Lighting for 135 or 120 gallon?

wells284 · 04/04/2008, 07:57 PM

I was curious if these lights would be good on these tanks to grow SPS at almost any level or atleast everything but the bottom of the tank. I will start off with softies and LPS for the first year until I get the hang of reefing and get all my parameters good. so should I start off with these lights or would it be a waste of electricity since I am only growing sofites? I have not decided on an exact tank, but it will be one of these 2. 135 gal 72x18x24,3-150mh or 250mh, or 120gallon 48X24X24 with 2 mh either 150 or 250. OR I could also do T5's but I am not sure which T5 would work.

any info would be greaty appreciated.

thanks

carb850 · 04/04/2008, 08:54 PM

I say 250W MH for either setup since both are 24" depth.

T5's or the 120G I would suggest an 8 bulb setup with individual parabolic reflectors, T5 spec ballast, and some fans for cooling.

For the 135G, same spec but 2 setups of 6 36" W bulbs.

The 120G is going to be much cheaper to light using either technology. The 120G is nice to aquascape because of the 24" front to back, but the 135G will give you some more fish options being a 6' tank that really shouldn't be keep in a 4' tank.

wells284 · 04/04/2008, 10:34 PM

Will I need a chiller if I go with the Mh's? I would rather not get a chller, but I would use fans on my tank. My house is 68-70 in the winter and 78 in the summer

edwar050 · 04/04/2008, 11:32 PM

78 may be pushing it a bit with a reef tank, can you drop it down to about 75-76 during the summer? With mh and the pumps its hard to keep a tank below 82 if you have your house at 78 without some nice fans and other equipment. Might want to consider investing in a controller like the aqua controller JR and multiple fans, would save you a ton of hassle.

wells284 · 04/05/2008, 11:49 AM

I would add fans to my canopy and I also heard that it is good to have one on the sump. Any other opinions on this?

happyclam · 04/05/2008, 02:58 PM

I have a 135 gallon tank. I like the 6' length and 2' height (the 6' lenght also allows you to keep schools of tangs), to me it makes it look more like a showpiece aquarium and it stands out more. But the bad thing is that it is only 18" wide, and if you have the internal overflows (the box ones that go all the way down to the bottom of the tank) it really takes up a lot of space and doesn't give you as many options on rock scape (unless you make DIY Rockscapes, which allow you to be more creative www.reef_eden.net/diy_9.htm). You could go either way with the lights, but if you have low-med light corals at the top of the aquarium w/ flourescents, you will have to move them to the middle/lower section of the tank if you add 250w M.H.s. Those are just my ideas though, I haven't even set-up my own 135 gal yet, so you might not want to take my advice.

P.S: if your house does get that hot in the summer, I would recommend having the M.H.s as pendents, as this gives you more airflow and it won't heat up the tank as much.

happyclam · 04/05/2008, 03:01 PM

Oh, it sounds like you have an enclosed canopy for the lights? If so, I would recommend having the back panel of the canopy removed, or cut a couple of big holes in the back (either way, definately have the fans.)

Jefe12234 · 04/05/2008, 03:14 PM

I would definitely go with the 120g. The 24" depth is soooo much nicer when you start placing rock in it. As for lighting, I'd go with 250w for halides. I don't know much about T5's. Heat becomes difficult to manage when your house temp approaches the tank temp you're trying to maintain. Fans are a necessity. Also, people say the Lumen Bright reflectors focus light much more tightly so they can be placed higher which helps a lot with heat. I've seen some people cut reflector size holes in the canopy and mount the reflectors on top of the canopy.

Grey Reefer · 04/05/2008, 05:24 PM

I have a bias towards T5 this fixture would kick some a**.
ATI Powermodule You could have anything you wanted under it. Another option is to retro the canopy. Here is a kit for it and it is cheaper than the ATI fixture Retro Kit. Some the nicest setups I've seen use a Lumenarc reflectors along with 400w MHs and VHO for actinic. The unfortunate thing is that some of us don't like paying $$$ on the electric bill. I suggest you poke around the forums and look at others setups and see what you dig and don't. Here is link to a MH bulb test page.

