DIY Lighting

[Dorkel Marine 1]

I want to get some ideas on how to go about putting together some lighting for 2-30 gal tanks side by side. Now I'm aware of all the controversy over MH VHO PC etc etc. I just want basically about 5 watts per gal. Looking ahead I'd like to make it so it could fit over a 60 to 80 gal tank in the future. Where do I start. I've done some reading on the web about DIY lighting but there is a lot of stuff out there. Just some advice please and your ideas. Thanks in advance George.

[Troy F]

If the overall length of two 30s is ~4', I think an IceCap660 would be a good lighting option that would do well when you upgrade to a 60-80gal tank. You could also go with a couple of 175W MH over them that could also be used when you upsize to a bigger tank.

[StirCrazy]

are you talking about a standare 30 which is 36" long or a 30 tall that is 24" long?

asuming the first to get in the 5att/gal range you are going to need to run VHO/PC/or MH

I would recomend that you get 4, 96 watt PC's and 2 WH7 ballasts (2, WH7's are about 1/2 the price of a IceCap and just as good) , this will give you a couple option in that you can split the bulbs between tanks so that when one ballast turns on you have one light on each tank start.. then when the other ballast starts the other two come on.

this can be done with VHO also, so if the price of VHO bulbs is cheeper than PC bulbs you can go that way also.

by using 3 foot bulbs you will be able toacomadate any whare from a 3 foot tank to a 6 foot tank and still have a good lighting base.

Steve

[Dorkel Marine 1]

Thanks guys for the info. Stir Crazy where can you find a price list on the Workhorse ballasts. I checked the J&L site; no workhorses listed. Thanks for the info Steve I liked the flexibility. Now to get a price range so I know how much to save up. Oh? Is the spectrum of the various bulbs about the same. Oh again. The two tanks are different. One is 24"long the other 36" long. I'm still debating on whether to make two canopys and then later rewire them on a larger canopy to accomodate the larger tank. Any way thanks again guys. Happy reefin.

[StirCrazy]

check with albrite lighting over there.. I think they are about $55.00ish each.

as far as PC bulbs go, if you use seperat hoods you could get 96 watt bulbs for the 36" tank and 55 watt bulbs for the 24" tank. if you use a commen hood get all 96 watt bulbs and overlap them in the middlw. as far as spectrum I am using 10000K PC with T-12 NO actinic's

Steve

[Dorkel Marine 1]

Thanks again Stir Crazy. I'm likin those workhorses already. I'll keep ya posted on what I'm doing and what I'm thinkin of doing. More questions I'm sure. Thanks again. Happy reefin George.

[Tigger]

George
You can buy the Workhorse 7 cheaper at Litemore (just off the Mary Hill By-Pass by Planet Ice.) I just bought 2. I am running 2 - 96W 10 000K PC and 4 overdriven 6500K T8. You are welcome to come by and see what the lights look like if you want. I'm in Port Coquitlam.

Steve

[BC_Grl]

this workhorse ballast... is it for only VHO or can you put MH to it instead? We are looking into another way to get our lighting done. But I was hoping to have 2- 250 MH (10K)

[StirCrazy]

Originally posted by BC_Grl:
this workhorse ballast... is it for only VHO or can you put MH to it instead? We are looking into another way to get our lighting done. But I was hoping to have 2- 250 MH (10K)

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">it is only for VHO, PC, NO ect.. they are comming out with a HID electronic ballast for MH bulbs but I am not sure on what the price will be like yet.

Steve