here is my problem

[Skimmerking]

ok myself and doug are thinking of changing lights i hve a 400 pfo ballast with a biult in fan with pendant. with 2 x400iwasaki bulbs
2x sunburst bulbs and a venture 5500K bulb to change with doug's
ice capp660 with 3 white s and one actinic.
should i keep the set up or go with the other one
i have all soft corals with a small SPS green caporcorti something like that .
i'm planning on getting some recordia and button polyps to fill the DSB
now my tank is 30 deep and 30 wide and 72 long
with a 3 " DSB
the bulbs are 48" will this be enough lighting or better lighting for the tank...

MIKE

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by asmodeus

ok myself and doug are thinking of changing lights i hve a 400 pfo ballast with a biult in fan with pendant. with 2 x400iwasaki bulbs
2x sunburst bulbs and a venture 5500K bulb to change with doug's
ice capp660 with 3 white s and one actinic.
should i keep the set up or go with the other one
i have all soft corals with a small SPS green caporcorti something like that .


MIKE

Sorry Mike, but this doesn't make much sense to me. Maybe list what you have. Then list what is available. Then list what you think you want to do.
I don't understand if you're trying to trade something with Doug? Do you want MH or VHO? The Venture 5500k is going on Doug's Icecap 660??

[AJ_77]

What Brad said...

[Delphinus]

Maybe I'm off-base here (Mike correct me if I'm wrong) but I think what he's asking is, he has a 400W MH ballast and a number of different bulbs he could run off that ballast; and should he keep that or should he trade it for a Icecap 660 with 4 VHO tubes.

If I understand your tank size correctly Mike, I think the Icecap will not do it for you, but I think it would be fabulous supplemental lighting. But 30" deep, if it was me, I'd be thinking of hanging onto those 400's. That's just me though, I'm quite partial to halide lighting. Only thing is, I'm not sure if you have a dual ballast or two ballasts: one 400W bulb over that tank is going to look kinda silly (very bright in one spot and very dim at the edges). Two bulbs over a would be OK, three would be even better. But that's definitely a lot of juice, if that's a concern then maybe you DO want to start with the Icecap and work out from there over time.

[Jack]

I think he does just have one MH. 4 VHO won't be enough for softies? I have no idea. I skiped the softies cause I got hooked on the sps.

[Son Of Skyline]

I think I get it too. I don't think the 400w iwasakis will be necessary in your case. I wouldn't go with just the Icecap either. MH just adds that little extra shimmer that makes all the difference in the look of a tank! So my vote goes for the Sunbursts

[Doug]

Guys. Seing as how Mike posted this, here is the story. He has my 400w PFO pendant I sold him. He only runs one 400w over the center of the 6ft.- 30in by 30in. tank. He has a new Iwasaki, a pretty new Sunburst and an older Sunburst, plus the older 55K. Still only one 400 running though. He supplements with normal outputs. Ok, so far.

I just checked on his tank and its doing fine, esp. for running only a center 400w Sunburst. Except for the single mentioned cap I gave him, all his corals are softs.

I have been playing with a set of vho,s on my tank and a single 400. The vho bulbs just dont cut it for my sps tank, which is also 30in. deep. I am selling them or trading them. I will go back to a pair of 400 Iwasaki,s or a pair of 250w Iwasaki,s on each side of the centered 400w Radium. {trades if Mike dont want them, }

As he is only running the single 400w bulb, I figured the vho bulbs, along with some normal output actinics, would give as much overall light and a better spread on the tank. Of course the penetration of the halide over the center will not be there.

So der ya go.

[Aquattro]

Ahhh....So then I would say he might be best with the VHO for a better spread. Or buy a second ballast/socket and run 2 sunbursts.

[Doug]

Yes, agreed Brad. The second 400 would be better. However a pair of Sunbursts cost about $250/year Canadian. It was remarkable how well his corals looked under the single 400 {and a low par bulb to boot}, on such a big tank.

Another problem here, as mentioned before by Mike, is evaporation and humidity. To much is hard on Mike,s son. Although the room does need to be better vented, we were wondering if the cooler vho,s would take less cooling fans, thus less evaporation. A pair of 400,s under that hood would require more.

Of course the big question is, if the 440watts of vho and a couple normal output actinics, will be enough for soft corals in that particular tank.

Of course if he has to downsize because of the humidity, then its a mute point. Mind you the vho,s would be great over a standard 55 or 70gal tank for most any corals.

[Skimmerking]

YEs but the reason, i have all the humitity is from the fans keeping the water cool from the mag 24 in the sump the temp gets to 83 in the summer.
so ANd by te way sorry for all the screw ups in writing i was pressed for time and wasnt paying attention.

anyways doug i will PM you on what im doing

thanks for all advice

P.S i was thinking of adding a bigger sand bed to allow for the lighting issue too.
what do you think..