MH bulb tests Have fun

04/04/2008, 07:57 PM	#1
wells284 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 224	Lighting for 135 or 120 gallon? I was curious if these lights would be good on these tanks to grow SPS at almost any level or atleast everything but the bottom of the tank. I will start off with softies and LPS for the first year until I get the hang of reefing and get all my parameters good. so should I start off with these lights or would it be a waste of electricity since I am only growing sofites? I have not decided on an exact tank, but it will be one of these 2. 135 gal 72x18x24,3-150mh or 250mh, or 120gallon 48X24X24 with 2 mh either 150 or 250. OR I could also do T5's but I am not sure which T5 would work. any info would be greaty appreciated. thanks

04/04/2008, 11:32 PM	#4
edwar050 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Orange County Posts: 834	78 may be pushing it a bit with a reef tank, can you drop it down to about 75-76 during the summer? With mh and the pumps its hard to keep a tank below 82 if you have your house at 78 without some nice fans and other equipment. Might want to consider investing in a controller like the aqua controller JR and multiple fans, would save you a ton of hassle. __________________ Brad

04/05/2008, 03:14 PM	#8
Jefe12234 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: MN Posts: 885	I would definitely go with the 120g. The 24" depth is soooo much nicer when you start placing rock in it. As for lighting, I'd go with 250w for halides. I don't know much about T5's. Heat becomes difficult to manage when your house temp approaches the tank temp you're trying to maintain. Fans are a necessity. Also, people say the Lumen Bright reflectors focus light much more tightly so they can be placed higher which helps a lot with heat. I've seen some people cut reflector size holes in the canopy and mount the reflectors on top of the canopy. __________________ Serenity now!!!

04/04/2008, 08:54 PM	#2
carb850 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Charleston, WV Posts: 2,042	I say 250W MH for either setup since both are 24" depth. T5's or the 120G I would suggest an 8 bulb setup with individual parabolic reflectors, T5 spec ballast, and some fans for cooling. For the 135G, same spec but 2 setups of 6 36" W bulbs. The 120G is going to be much cheaper to light using either technology. The 120G is nice to aquascape because of the 24" front to back, but the 135G will give you some more fish options being a 6' tank that really shouldn't be keep in a 4' tank.

04/04/2008, 10:34 PM	#3
wells284 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 224	Will I need a chiller if I go with the Mh's? I would rather not get a chller, but I would use fans on my tank. My house is 68-70 in the winter and 78 in the summer

04/05/2008, 11:49 AM	#5
wells284 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 224	I would add fans to my canopy and I also heard that it is good to have one on the sump. Any other opinions on this?

04/05/2008, 02:58 PM	#6
happyclam Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 1,012	I have a 135 gallon tank. I like the 6' length and 2' height (the 6' lenght also allows you to keep schools of tangs), to me it makes it look more like a showpiece aquarium and it stands out more. But the bad thing is that it is only 18" wide, and if you have the internal overflows (the box ones that go all the way down to the bottom of the tank) it really takes up a lot of space and doesn't give you as many options on rock scape (unless you make DIY Rockscapes, which allow you to be more creative www.reef_eden.net/diy_9.htm). You could go either way with the lights, but if you have low-med light corals at the top of the aquarium w/ flourescents, you will have to move them to the middle/lower section of the tank if you add 250w M.H.s. Those are just my ideas though, I haven't even set-up my own 135 gal yet, so you might not want to take my advice. P.S: if your house does get that hot in the summer, I would recommend having the M.H.s as pendents, as this gives you more airflow and it won't heat up the tank as much.

04/05/2008, 03:01 PM	#7
happyclam Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 1,012	Oh, it sounds like you have an enclosed canopy for the lights? If so, I would recommend having the back panel of the canopy removed, or cut a couple of big holes in the back (either way, definately have the fans.)

04/05/2008, 05:24 PM	#9
Grey Reefer Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Sarasota, FL Posts: 197	I have a bias towards T5 this fixture would kick some a**. ATI Powermodule You could have anything you wanted under it. Another option is to retro the canopy. Here is a kit for it and it is cheaper than the ATI fixture Retro Kit. Some the nicest setups I've seen use a Lumenarc reflectors along with 400w MHs and VHO for actinic. The unfortunate thing is that some of us don't like paying $$$ on the electric bill. I suggest you poke around the forums and look at others setups and see what you dig and don't. Here is link to a MH bulb test page. MH bulb tests Have fun