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01/18/2021, 12:28 AM | #1 |
My reef tanks my wallet
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Portland
Posts: 571
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What Halides for 72"l x 36"w x 27"d?
I'm looking to ditch my LEDs and go with halides on my 300dd. Last time I ran halides was 96-2002.
There aren't many options for reflectors these days. What would you all recommend for reflectors and watts if I want about 150 par on the floor? My tank is a peninsula. Lots of conflicting posts about whether 250w is enough for these dimensions. I will be flanking the fixtures with 4 mitras LX7. I'm keeping my eye out for used and just picked up a lumenbright with galaxy selectable ballast. Haven't put it up. I'm looking at cayman sun, cabo sun and then used Luminarc, lumenmax elite or lumenbright. The cozumel sun won't be in stock until March. Thanks,!
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300g custom acrylic from James 72x36x27, 4 Mitras Lx7 &6 a360, 2 Stream 3s, C2C beananimal. 100g sump, Jebao DCP- 8000 (Vectra M1 died) -> 114w aquauv -> SRO 5000ext , varios8 return Current Tank Info: Me v Dinos - I'm winning for now... |
01/18/2021, 07:28 AM | #2 |
New Old School
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Luzerne County, PA
Posts: 3,293
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2x 400 watt Cayman Sun would likely give you good coverage. I had one over a 150 Deep Dimension, which is just half the length of your tank and it gave me great coverage. I'd add in a strip LED or two for viewing light as well.
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01/18/2021, 08:22 AM | #3 | |
My reef tanks my wallet
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Portland
Posts: 571
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Quote:
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300g custom acrylic from James 72x36x27, 4 Mitras Lx7 &6 a360, 2 Stream 3s, C2C beananimal. 100g sump, Jebao DCP- 8000 (Vectra M1 died) -> 114w aquauv -> SRO 5000ext , varios8 return Current Tank Info: Me v Dinos - I'm winning for now... Last edited by Zalick; 01/18/2021 at 09:38 AM. |
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01/18/2021, 10:22 AM | #4 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Chagos Arch.
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FWIW....On a 125 gallon tank I was running 2 x 400 watt Hamilton fixtures with Coralvue 14K bulbs with 2 x 160 watt VHO Actinics. I have no idea what the PAR was on that set up but it was a very productive mixed SPS/LPS tank until 2006 when I had to do a major move and break that tank down.
With your tank being twice as wide and 3 inches deeper...I would probably default to 3 x 400 watt halides with some LED light strips for additional lighting. |
01/18/2021, 11:00 AM | #5 | |
My reef tanks my wallet
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Portland
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Quote:
Were you running SE or DE? Back when I ran Halides I only used SE. Didn't really think about it. Just plug in and grew coral & clams like crazy.
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300g custom acrylic from James 72x36x27, 4 Mitras Lx7 &6 a360, 2 Stream 3s, C2C beananimal. 100g sump, Jebao DCP- 8000 (Vectra M1 died) -> 114w aquauv -> SRO 5000ext , varios8 return Current Tank Info: Me v Dinos - I'm winning for now... |
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01/18/2021, 07:44 PM | #6 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Chagos Arch.
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I was using SE's. Thats what I liked about the halides...just plug them in once you have the bulb that gives you the look you want. Anything between 10k-20k seem to be the cats meow!
Whats wrong with the 6 Kessile 360's if you dont mind me asking as that would surely cover that size tank pretty well... |
01/18/2021, 07:59 PM | #7 | |
My reef tanks my wallet
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Portland
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Quote:
Surprisingly the 6 a360s aren't enough really. My experience is that I don't get the same par/intensity unless I have the led wattage similar to Halides. So the a360 is 90w and I needed to double them up in each quartile of the tank.. so I'd really need 8 to get what I want. That's why I got the 4 mitras LX7. And now my kessils are about 6 years old and apparently nearing end of life. Rather than drop more money on LEDs, I'm going back to tried and true Halides. There isn't any savings in power given that I'm running 540w of kessil and About 500w of mitras. . And heat isn't an issue for me. I also found that my corals seemed happier under T5 or Halides than under the LEDs. My canary in the coal mine was a little GSP rock I put in to test the lights two years ago. It's struggled to grow. Once I pointed two kessil at it on 100%, it start growing. Under my Halides in the past they grew so fast I swore I'd never put that weed in my tank again. I know lots of people love LEDs due to the controllability with the colors, and have success, but I've yet to see a long term LED tank that grew better than halide/T5. I don't like fiddling with lights, so it's back to Halides for me.
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300g custom acrylic from James 72x36x27, 4 Mitras Lx7 &6 a360, 2 Stream 3s, C2C beananimal. 100g sump, Jebao DCP- 8000 (Vectra M1 died) -> 114w aquauv -> SRO 5000ext , varios8 return Current Tank Info: Me v Dinos - I'm winning for now... |
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01/19/2021, 09:42 AM | #8 |
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Join Date: Sep 2003
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Okay, cool that sounds more than reasonable and I understand now. I was just kind of curious. I am planning a 90 due to space constrants and was seriously thinking about a couple of 360WE's and 4 x 54 watt T5HO's. Hence my curiosity...
Yeah I really liked the 14K look I got with the Coralvue 14k bulbs. I never really cared for the deep washed in blue look of 20k's and the PAR kinda sucked with them. The 10k's had great PAR but there wasnt enough blue to make the corals colors pop enough to satisfy my eye. Do look at your bulbs closely though. For example the 15k XM bulb has almost as weak a PAR rating as their 20k did! If you like the 10k look, the 10k XM was one of the best on the market and had some PAR numbers that were way superior to other 10k's, it was a very crisp white with a slight hint of blue to them. I just really preferred the 12-14k look.... Last edited by Imaexpat2; 01/19/2021 at 09:52 AM. |
01/19/2021, 09:50 AM | #9 | |
My reef tanks my wallet
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Portland
Posts: 571
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Quote:
__________________
300g custom acrylic from James 72x36x27, 4 Mitras Lx7 &6 a360, 2 Stream 3s, C2C beananimal. 100g sump, Jebao DCP- 8000 (Vectra M1 died) -> 114w aquauv -> SRO 5000ext , varios8 return Current Tank Info: Me v Dinos - I'm winning for now... |
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