What to do with these lights?

Wrench

Wrench

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Sep 9, 2004
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I plan on keeping zoa's, shrooms, LPS and maybe an SPS or two. Basically I don't want to be limitied by my lighting in what I can keep in my tank. Right now I have a 2x96w PC setup in my canopy. I just picked up a 2x175 MH retro kit with dual PFO ballast, reflectors, sockets etc..

1.) Should I install the MH's in addition to the PC's or will this be a case of too much light? (If there is such a thing) Maybe one of the MH added to the PC?

2.) What heat range bulbs should I use? THe PC's I have now are 6700k and 10000k and I think the MH's I'm getting are 10000k and 14000k

thanks!!!!
 
if you arae SURE that you only want a FEW sps, then one 175 watt would take care of a few of them in a vertain area... but trust me.... i thought the same thing and i am already upgrading because i have runout of room. i would run both of the 175s and actinic PCs. for the K of the Mh bulbs, that is entirely your choice. but the lower the K, the higher the PAR. if you plan on sps, i probably wouldnt go above a 14000K on just 175 watts.
what size tank do you have?
 
thanks. I guess what I was trying to ask was is there such thing as too much light. The tank is 45g, but it's only 36" long which makes it 18" deep.
 
woops, sorry
you can have too much light but tit depends entirely on what you are keeping. some corals obviously prefer more light or less light than others. for example, i have a 40 breeder which is 16 inches high (also 36 long) and as soon as my canopy is built ill have a 400 watt SE MH and 2X39 watt T5 HO. but i am keeping a lot of sps so the lighting here is not too extreme.
but there are many corals that would shrivel up under that light
 
Ok thanks again. The whole temperature thing is pretty foreign to me and that's what is confusing me the most so far. I'm farmiliar with the colors of different temperatures from my photography experience. Higher Kelvin # is more white. Which spectrum is more beneficial to the corals? Also by actinic, I'm assuming you mean a true 03 actinic bulb as opposed to a 50/50 03/10k right? I have also heard that the actinic bulbs are just for the aesthetic appeal and that the blue light is of no use to the photosynthetic species. How true is this?

So for the PC's I will be using the actinic bulbs. NOw on the MH's, should I mix it up and use one 10k and a 14k or should the both be the same? PAR has to deal with depth of penetration (of light ;) ) right? My thinking is to have the 10k for the penetration and the 14k for brightness or am I totally wrong?
 
well anything below a 10000K is yellowish. 10000K is white (or should be, some bulbs are a little yellow though. it depends on the brand) and anything above that (up to 20000K) is a blueish. The blue light can be used for photosynthesis, but the lower the K, the higher the PAR rating (Photosynthetic Availible Radiation. so in essence, yes. more PAR can penetrate deeper so you are correct there). however, the higher the K rating, the more color your corals will appear to have. This is why people use actinic supplimation. The difference between a 20000K and a 10000K PAR wise is quite a jump actualy even if they are the same brand on the same setup. And yes, i was refering to the full actinics (03, 02, true, whatever type, they are all actinics)
as far as the MHs, unless you put then right next to eachother, you wouldnt have that efffect. MH, unles rasied high over the tank or has a large reflector like the lumenax, is only going to have a coveragel of about 2'X2'. so your tank isnt goign to be completly covered by each bulb. So the K rating is up to you and i would recomend one K rating for the two, but it is yoru choice. do a search around and see how big of a difference you think it is and weather you think it is worth it.
 
What is the difference between the different actinics? Both temperature wise and how the corals use the light. Also where do they fall in the Kelvin scale? As for the color of the MH bulbs it seems like there is a compromise between the light being too "blue" and having enough PAR. Would I be safe choosing 14k bulbs seeing as they fall in the middle?
 
the degrees of how blue they are are basicly the differences. you will also see differences between brands. The actinics are not measured on a K scale, but instead, they use the wavelength. most fall around 420 nm. Like the super actinics will produce more color but will have less PAR than one of the 03s
as far as the K, search online around for some pictures and see which color you like more. 20000K 175 watt halides woudl be pleanty for just about anything, but you would be more limited in placement and growth compared to the 10000Ks with your sps or clams. i personaly like between a 12000K-14000K. Right nwo i am running a 150 watt HQI DE halide and 2X65 watt actinics. But once i upgrade i am going to a 20000K 400 watt halide (seeing how 400 watts in a 16 inch tank will give me PLEANTY of light) and possibly some 10000K t5s and mix it up. or i might do the oposite and do a standard 15000K halide and t5 actinics. we shall see which combination i like best on my tank.
so in reality, it all comes down to what you like. you may have to compromise a little to have what you want, but with dual 175 watt halides, assuming they are on a quality ballast, reflector, ect, youd be find keeping sps in such a shallow tank. i am just sayign since i buy all frags, i like mor PAR for the growth and i persoanly like the looks or a more white-crisp look. so you should go for the look you want
and i took waaaaay too long to say, "you should go for the look you want"
haha
sorry about that
 
Thank you for all your help. You cleared up a lot of questions.
 
:) always glad to help
good luck!
 
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