2004
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Minnesota
I would like to move a lighting question I posted over in the FOWLR forum to the reef forum.

I'm a long time hobbyist who got out of it for a bit and now am getting back in. I'm setting up a little 40 gallon Hex using this "new" (to me) thing called live rock. The rock I got has obvious coral growths, so it would appear to me that to really do live rock justice, you should have proper lighting. Obviously reef lighting would be best.

Any ideas from you reefers on the follwing thread would be more than welcome.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Amphiprion:
"For your particular situation, a halide will be the easiest route to go in order to get the intensity you want. Depending on the depth, you'll at least want a 150w."

My Response:
Yeah, I was afraid of that. I hate lighting. My old systems used to have banks of ballasts on the wall and rubber end caps on the tubes that would stick and be a pain to get off. Wiring everywhere. That's one of the reasons I gave up the hobby. I HATE complicated lights!!

The little self-containded Current I have is really neat, fan cooled, but just not bright enough. Only 80 watts total. And the tank is a typical hex, 24 inches deep, so I'm going to have to get something better. But I refuse to start hanging ballasts around and dangling wires everywhere.

Any suggestions for a self-contained system, 24 inches or less long and totalling probably 250 Watts? Also, what K light range would I use if I go with just a Metal Halide? I'm used to having a range of lights of different ranges, actinics, daylights, etc. Is there one bulb that does it all?

Thanks for the help!

Jim
 
Well in that case, here's a copy and paste of my response from the other thread:

"The kelvin rating is up to you--it is more a matter of preference than actual necessity. What is important is PAR or photosynthetically available/active radiation. In other words, it is the amount of light within the photosynthetically needed spectrum. The higher PAR a lamp has, the "brighter" it is, regardless of whether or not it may look like it. It would be easiest just to use a single halide fixture--there's not even a need for fluorescents unless you want them. If you do get fluorescents, I recommend T5 lamps for color and intensity. To find what kelvin rating you may want for the halide, do some searching on people's tanks and see what they run.Again, you'll want at least 150w, but you may want more depending upon what you want to keep--basically plan for the future, otherwise you end up spending more in the long run. If you like Current brand products and fixtures, check out their 24" Outer Orbit fixtures or their Sunpod fixtures. Giesemann fixtures are nicer, but are significantly more. If you don't mind a bit of a DIY look, you'll get more bang for your buck by getting a ballast and reflector assembly separately. Reflectors like Lumenarc minis and Lumenbright minis will maximize the light from any bulb--basically more light for less wattage. You'll just have to buy a ballast and tidy up the work a bit. Otherwise, just stick with the fixtures."
 
Amphiprion said:
Otherwise, just stick with the fixtures.
Click to expand...

I agree. It's fixtures for me. :grinyes:

Have you ever heard of a guy called hombby on Ebay? He sells what looks like a nice little 380W combo units for under $200! Someone on another forum mentioned him and seemed to think the product was servicable.

hombby link here

FWIW, I'm not all that concerned with cost, but in principle, aquarium lighting has always seemed grossly over-priced to me. I've been in the electrical business for 35 years, and I know what the parts cost. Just my 2cents worth.

jim
 
hultman said:
I agree. It's fixtures for me. :grinyes:

Have you ever heard of a guy called hombby on Ebay? He sells what looks like a nice little 380W combo units for under $200! Someone on another forum mentioned him and seemed to think the product was servicable.

hombby link here

FWIW, I'm not all that concerned with cost, but in principle, aquarium lighting has always seemed grossly over-priced to me. I've been in the electrical business for 35 years, and I know what the parts cost. Just my 2cents worth.

jim
Click to expand...

I will vouch for changing my opinion on Hommby. I bought a light through there for my 75g. It came in and worked - for a few months. It has 4 CF, 2 MH and 6 lunar lights. only 1 CF will work, with all new bulbs, the MH is crap. I have nice bulbs and it takes tinkering with the socket to get one side to turn on and the lunar lights randomly fell out of the thing. I also emailed him saying that my bulbs initially put in were 5,000K instead of the 15,000k that was listed and he wanted me to take a picture to show it to him. Um, I don't know about anyone else, but trying to take a picture of something like that was far beyond my camera skills. The 1 magically wiped off when I took them out since I hated the horrible yellow color and was going to get rid of them. I would change my feedback for them if I could. I wonder how many others would as well. I haven't moved mine off my tank either since it got in.

At first I said it was worth the money but I'm pretty much going to trash (recycle if I can) the entire fixture because it's that bad. I will never, ever, buy another light fixture that is a no-name brand again. I paid much more for the lighting over my 29g and am so much happier with that. It's a sunpod light fixture.
 
mandy21 said:
At first I said it was worth the money but I'm pretty much going to trash (recycle if I can) the entire fixture because it's that bad. I will never, ever, buy another light fixture that is a no-name brand again.
Click to expand...

:22_yikes: I guess that answers that question. I REALLY appreciate your advice on this. Thanks!!

Jim
 
severum mama said:
Have you considered a halide pendant? It seems to me that might be the easiest way to light a hex tank.
Click to expand...

Of course! Why didn't I think of that? Actually, I could just add a small round or box pendant to my existing lighting. That might just be the ticket. Looks like they are offering some pretty nice plug-and-play setups that might do the job.

One more question. At a depth of 24 inches and with the existing 80W CF light, would a 150W MH be enough?

Thanks for the advice!

Jim
 
I didn't think you'd want a pendant because they hang from the ceiling. Either way, that would be a fine option. As far as 150 or 250w, what exactly do you plan on keeping in the future? A 150w will allow you to keep LPS, softies, and some sps near the top. A 250w will allow you to pretty much keep SPS on the bottom (or close to it, depending upon the intensity of the bulb itself).
 
I have Sunpod HQI 150w over my 24G. They make them in 250w with the same measurements. It came used with my tank setup and has worked perfectly. They seem built to last. Its pretty silent to. You only hear the small hum of fans. I had a Coralife 96W that drove me crazy with its noise so it was a major improvement. Another added bonus are the LED white and blue lights. You would need three sockets to turn on all three at once (white, blue. MH), which might be a problem, but thats a nice setup for a timed environment. You can control them individually.

As for blubs, I have a 20k. Not bad, brings out colors, but I might go down one more (14k?) just to test the difference.
 
Amphiprion said:
A 150w will allow you to keep LPS, softies, and some sps near the top.
Click to expand...

That's probably good enough. What I really wanted was a carpet anemone for the Percs, so I figured I needed better light for that and the live rock. And once you've gone that far, it's not that big a step to some basic corals. Maybe a mushroom and a softie? I really don't want to become a full fledged reefer, but who knows!

I have bought a light. Someone had a year-old Current combo on Ebay that I bought just a few minutes ago. It's a 24" with 1x150W-MH with 2x65W-PC. Gives me a total of 280 watts and I can play with the spectrum of the PC's.

Any recommendations on suitable corals for this setup? The fish will probably be a few percs, a bicolor angel, a dottyback and a clown goby. Might even try a mandarin.

I'd appreciate any advice you may want to offer.:feedback:
 
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