Need Advice on Lighting Choices!

[shovelhead91701]

As some of you guys know I am new to this hobby and plan on putting a large wall tank into the stairwell wall of the home that I am building.I will flush the tank front with the wall and all of my equipment will go into the space behind(stairwell). I need to know what style of lighting and what size to go with that will be a one time purchase(no upgrades!) to support any life I choose for the reef. money is not a problem on this particular question- just want to buy what i need once. Any help or opinions would be great!

Shawn :razz:

[PhatBrdr427]

I wish I had that type of option.. i would go crazy. Like a kind with 100 dollars inn a candy shop!

[maroon6000]

well you could go with a metal hilide attinic combo. that what we have at my store that i work at. and they are awsome.

PM me and i will help you out with the details and the length and the prices. you could evenbuy it from us.

[davejnz]

Is it a 55gal that is going in your wall? The type of light you need will depend alot on the corals you intend to keep and the depth of your tank.If your goal is to keep most all corals and you have a deep tank( >20")then halides will be you best option.For tanks that are <20",VHO and T5 flourescents will be fine.PC's would be my last choice because of there bulky size and shorter bulb life.A 4 bulb VHO/ T5 setup will allow you to keep just about every coral and have the benefit of lighting a tank evenly.
MH is a point source light and is able to penetrate much deeper than flourescent.They also produce shimmer lines that make a reef look more natural.
Both are capabale of lighting a reef but which one to choose will depend on the tank/inhabitants

[shovelhead91701]

Thanks for the info Dave, You asked if this is going to be a 55gal, I really had at least a 100gal. deep in mind and would love to get up to a 180gal but have to see how much usable wall space I will have once I get everything framed up.

[davejnz]

For a 100 or 180,I would go with halides.You want 1 halide for every 2' of tank length.If your tank is 6' long,then a 3x250MH would be idea,if it is real deep,you could use 400wMH's.With the right reflector,you could get by with just using 2 of the 400's. I like to supplement halides with VHO or T5 actinics.They both come in 6' lengths and a pair of them driven by an IceCap660 would be the best ballast IMO,IC ballasts are a little expensive but they're worth it IME when compared to cheaper electronic ballasts.They have the ability to fire T5's as well as VHO's and the T5's are overdiven on them making them much brighter than on those other ballasts. CoralVue has some realy affordabe MH retro kits(electronic balast,bulb,socket,reflector) and IMO there retro's are the best bang for the buck.

[davejnz]

here's a link to an ebay store that sells the CV retros,they sell T5 retro's as well as VHO http://stores.ebay.com/Marine-Madness-LLC_Metal-Halide-Retro-Kits_W0QQcolZ2QQdirZ1QQftidZ2QQtZkm

[shovelhead91701]

I just found a cool site to help with my lighting dilemma guys! Props to Mark Melev from dallas for turning me on to them! Site is hellolights.com(sorry don't know how to link!) they have a DIY section to build your own set-up and here is what i plan to go with.....INPUT PLEASE!!!! (The tank we ordered is 190 gal. 60" long, 24" wide, & 31"deep) I want this to be a one-time deal so I hope you guys can sort me out the first time.

1- 60" reflector setup w/ all sockets and cooling fans installed
3- 400watt Universal m135 MH ballasts
3- 400watt, 20,000k Ushio MH bulbs
1- 2 lamp ARO model 4L VHO ballast
2- 60" Corallife 140 watt Trichromatic 6500k lamps
4- 4.5" cooling fans


if you want to see the setup go to the website above and in the store go to retrofitted lighting systems then scroll down to the build it yourself MH/VHO/CF System link..also all of this packaged together runs $972.80 plus about $40.00 for shipping. Is this pricing good?
Thanks for any input guys!
Shawn