Lighting for a 120 Reef

Fatman Photos · 08/05/2007, 02:52 PM

I am going to set up my 120 gal (4x2x2) as a reef tank. What would you suggest as lighting so I could have any corals and inverts in the tank.

TIA

Yinger · 08/05/2007, 03:22 PM

what spectrum of lighting do you prefer? Also are you going to use any supplementation? If you prefer a nice crisp white with a nice accent of blue, i'd go with the reeflux 10k 250 SE on an eballast with 2x110 VHO superactinics. it'll give you a very nice crisp color. If you prefer a higher kelvin bulb, give radiums a shot, but you'll loose quite a bit of par or intensity with the higher kelvin bulbs.

dmilne85 · 08/05/2007, 04:15 PM

It really depends on what your looking for. if you want to have ANY coral or invert, expect to pay more for the units and spend more on electricity(t5, or metal halides). i would recomend getting the best unit you can afford instead of cutting corners, because later down the road you will always want something better.

if you want high light demanding corals and inverts i would recommend a metal halide fixture, which can range in wattage anywere from 70 watt unit, all the way up to 1000 watt unit. for a 120 i would recommend a 250 watt metal halide and you will probably need (2) 250 watt bulbs to effectivly light the whole tank.

or you could run florecent bulbs which range from normal power compacts(pc's), normal output(no), high output(ho), or very high output(vho), or t5's

t5 setups are also very popular and can accomidate all corals too, but it is recommended to have alot of bulbs and have each one in an individual reflector to get the most light out of them.
if you would want to run florecents i would recommend t5's because they seem to penitrate the water the best and have the highest intensity.

there is so many options it can get confusing so i would research into what exact corals and inverts you would like and then go from there. check out hellolights.com to see all the options there are, they seem to have just about everything.

BryanJ · 08/06/2007, 08:23 AM

I have 120 with 2 250w 14k hamiltons over my tank currently no actinics. I will be trying 2 20k radiums next. 20k coralvue bulbs were my favorite color so far but the bulb is unstable in spectrum shift.

Fatman Photos · 08/06/2007, 04:00 PM

Thanks for all the information. I will do some more research and get a general idea as to what all I want to keep in the tank. I have access to two 400w mh assy's so I may go that route wit some actinics.

08/05/2007, 02:52 PM	#1
Fatman Photos Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Georgia Posts: 5	Lighting for a 120 Reef I am going to set up my 120 gal (4x2x2) as a reef tank. What would you suggest as lighting so I could have any corals and inverts in the tank. TIA

08/06/2007, 08:23 AM	#4
BryanJ Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Green Bay, WI. Posts: 2,938	I have 120 with 2 250w 14k hamiltons over my tank currently no actinics. I will be trying 2 20k radiums next. 20k coralvue bulbs were my favorite color so far but the bulb is unstable in spectrum shift. __________________ Experience is the best source of information! Current Tank Info: 120 gallon mixed reef, 75 gallon sump, Sequence Wahoo, Tunze stream, Euroreef CS 8-1 and 2x250 MH

08/05/2007, 03:22 PM	#2
Yinger Premium Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Yorba Linda Posts: 3,657	what spectrum of lighting do you prefer? Also are you going to use any supplementation? If you prefer a nice crisp white with a nice accent of blue, i'd go with the reeflux 10k 250 SE on an eballast with 2x110 VHO superactinics. it'll give you a very nice crisp color. If you prefer a higher kelvin bulb, give radiums a shot, but you'll loose quite a bit of par or intensity with the higher kelvin bulbs.

08/05/2007, 04:15 PM	#3
dmilne85 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Arizona, now in Pittsburgh :0( Posts: 602	It really depends on what your looking for. if you want to have ANY coral or invert, expect to pay more for the units and spend more on electricity(t5, or metal halides). i would recomend getting the best unit you can afford instead of cutting corners, because later down the road you will always want something better. if you want high light demanding corals and inverts i would recommend a metal halide fixture, which can range in wattage anywere from 70 watt unit, all the way up to 1000 watt unit. for a 120 i would recommend a 250 watt metal halide and you will probably need (2) 250 watt bulbs to effectivly light the whole tank. or you could run florecent bulbs which range from normal power compacts(pc's), normal output(no), high output(ho), or very high output(vho), or t5's t5 setups are also very popular and can accomidate all corals too, but it is recommended to have alot of bulbs and have each one in an individual reflector to get the most light out of them. if you would want to run florecents i would recommend t5's because they seem to penitrate the water the best and have the highest intensity. there is so many options it can get confusing so i would research into what exact corals and inverts you would like and then go from there. check out hellolights.com to see all the options there are, they seem to have just about everything.

08/06/2007, 04:00 PM	#5
Fatman Photos Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Georgia Posts: 5	Thanks for all the information. I will do some more research and get a general idea as to what all I want to keep in the tank. I have access to two 400w mh assy's so I may go that route wit some actinics.