I am stuck on what lights...

Dave12678 · 12/08/2008, 09:37 PM

I just got a Oceanic RR 70g its demensions are L 36.5 x W 18.5 x H 25. I want to keep high end sps and clams on the sand bed. Right now I have a 150 MH HQI DE with 55w antinic bulbs. I have had this fixture going on 3 years now http://www.catalinaaquarium.com/prod...2ce99b2776017c I have some great growth with sps I have and my maxima clam has grown a since I have had him 3 years now.

I do not know much about lighting but would like to get some feed back. Would this light fill my needs for the 70g http://www.catalinaaquarium.com/prod...2ce99b2776017c

I don't know much about lighting but I am on a budget

Let me know what you guys think.

redfishsc · 12/08/2008, 10:13 PM

Hard to beat that price, but consider that they are the older style mogul base, and that the ballasts are most likely an off-brand magnetic ballast.

You'll get a better bang for the buck on an HQI double-ended bulb setup. You can get a single one, (and Icecap at that!) for $160 from www.diyreef.com (bulb not included

).

As a side note, don't rope yourself onto MH. I would not hesitate to fit that tank with a good TEK light retrokit. You should be able to fit 6 36" tubes over that tank (6 X 39W) with parabolic reflectors. The big plus on this the ability to mix and match bulb colors.

The parabolic TEK reflectors will go a very long way to using every electron of energy, so don't let the "low wattage" fool you. There is a local LFS that has a nice squamosa clam on the bottom of a 24+" deep tank, and they have what they call "1.4 watts per gallon" of T5. While I wouldn't recommend something quite that low, they show it can work.

Dave12678 · 12/08/2008, 10:40 PM

yeah I could get https://diyreef.authsecure.com/shop/...roducts_id=421
but no bulbs which is still a nice deal. I see what your saying about the tek lighting I have seen post of people switching but I love my MH

redfishsc · 12/08/2008, 10:48 PM

Can't blame you there. I love the shimmer. I hate the cost. I have a few friends with killer MH setups so I just go look at theirs for a while and let THEM pay the electric bills!

I'm a po' grad student (a ministry grad student at that-- -so I'm broke and will be for several more years than the typical grad student

) so I have to stick with the more cost-effective routs.

I suspect that, given a few more years, we will have a LOT of LED options out there that will make MH seem like an old Ford Pinto. There is already an LED mogul-base lamp that replaces a 175W MH bulb (I can't recall who/where, you'd need to google it)--- But the color is all "white" and likely 6500K or maybe 9600K. It was like $350 for the whole setup but the bulb supposedly lasted for 5+ years.

Some more time and we'll have, I HOPE, some 14,000K and 20,000K LED options. They give all the shimmer and PAR at about a third to quarter of the electric costs.

I may light my next nano with LEDS.....

Dave12678 · 12/08/2008, 11:00 PM

You know I didn't even think about the cost of a MH setup on electric.

redfishsc · 12/08/2008, 11:11 PM

Yes, and with that setup you are talking about, I'd not like to pay your electric bills, ESPECIALLY in the summer--- you're AC is going to be trying to remove all that excess MH heat, and also trying to dehumidify your house from all the moisture you will lose in your tank from the MH heat.... add to that the fact that electricity rates go up in the summer.......

indeed!

You honestly could set up an over-driven T5 setup and run your lights at 54 watts (UVL brand lights are designed to be overdriven safely, so it's perfectly safe). If you were to order a 6X54W retro kit (the TEKs look like a good bang for the buck)-- you'd have to trim the reflectors down to fit the 36" bulbs---- but you could easily get 300 watts of T5HO over that tank, and you certainly could grow SPS with that.

Compare that to the 500 watts you were thinking of running (plus any supplemental actinics you add)..... that adds up a lot over the course of a year.

Plus T5's give you an incredible bulb diversity.

