? for 120g-125g tank owners

[swjunkie]

Just curious.... What kind of lighting system are you all running?

[austinsdad]

I might go to a 125 soon. I'm thinking about 4 x96w PCs. Not too crazy about the heat and electric bills for MH. I just like the soft corals anyway.

[swjunkie]

I am just really debating on what I want to go with. I dont want to upgrade my lighting system later. I would like to do it all at once as far as knowing what I want. I want to beable to keep anything that my little heart desires as far as lighting needs. I have talked to MANY people and everyone has very different opinions. The guy at my regular LFS has a 150g running 2-250 metal halides and 2 110 VHO's one white and one blue. he has a beautiful tank with just about everything in it. the only thing I dont like about his is that he has a slight shadow in the middle of his tank. which on one hand would be great for the lower light corals, but the other hand you can just place them lower in your tank. So I am going with 3 metal halides. Another person told me to go with 400w metal halides if I was really serious. I am not real sure if I want that electric bill though. and my tank is only 22" deep so I think 400w would be overkill. So I think I have decided to go with 3 250's and 2 110 vho's Now I am not sure if I want the 10k's or 20k's. I like the blue look but if the xm's are brighter or bluer then I might get away with the 10K.

[runway1]

I'm moving my 55 gallon into a 120 gallon as soon as I get done building this darn stand/canopy. I currently use a pair of 175 watt MH's with a pair of 50/50, 32 watt for dawn/dusk transition.

For the 120 (48 longx24x24), I'm changing to a pair of 400 watt MH's. If you're going with 3x250, that's about the same thing. How long is your tank? If it's 60" or 72" then I think your 3x250 with 2x110 is perfect.

As for spectrum, I've had 10k (bad algae love it) and I've seen many 20k (too blue for me) and I just love my 14k's. I think my corals like them better as well. I say that because until recently, I had one 10k and another 14k bulb (economics) and the 10k side grew better and had less hair algae growth than the 10k side. Just my experience.

[swjunkie]

yes my tank is 72" long. And I know that the MH light 2sq.ft. thats why I thought 3 would be nice. I think that the xm's have a 15k bulb. I might try that. And I know what you mean about the stand/canopy I am doing the same thing. I am redoing my floors and repainting to all at the same time. so it has put my tank on hold for a while. But its kind of nice because it is giving me time to really decide on what I want.

[AndyH5512]

I have a 120 gallon, and I use Current USA Outer Orbit 48" MH lights. I love them.

[seaham358]

what type of croals do you want to keep?
I run 2 660 icecap ballasts with a total of 4 URI 160 watt VHO bulbs. I can keep a lot of different corals under these lights. If you want the shimmer in the tank then MH is the way to go. You also need to think about possible heat issues with MH and the cost to run them compaired to other lights.

[swjunkie]

I want to be able to keep anything. I dont want to be limited because of lighting issues. I want the shimmer effect. I do need the MH's for the corals though right? Many people have told me that I really need them to keep corals. I dont want to just keep them I want them to thrive. I will start off with the 2 110w VHO's and then get the MH's. I dont plan on getting everything at once. but I figure I can start off with my shrooms and lower light corals. The heat is one of my concerns (big concern) I might have to invest in a chiller. Also my electric bill. I have talked to several people who run 2-3 400w MH's and they said that there bill is an extra 40-60 $ a month. That is not bad. I just dont want my living room to become a sauna. could you get away with just using VHO's?

Thanx for everones input LOVE IT!

[seaham358]

look in my gallery and you can see some of what you can keep under VHO. If you run enough VHO you can also keep some SPS corals.
when you say every thing what exactly do you want? toss some names out and we can tell you if you really need VHO.
My corals grow great under VHO and my friend his stuff grows like crazy with VHO, so MH are not needed to have a nice healthy tank. Your water quality and filtration is going to play a big part in your success with corals also.

[swjunkie]

I would like to keep some bubble, acropora (purple), birdsnest, ruffled ridge, brain, plate, variety of shrooms (I love the shrooms) variety of polyps, leathers, colts, just to name a few.

[melosu58]

VHO lights here

[cmor1701d]

I changed out my NO lights for 2-Coralife Aqualights (2x96w). In January I upgrade to the Coralife Aqualight Pro with (3-150w 10k MH HQI / 4-96w PC / 4 blue moon lights. They also make the same light in a 250MH version.

Here's what it looks like:

[jasno999]

Beautiful.

what did that light cost you?

[austinsdad]

I just bought the same Aqualight pro for my 155g. Have a 4x96PC on my 72g now. Looking forward to doing better coral w/the new setup.

[hackteck]

cmor1701d wow that tank looks great

[swjunkie]

that is an awsome tank BEAUTIFUL!

[bickid]

I have a 125L (72") and had it started with different PC fixtures totaling 520W. I was able to keep my birdsnests corals doing ok with this setup because the tank is so shallow but knew that I would need better lighting in the future. In Dec. I upgraded to a 72" fixture that had 3 x175W MH and 4 x 65W actinic blue PC. My friends comment that my tanks looks so much better and except for an incredible algae bloom, everything looks good. I did have to adjust my heaters and my power bill went up about $20 a month. I bought it from Aquatraders.com for $400 which is much cheaper than any other place but has a reputation for not having the best quality equipment. All my lighting and replacement bulbs have come from them for the last few years and I have had no problems. Good Luck!