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bms · 11/03/2011, 02:25 AM

Hello,
Its been quite awhile since I have posted on this forum (the few posts I have made), however, I have been quite the "busy-bee" on my aquariums (3) which have now turned to one

as I got married & had to downsize.

Anyways, to address my post. I have now gone from a 60 gallon FOWLR, a 55 gallon FOWLR, & a 45 gallon reef to just a 45 gallon reef. I recently made a trip to "reef-a-palooza" where I won a 150 watt Metal Halide AquaticLife R7S HID light set up in a raffle

I am currently building a custom "light fixture hanger" which I will post a picture of..not mine as it is still in construction & will be finished by the end of the week, but it is ideally how mine will look with a few modifications of my own. In addition to my MH I also have a 60 watt Ecoray 60D LED light fixture which I plan on using (I know it may look a little odd when set-up b/c half the tank will have MH--although the light pattern from the MH spans almost the whole tank even though it is placed nearer to one side of the tank--and half will have LED which actually gives it a pretty cool shimmering effect) I do plan on keeping corals which require higher lighting conditions on the MH side & less intense lighting conditions on the LED side.

Now to my questions, how high should I mount the two lights? And do you think this will be too much light for the size of my tank? Also, should there be a certain timing in which I have the lights turn on and the length of time they are each on? As for the last question, I have a few options. I do have multiple timers and in addition to this I can set the LED light to separately turn on the blue lights and the white lights. So I can have the blue lights turn on earlier than the other lights and/or stay on longer than them.

My current live stock includes:
10-15 red & blue legged hermit crabs
1 "jacketed" false percula clownfish
1 Half Black Angel fish
1 duncan coral
2 acan corals
1 emerald crab
1 colony of green/yellow zoas
A few types of green & purple mushrooms
(not exactly sure of the name..) but 5 "bumble-bee" snails
2-4 mexican turbo snails & margarita snails
4 snails I dont know the name but they burry in the sand & have a "snorkel"
The sand bed is about 3 inches thick of aragonite reef sand

Filtration:
I plan on eventually getting a sump but I am having difficulty finding one that will fit inside of my tank. As for now I have 2 canister filters running. One is rated for 75 gallons and the other for 120 gallons. The canister filters are setup with spray bars so that the return pumps help with my flow. I have 2 koralias in the tank (not sure of the number I think #1's.. but they are smaller ones) I also purchased today a CPR Bakpak 2 dual pack with the Rio 600rv? pumps which I have not yet set up.

Any advice on the lighting situation & coral placement and/or any other comments or suggestions on anything I am doing wrong..or right, would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

11/03/2011, 02:25 AM	#1
bms Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Riverside, Ca Posts: 11	Metal Halide & LED setup Hello, Its been quite awhile since I have posted on this forum (the few posts I have made), however, I have been quite the "busy-bee" on my aquariums (3) which have now turned to one as I got married & had to downsize. Anyways, to address my post. I have now gone from a 60 gallon FOWLR, a 55 gallon FOWLR, & a 45 gallon reef to just a 45 gallon reef. I recently made a trip to "reef-a-palooza" where I won a 150 watt Metal Halide AquaticLife R7S HID light set up in a raffle I am currently building a custom "light fixture hanger" which I will post a picture of..not mine as it is still in construction & will be finished by the end of the week, but it is ideally how mine will look with a few modifications of my own. In addition to my MH I also have a 60 watt Ecoray 60D LED light fixture which I plan on using (I know it may look a little odd when set-up b/c half the tank will have MH--although the light pattern from the MH spans almost the whole tank even though it is placed nearer to one side of the tank--and half will have LED which actually gives it a pretty cool shimmering effect) I do plan on keeping corals which require higher lighting conditions on the MH side & less intense lighting conditions on the LED side. Now to my questions, how high should I mount the two lights? And do you think this will be too much light for the size of my tank? Also, should there be a certain timing in which I have the lights turn on and the length of time they are each on? As for the last question, I have a few options. I do have multiple timers and in addition to this I can set the LED light to separately turn on the blue lights and the white lights. So I can have the blue lights turn on earlier than the other lights and/or stay on longer than them. My current live stock includes: 10-15 red & blue legged hermit crabs 1 "jacketed" false percula clownfish 1 Half Black Angel fish 1 duncan coral 2 acan corals 1 emerald crab 1 colony of green/yellow zoas A few types of green & purple mushrooms (not exactly sure of the name..) but 5 "bumble-bee" snails 2-4 mexican turbo snails & margarita snails 4 snails I dont know the name but they burry in the sand & have a "snorkel" The sand bed is about 3 inches thick of aragonite reef sand Filtration: I plan on eventually getting a sump but I am having difficulty finding one that will fit inside of my tank. As for now I have 2 canister filters running. One is rated for 75 gallons and the other for 120 gallons. The canister filters are setup with spray bars so that the return pumps help with my flow. I have 2 koralias in the tank (not sure of the number I think #1's.. but they are smaller ones) I also purchased today a CPR Bakpak 2 dual pack with the Rio 600rv? pumps which I have not yet set up. Any advice on the lighting situation & coral placement and/or any other comments or suggestions on anything I am doing wrong..or right, would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.