Lighting Question

[Guest]

i am going to buy the new sunpod HQI light from dr.fostersmith. and i seen they come in 4 wattages. 70watt,150watt,250watt and 300watt. i have a 24g aqua pod and looking to make it a reef tank, and dont want to be limited on the corals i can have one day.
also what K* should i have 10,000k, 14,000, or 20,000k. i like the blue in the lights but again i get what ever i need to keep these little guys happy

 

[Devilishturtles]

In a 24 gallon, I'd go with either the 70 or 150 watt. Anything else would be too much, IMHO. How deep is the aquapod?

Color temp is up to you! 10,000k is more white...20,000k is blue. I think you might like the 14,000k as in between and maybe add some supplemental actinics.

 

[MT79]

I would go w/ a 175w since you do not want to be limited in coral selection. A 70w just will not cut it with some high light species. A 14k will give you good color with out any fluorescent actinic supplements. That is going to be a lot of heat over a 24 gal tank. Do you plan on using a chiller and/or fans?

 

[Guest]

Wow ... Heat. i never though of that. well today i went to petsmart and i seen a 36g bowfront. lol so now i want that. its 24inchs long and i could put my old CPR refuge that i had on my 55g on that to up it to about 42g its a hang on back one. but i dont know. chillers are to darn much money and i could use fans but i dont know where i would put them to do there job. maybe i will keep both tanks and buy a huge stand and have both the aquapod and 36g and put a walmart tub under the stand and use that as a refuge and use the aqua pod as a hospital/cureing tank. i thinking of that mabey.
How much heat u thinking it will put off? and should i run a new 15amp 120volt GFCI recp?
U think i could just buy a walmart hang on fan and screw it to the bottom of the stand for the heat problem?or u think i will need something better?
plus i dont know if this means any thing i was going to leave the top of the tank open also. no glass top on it. is that a wise idea?

 

[melosu58]

Moved to General Hardware and equipment discussion.

 

[Guest]

i just came back from the LFS and they said i should use a glass top i i was going to use a HQI light. is that right?

 

[JM]

It depends on how far off the water the light is going to be. If it is high enough so it won't get splashed by any spray off the top of the water you don't need a top. If there is a chance it will get wet i would use something to shield it.

 

[Lance M.]

The higher it is from the surface of the water the less heat transfer to the tank. At least 6 inches from the water surface is recommended. The fixture your talking about has a hanging kit (extra $) you can put on it so you can adjust the height. I'm looking at it right now in the catalog.

The fixture only comes in 70 or 150 watt from the 20'' to the 24''.

Have you seen the SunPod Pro HQI? Same thing just more output. The 24'' has a 250 watt 14,000k MH which would give you about 7 watts per gallon in a 36 gallon tank. But it is an extra $100 for the "pro" fixture.

O and both types of fixtures have built in fans.

 

[Guest]

yea but wont the 250 burn the coral. its only a 20" deep tank. i was thinking the 150 would be fine but what are the benifits 150w vs. 250w? 14000k

 

[beachbumin]

I run the outer orbit here, http://www.aquariumguys.com/24outerorbit.html, on a29 gallon bowfront with the CPR HOB Fuge and my corals love it. Havent seen any real burn but did have a leather that neded to go lower on the rocks. HTH

 

[melosu58]

the glass top not only deals with the lighting but your PH also. A glass cover will hinder gas exchange at the surface and cause a lower and unstable PH. This is the reason for not using glass hoods.

 

[Guest]

so mabey i should buy the hanging kit and hang it higher up. mabey like 6" but then again i dont what to hang it too high and loose the good light at that bottom of the tank either. now for the 150w vs 250w. i have my fish tank in my room, my grand parent wont let me have it any where else lol. and i tink the 250w would make my room brighter then the light post out side my room. and people driving by might think i am growing stuff in here at night lol. not to mention i also have a computer on the same circut. would this pose any problems?

 

[MT79]

The 250w is going to produce even more heat obviously. FWIW I have 2x250w MH 10" over my 55 gal w/ 20 gal sump, two fans mounted in the canopy and if room temp hits 82+ deg. I have heat issues. My tank will easily hit 86 deg. on a day like that. It runs at 82 deg. with just the heat from the lights, no heaters on. MH get extremely hot.

and should i run a new 15amp 120volt GFCI recp?

It may be a good idea depending on how much other equpment your using . If you don't already have a GFCI I would strongly suggest using one.

 

[Guest]

well i do know that the light does also have fans mounted in the fixture it self. and i am thinking about getting 250 and mabey raise it 1' to try to cut down on the heat issue. 1 day i want to get a 90g tall hexogon tank and a 250 might be perfect for it. lol and yes i do i have a GFCI recp.