Lighting
 

I have a 46 gallon bowfront that I'm considering buying Metal Halide lighting for. This whole lighting issue is both confusing and seemingly expensive so I don't want to make too many errors. Any suggestions on a) what I need and b) the best place to look for or buy this equipment?

Thanks in advance for any help I can get!!! :biggrin:

What are the dimensions of that tank (LxWxH), and what is the difference between the middle and the ends?

Also, what is in the tank now, and what do you want to keep?

Thanks, that may help formulate a plan. :biggrin:

Lighting dont have to bee bad. I know somebody who has a sebea in the bottom of his 50 galllon. It is a custom built tank. There ia a 28 inch space of water between the halide and the anemone and it survives fine. It used to be kept under 3 55 watt 24 inch pc lights but he changed to a 150 watt halide. He runs 4 watt per gallon. Kepping a condy, rock and a sebea anemone and he hasent lost one yet. Kepp this in mind when buying expensive lights.

As Alan said, let us know what your long term goal is for the tank, and we can better advise you on lighting issues.

another way to look at this is this, most people eventually upgrade tank size and change ideas of what they want to keep. some people might start off with saying I'd like to keep such and such but change later on[I'd say almost ALL reefers do this!] so spend the cash and start off right. get either a dual 400w MH system or 250w DE system. you can just adjust the height of said lights per tank size. so so many people buy lighting that they just endup needing to sell and lose half there money so I'd say go for it.

Lighting
 

The dimensions of my tank are as follows: Lenghth = 36"; Width = 12" at the corners and 16" at the bow. Depth is 21". Again, it's a 46 gal bowfront.

I'd like to keep a variety o fsoft corals along with some anenomes.


Thanks again for all the great responses!!!!

Bob :question:

Glad to help, although there are a variety of opinions here. It will be a trick to cover a 36" spread, as most MH reflectors (including the DE mentioned above) are designed to cover a 24"x24" area. There are some nice parallel reflectors that will hold 2 mogul bulbs and 2 fluorescent actinic tubes as well. You would need to mount the kit inside a canopy.

Another option is to buy a MH/FL or MH/PC hood complete and hang it above the tank. With your depth and size you could run 175's and keep most corals and anemones, or go for 250's and never worry about upgrading. (A note regarding anemones: please don't consider more than one, and only after the tank is well-aged and stable.)

As Brad says, your long-term plans affect this decision as much as the immediate goals. It is difficult to see what will grab your interest once you're bored with softies... :biggrin:

I would agree that 175W is adequate for a tank with those dimensions, and anticipated inhabitants. I myself run a 175W 10000K Aqualine bulb in a pendant above a 36"X18" tank. With the pendant there is no problem covering the 36" length. I am happy with it, but I do not have any real high light demanding corals. One does not necessarily get bored with softies. There are actually folks out there who prefer softies and LPS over hard corals. Having said that I believe you have enough information to guide you. :mrgreen:

I've heard that before....always thought it was one of those "urban legends"!! :razz:

heh i am one of those poeple. I have given all 5 of the sps i have been given to a friend. They just dont hold any interest for me.

However since i also dont do fish i get my movement from my corals (not that i have much at the moment tank is still too new).

I do a 55 dutch style bowfront with 2x 175w ushio 10k and 2 actinic flours. my tank is 20 inch deep and the 175's do great for it.

Bob i am one of those people who perfers softies and lps over hard corals. But like they mentioned here start off right it is hard to build around inadiquate planning i know this from experience

Lighting
 

I agree, I'd rather put out the extra few dollars now than have to start all over again in the not too distant future. Can any of you suggest the best place(s) to purchase this lighting (i'm in the Vancouver area), from both a cost and quality point of view?

bob

Re: Lighting
 

If you want new, start at J&L.

Hey Bob,

J&L does have great prices...and it's always nice to shop locally.

However, if you're in the mood to install the stuff yourself, I purchased my halide system through ebay, a vendor named Bigboyztools who had great feedback and I had an extremely easy experience with.

I purchased a PFO dual halide 250w, mogul sockets, cheap reflector, cords, etc for $185USD. I also purchased my bulbs through this fellow quite cheaply.

There was no wiring necessary but I did have to screw the reflector into the canopy and the sockets into the reflector.

You can also do a full DIY kit at very reasonable prices.

It looks like everyone here has given yougreat advice, the only thing that I would add is to consider 250w so that you won't have to consider upgrading (for now) :lol:

HTH

Rob

Have you considered T5s? Sunlight Supply makes a very good 36 x 12 inch unit - great light output, excellent for SPS and clams, much cooler and cheaper to run than MH - I have a 6 bulb setup for my flat back hex with 2 shorter bulbs in front - it is actually too bright for many corals - my SPS and clam are thriving - the light is very even - and it is actually hard to find dark enough spots for some like fox corals - for a larger tank a mix of MH and T5 can be great.

You can get them from reefgeek.com - good service there. No one in Canada was selling them when I got mine last year - I spoke to the guy who designed them at Sunlight -in Vancouver, Washington - they were still looking for a Canadian distributor then.

I am going to recomend spending money on the ballast formost and then getting cheaper bulbs to start with. at 36" lenght and a 16" max width you can get away with a DE style but the bulbs can be a little more in cost. what I did and would do again is go with PFO 250 watt HQI ballast and then if say sun aquatics is still in business get there SE 10K bulbs for cheep. (J&L carries them also I think) then from there you have the widest selection of bulbs for upgrading at a later date. I would also throw a couple 96 watt URI super atinic VHO in there powered by a WH7 ballast.

as for mounting the MH you will have to mount them on either end pointing each other because of the width of your tank. this is how I have mine on a 36" x 24" tank and it lights it up quite nice.

Steve

while T5 are all the rage they just don't penetrate like MH. If your going to upgrade in the future and if the SPS bug bites[it usually does] then buy right the first time. you can just keep the 400w higher for now off the tank and when you get a bigger deeper tank you can just lower the lamp. pendants are good for thi but it can be done with other reflectors. PFO make an awsome dual ballast setup and its not that exspensive.