Lighting For A 170 Gal

[drag]

i need some advice on what type of lighting to go with i think its definetly got to be metal halides . but how many and what kind??? tank is pretty deep like 30 inches or so. 6 feet long and about 18 inches wide.

on my old 30 gal i had 4 VHO bulbs like 95 watts each or so. i might integrate those as well but not likely.

i plan to keep corals.

 

[kj23502]

what about 3-250watt lights?

 

[rabbut]

What type of corals? As a rule, hard coral need lots of light, where as softies don't need as much... Mind, in marine, lighting amounts are all relative I'm a marine newbie ATM, so don't take my word for anything just yet, get second opinions on everything I say....

 

[SkiFletch]

Well, "Typical" 6' long tanks have twin braces across the top, and thus I'd suggest 3x175watt halide or 3x250watt halide depending on the corals you want to grow... Your tank only has a single brace in the middle, making a triplet halide solution far from ideal. It'll look bad if you have one over the center directly above that glass brace. The two on the edges will be really powerful and you'll notice a "dim area" underneath the brace. Therefore we're gonna have to get creative here. Couple questoins before I start making suggestions:

Will you be using a hood/canopy? Do you prefer to buy pre-made, or are you handy enough to create your own lighting setup?

How many amp service do you have available to the tank?

 

[drag]

yes i do want to make a hood/canopy because it is in my living room and at that hight of the tank i need one unless i want to blind myself anytime i sit on the couch.

i probably wont buy pre made , i made my last one for my 30 gal. plus i think its cheaper to buy separete ballasts and lamps than a $1000 fixture....
just have to see where to buy them from.


i could include my 4 3' VHO lamps.... just a thought.


power is no problem . i'm an electrician if its not available ill make it available.

i dont know if they make high efficiency mh ballasts?

900 w @ 14 cents a watt hour ,if they are on 10 hour a day thats close to 40 bucks a month light bill increase.

 

[SkiFletch]

yes i do want to make a hood/canopy because it is in my living room and at that hight of the tank i need one unless i want to blind myself anytime i sit on the couch.

i probably wont buy pre made , i made my last one for my 30 gal. plus i think its cheaper to buy separete ballasts and lamps than a $1000 fixture....
just have to see where to buy them from.


i could include my 4 3' VHO lamps.... just a thought.


power is no problem . i'm an electrician if its not available ill make it available.

i dont know if they make high efficiency mh ballasts?

900 w @ 14 cents a watt hour ,if they are on 10 hour a day thats close to 40 bucks a month light bill increase.

Good to know you're an electrician, that will help a lot . So, given that info, what I would try would be to use 2x250 watt halides with lumenbright reflectors on the edges and your 4 3' VHO's in the middle. Then when aquascaping, I'd try and setup more of a dual island kind of thing with the middle devoid of corals, cause right under the center say foot of your tank will have the lowest PAR. You might have to mount the VHO's up a little bit in the canopy since the lumenbright reflectors are so big to fit it all, but I'd definitely consider that. Another option if the lumenbrights prove too wide would be to ditch the VHO's and get some 2' T5 retrofits in there for the center of the tank. Having flourescents over that big center brace will not look as wierd to your eye than having the point-source halide right over it. See where I'm going here?

Yes, there are electronic high-efficiency ballasts out there. Very common in 250watt and pretty common in 400watt. I would HIGHLY reccomend these if only for the heat problems the magnetic ones create. Somethin tells me more heat is the last thing you need in Texas

Also remember, these lights do have very high inductive loads on startup so keep that in mind when designing electrical service and more importantly startup. Trying to fire all lighting at once would prolly trip most 15A breakers

 

[drag]

any specific mh ballast brands to look into???

 

[SkiFletch]

Icecap, Blueline, ARO, and PFO all make good ballasts. I'm not too familiar with the 250watt models, but all will be quality built, so just buy the cheapest one you can find

 

[drag]

what do you think of these icecaps .

http/www.seaquestmarine.com/IceCap_250_W..._p/ic_250mh.htm

 

[SkiFletch]

IceCaps are very very good quality. Probably the best bang for the buck as they're made exceptionally well but don't cost as much as something like a PFO. That'll last you a lifetime