Aquarium Lighting Help

C

colesy

AC Members
Sep 18, 2005
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I have a 55G FOWLR right now, and a stock hood. It currently has 2 30W NO lights. I am going to build a new hood for the tank, and am working toward a some corals, anenomies, that type of thing down the road so I want to take care of the lighting now while I am building the hood.

I know its a matter of opinion, but I would like to hear everyones opinion on what you think I should do if I am looking to start from scratch with a new hood. I actually have a friend who can get me the lights, and ballasts at cost, so I should be able to save some money there.

I was thinking about 2 MH in the middle with 2 95W Super Actinics, and 2 95W VHO on either side. I am fairly new to the lighting aspect, but want to have it ready for when I decide to get into corals and stuff..

Thanks.
 
The 55 is fairly narrow, so fitting all those lights over the top will be tough. Because of the depth, two 175-250 watt halides are a good idea, and you might be able to fit one or two VHO or T5 actinics in as well. In terms of intensity, all you would really need are the halides, and the actinics would be mostly to bring out the fluorescent colors of the corals. The VHOs/T5s are also good for early and late, when the halides are off.

If it were my tank, I'd put in two 175 watt 10000 K halides and a single 54 watt actinic T5.
 
Thanks for the info. Thats the type of response I was looking for!

The other thing I have been trying to figure out is where do you hide your ballasts? Will there be enough room in the hood for the ballasts for the lighting you suggest?
 
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I mount the fluorescent ballasts on the canopy. The halide ballasts are too big, so I keep them on a heat-resistant surface above the floor.
 
Personally, I prefer VHO and PC actinic supplementation with MHs. The T5 actinics that I've seen (Coralvue and ATI) do not fluoresce corals anywhere near as well as VHO and PC actinics. I suspect that it's just a matter of time before they figure this out, but stick with T5s only as a primary light
 
would anyone be able to take a minute and get me the model number of there MH ballast? and the company name? My supplier needs that info to get me a price.. Thanks.
 
I prefer electronic ballasts, and of those I have found IceCap to be the best behaved. Don't know a model number, but look for 250 watt icecap ballast. There are also dual ballasts available from other companies, but I haven't used them.

The "true actinic" T5s from Sunlight Supply (actually D-D Aquatic solutions) give about the same amount of fluorescence as PCs, at least to my eyes. Not as good as VHOs, though.
 
hey guy's I am new to the board, I also have a lighting question, I have started my saltwater tank about 3 months ago (30 gallons) working on a reef tank all I have right now is about 25 pounds of live rock and hermit crabs, snails, 1 feather duster, and a mushroom polyp, and a damsel. I just bought a new PC lighting fixture the specs are 2x65 watts, dual spectrum daylight bulbs, (10,000K & 6,700K), and dual spectrum Actinic bulbs, (460nm & 420nm), and Lunar Moonlights. I plan on working on a reef tank, do I have enough lighting?
 
If it's a 30 breeder (long and deep) the light would be good for a lot of soft corals, LPS (like frogspawn and hammer), and the hardier SPS.
 
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