Update on my lighting situation! Excited!!

[GuOD]

Hey everyone,

So earlier I was trying to decide which light to get and decided to get a second fixture. Long story short: things changed, and now I'm getting a 729W light!

I'm getting an Orbit Fixture that has 2x250W MH and 4x54W T-5 Actinic. It also has 18 LED moonlights. That gives me just over 6W/Gal @ 120 gals.

I'm really excited to get it! I'm pretty sure I can keep almost anything including clams/anemones now.

I will be posting pictures either late Friday or early Saturday!! I can't wait!!

I just had 1 question.

1. If I upgraded to a 48x30"tallx24" wide, I know it would be a lot harder for the light to penetrate an extra 6", would this light still be sufficient? I decided I really wouldn't want to put 2 fixtures on top.

2. Nevermind.

 

[Devilishturtles]

1. It would probably still be sufficient yeah, you can just move higher light corals to the top of the tank (or try your best to, anyways). Still though, 30 inches is kinda tall, just my opinion though.

2. Only one I know if the Convict tang...sorry.

 

[melosu58]

I kind of have to agree that 30 inches is pretty tall. But lighting is not my specialty. I` think most likely you`ll be OK.

 

[GuOD]

The higher tank is not for certain - I may end up keeping the tank I have now.

I just figured that if I upgrade to a predrilled tank then I could gain an extra 6" x 4' viewing area by making it a bit taller I can't go any longer because my light is 48"

 

[Tomd]

I think even if you did 250's have decent penetration and you would be fine. And as Devilshirts said you could move higher light demanding corals up top.

 

[lReef lKeeper]

for a 30" tank i would recommend 400w halides. although, as everyone else states ... moving the light demanding corals up higher in the tank will do the job. where are you buying the lights from , if you dont mind me asking ??

 

[GuOD]

I actually pretty much decided today against going for the 30" tall tank. I think the 4x2x2 will keep me happy.

I ordered my light off ebay, from seller seacoral11. Also known as seacorals.com

The entire experience has been one of the best customer service experiences I have ever had! The prices are great too! I'm a very difficult customer so you can definitely trust in this seller

I'm also planning to make my future aquarium purchases from them as well. They have some RO/DI units with actual brand names so I'm thinking of picking one of those up (instead of that ebay one).

Anyway, I definitely recommend you guys check out their ebay store/website.

I'll definitely post pics as soon as my light arrives... believe me!

 

[reefer88]

My advice is to get a tank that is deeper rather than taller, because it will make the reef look more "distant", but at the same time more mesmerizing.

250W will penetrate 24 inches of depth with 0 problems. However one thing to be aware is too much light. Depending on how you place your rocks, you might want to have "ledges" and overhangs where you can place more sensitive corals under, so they don't receive too much light and lose coloration. Anemones will need strong light, but they'll crawl to wherever they're most comfortable anyway.

A good post about it here http://www.fishstart.com/discussion/?q=metal+halide&ds=discussion