Workable Lighting Scenario?

[Doc_Polit]

I am planning a 120 gallon (48" x 24" x 24") Starphire reef tank with only softies and LPS.

My tank has top trim, glass strapping on the edges and a 12" centre brace.



I can remove the trim, strapping and brace in favour of euro-bracing, but it would mean a tremendous amount of work as this tank is very well-built.

As an alternate option, would it work to place 150 MH pendants over the open 16" gaps and supplement with 10,000k T5 (x2) and Actinic T5 (x2)?

I would rather not have to modify the tank if possible.

Thanks, in advance, for your feedback!

[The Grizz]

Honestly you would be much better off removing all the top strips & euro brace the tank. It would be easier together into the tank.

[Doc_Polit]

While I fully trust Grizz's opinion, does anyone else have thoughts to share?

Other lighting possibilities to share?

I would love to go with Kessil A150w LED's but I would need 4 which is out of my wage bracket.

[Nano]

I'd go with Greg on this one. mostly cause he has taught me all I know and hasn't steered me wrong yet, you can glass brace a tank, but I wouldnt do it as you have sketched

[sphelps]

Keep the glass brace fairly clean and you'll hardly notice a difference. You're keeping LPS and soft corals and you're using a halide fixture which I assume will center the halides over the openings so most of the lighting will go around the brace anyway. With what you have planned I see no reason to remove the brace, however if your plans change later down the road.....

[reefwars]

id have to agree if your only doing lps and softies a glass brace wont hurt, many people run glass tops with no problems.

plus its good to have a small area with less light for corals that demand a little peace and quiet:P

[mike31154]

Originally Posted by Doc_Polit

While I fully trust Grizz's opinion, does anyone else have thoughts to share?

Other lighting possibilities to share?

I would love to go with Kessil A150w LED's but I would need 4 which is out of my wage bracket.

You mention the tank is well built as is with the current glass bracing. I'd hesitate to mess with that & think you're on the right track with the Kessil LEDs, even if they aren't within your budgetary constraints. The cool thing about them is they are aimable with the gooseneck bracket, so you'd be able to aim them beneath the glass brace if required. I'm fairly certain the LED inside the Kessil is a multi chip array in the 30 watt range similar to the 10 watt LEDs I've used for my DIY lighting. I have 3 aluminum angle rails with a bunch of the 10 watt LEDs on heatsinks with fans over my tank. The outer rails have a 10 degree inward tilt to aim them away from the sides of the tank & into the center. You could do something similar to aim them beneath the center brace as well. Instead of having the LED rails longitudinally along the tank, you could orient them horizontally & tilt the ones close to the glass center brace to aim underneath it. This way it wouldn't be that much of an issue when the center brace gets messed up with salt spray.

The other alternative is to go with your MH over the open area idea & simply work your aquascape so the corals will be primarily located there. You could have an open swimming space beneath the center brace that doesn't really require intense lighting. Pretty much the simplest, quickest solution. Or even a combo, with MH & two Kessils aimed under the center brace if that fits the budget.

Here's an earlier photo of my LED DIY rails to show the inward tilt of the two outer rails. I've almost completed the fixture now & it's been over my tank for several days. Instead of the screw/wingnut mounting to adjust the tilt, I've simply cut 10 degree wedges to mount the outer rails into the frame, so not exactly like the photos, but should give you an idea.





If your interested, there are plenty more photos & info in my LED DIY build thread, here's the link.
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=82206


Finally, another solution similar to the Kessil idea would be to use PAR 38 spotlights. There are a number of folks that have used these successfully and although not cheap, they aren't quite as costly as the Kessils. All you'll need are the spotlights and a bunch of standard light sockets.

[Doc_Polit]

Thanks for all of the great feedback!

Mike......you have definitely given me plenty to consider. Much appreciated.

[The Grizz]

2 - 150w MH should be just fine with the brace as long as you can keep it clean. You might get a slight shadow but not enough to make a difference with LPS and Softies.

[Doc_Polit]

I might have to take a stab at DIY LED.

What's the worst that could happen? ZAP!