Lighting a 30"x30"x24" cube

[Reefobsession]

Which one would you choose.
I am leaning more towards a 400 Watt with a 20 K bulb, with a galaxy ballast
Would a Lumenarc III be a good choice for a reflector.
I want to hang just one light fixture and i really don't want to spend more than $400. SPS dominant tank from bottom up.
Help me choose

[Brandon1652]

To cover a 30" x 30" area I would go with a Lumenbright reflector. Great coverage for that area. I also use the Coralvue dimmable ballasts and like them, but I don't feel I have enough experience with different ballasts to make a suggestion. I do like the Lumenbright reflector over the Lumenarc for that area.

[Brandon1652]

PS... Great tank size. A friend and I are about to build a tank those exact dimensions with a coast to coast external overflow. Do you have any other ideas with how your setup will turn out? I have ideas for mine, but would like some other input since we both will have basically the same tank.

[gkimble]

I would go for the 400W

[Brandon1652]

SSB, one small column with a few "branches" (drilled out and placed on PVC), also 2 MP40w's, Lumenbright reflector with 250 DE on Coralvue dimmable ballasts. I don't know what fish yet. I like lightly stocked tanks so probably not much more than a few small (colorful) fish. I plan on having a small refugium stacked above the sump. Alpha Vertex 170 skimmer. I am also going to build the stand, much better than the one I built for my 120. Good Luck with your build!

[Reefobsession]

Originally Posted by Brandon1652

PS... Great tank size. A friend and I are about to build a tank those exact dimensions with a coast to coast external overflow. Do you have any other ideas with how your setup will turn out? I have ideas for mine, but would like some other input since we both will have basically the same tank.

Thanks, I am excited to do this build as well.
I am going to do a bonsai look with rods and epoxy and zip ties.
2 MP40's
RKE with Net, SL1, SL2,
Vertex alpha 170 skimmer
SPS dominant
Vodka and MB7 dosing
2 part
will have 4 dosing pumps.

Fish
2 bangai
3 pajama cardinals
pair of blue star leopard wrasse's
pair of flame or velvet wrasses's
Blue spoted jawfish
Pair of snocasso clowns.
3 to 4" sandbed for the jawfish
Marco or eco rocks for the main display. I will put some live rock in my sump to seed the dry rock.
What about you?

[Brandon1652]

You must have been editing as I posted, weird how my post is above yours.

[bergzy]

i have a 30x30x24 cube clam tank.

lit by a lumenmax elite 250w de driven by an icecap elecrtonic ballast.

love it!

[bergzy]

[gkimble]

I gues a 250 would be enough

[gkimble]

Double post.

[Reefobsession]

Originally Posted by bergzy

i have a 30x30x24 cube clam tank.

lit by a lumenmax elite 250w de driven by an icecap elecrtonic ballast.

love it!

Nice tank!!! I see that you are running a DE what bulb is it?
So do you think that a 250W 20K radium overun on an HQI balast would be good? Or should I go for the DE?
Where did you get that sweet light hanger?

[bergzy]

i have never used a radium bulb so i am not too familiar with their output. it's my opinion that a 250w 20k bulb might not have enough output for sps.

i am a fan of de for better light output but i am not a fan of a smaller selection of bulbs.

the bulb lighting the 90g is a 14k phoenix 250w de. i like the blue it gives off and the amount of par is sufficient for clams as well. the 14k phoenix is very similar to a 20k but just a little less blue.

circulation is only from the return of an eheim 1262 and a modded tunze 6025. lots of flow!

[mordibv]

Where did you get that sweet light hanger?



Looks like a plant hanger to me .


30 x 30 x 18 cube .

Here is mine . 90 % SPS

post 550

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...531096&page=22

[bergzy]

here is a pic of my equipment located directly behind the wall of my waiting area.



tank is skimmerless and intentionally so (for now).

- the sump is a 90g polypropylene for bulletproof leak free worries.
- chiller is a teco. quiet, small and energy efficient.
- ca reactor is a geo 612 with a reef fanatic pH controller, regulator is a jbj. i recommend everything but the jbj as i think it has a leak as my 5lb co2 is being burned through once a month.
- return pump is a dedicated eheim 1262
- chiller powered by another eheim 1262 that is split to run the 5g bucket refugium (not shown due to being set up later)
- 4 cups of carbon changed once a month
- 15g of rodi tropic marin water change per month
- clean glass every monday morning
- feed reef nutrition live 5-6 times per week
- 5 fish in there: two orange skunks, i helfrichi, a 2" purple tang and a melanarrus wrasse
- corals are 20 heads of florida orange blue rics, 12" rose nem, 1" sparkle rose nem, green mushies (hate them), orange zoo's, umi blue xenia, fox coral, neon green sacrophyton
- inverts are two 4" croceas, 8" gold max, two 3" ultra blue maxies, 5" deresa, 12" squammie, 3" maxea, 7" poly maxie and an electric blue hermit crab named Ted.

rock is 2 very large separate pieces of thick tongan branch with 3 medium pieces of marshall on top for texture contrast. sand bed of 2" of medium grain.

that's about it i think.

[bergzy]

Originally Posted by mordibv

Looks like a plant hanger to me .

yep!

sometimes, well...most of the times, simplicity is the hardest thing to achieve!

[jmking33]

I went t-5's on my cube 26x26x16....to keep down on the heat/power costs.

[Reefobsession]

Thanks for your help guys. I started a new build thread. Here is the link
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...5#post16447095

[buffalo123]

Bergzy love the no equipment look to the display tank

[bergzy]

Originally Posted by buffalo123

Bergzy love the no equipment look to the display tank

Thank you!