12/08/2008, 09:37 PM	#1
Dave12678 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Cincinnati Posts: 616	I am stuck on what lights... I just got a Oceanic RR 70g its demensions are L 36.5 x W 18.5 x H 25. I want to keep high end sps and clams on the sand bed. Right now I have a 150 MH HQI DE with 55w antinic bulbs. I have had this fixture going on 3 years now http://www.catalinaaquarium.com/prod...2ce99b2776017c I have some great growth with sps I have and my maxima clam has grown a since I have had him 3 years now. I do not know much about lighting but would like to get some feed back. Would this light fill my needs for the 70g http://www.catalinaaquarium.com/prod...2ce99b2776017c I don't know much about lighting but I am on a budget Let me know what you guys think.

12/08/2008, 10:13 PM	#2
redfishsc Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Wake Forest, NC Posts: 3,696	Hard to beat that price, but consider that they are the older style mogul base, and that the ballasts are most likely an off-brand magnetic ballast. You'll get a better bang for the buck on an HQI double-ended bulb setup. You can get a single one, (and Icecap at that!) for $160 from www.diyreef.com (bulb not included ). As a side note, don't rope yourself onto MH. I would not hesitate to fit that tank with a good TEK light retrokit. You should be able to fit 6 36" tubes over that tank (6 X 39W) with parabolic reflectors. The big plus on this the ability to mix and match bulb colors. The parabolic TEK reflectors will go a very long way to using every electron of energy, so don't let the "low wattage" fool you. There is a local LFS that has a nice squamosa clam on the bottom of a 24+" deep tank, and they have what they call "1.4 watts per gallon" of T5. While I wouldn't recommend something quite that low, they show it can work. __________________ "The measure of a life is not its duration but its donation." Corrie Ten Boom “The tyrant dies and his rule is over, the martyr dies and his rule begins” -- Søren Kierkegaard Current Tank Info: ghetto grad school reef.....11g rimless tank, 36X9X9, lit by Cree and Rebels scobbled together. Stocked mostly with free stuff I got from panhandling my fellow reefers.

12/08/2008, 10:48 PM	#4
redfishsc Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Wake Forest, NC Posts: 3,696	Can't blame you there. I love the shimmer. I hate the cost. I have a few friends with killer MH setups so I just go look at theirs for a while and let THEM pay the electric bills! I'm a po' grad student (a ministry grad student at that-- -so I'm broke and will be for several more years than the typical grad student ) so I have to stick with the more cost-effective routs. I suspect that, given a few more years, we will have a LOT of LED options out there that will make MH seem like an old Ford Pinto. There is already an LED mogul-base lamp that replaces a 175W MH bulb (I can't recall who/where, you'd need to google it)--- But the color is all "white" and likely 6500K or maybe 9600K. It was like $350 for the whole setup but the bulb supposedly lasted for 5+ years. Some more time and we'll have, I HOPE, some 14,000K and 20,000K LED options. They give all the shimmer and PAR at about a third to quarter of the electric costs. I may light my next nano with LEDS..... __________________ "The measure of a life is not its duration but its donation." Corrie Ten Boom “The tyrant dies and his rule is over, the martyr dies and his rule begins” -- Søren Kierkegaard Current Tank Info: ghetto grad school reef.....11g rimless tank, 36X9X9, lit by Cree and Rebels scobbled together. Stocked mostly with free stuff I got from panhandling my fellow reefers.

12/08/2008, 11:11 PM	#6
redfishsc Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Wake Forest, NC Posts: 3,696	Yes, and with that setup you are talking about, I'd not like to pay your electric bills, ESPECIALLY in the summer--- you're AC is going to be trying to remove all that excess MH heat, and also trying to dehumidify your house from all the moisture you will lose in your tank from the MH heat.... add to that the fact that electricity rates go up in the summer....... indeed! You honestly could set up an over-driven T5 setup and run your lights at 54 watts (UVL brand lights are designed to be overdriven safely, so it's perfectly safe). If you were to order a 6X54W retro kit (the TEKs look like a good bang for the buck)-- you'd have to trim the reflectors down to fit the 36" bulbs---- but you could easily get 300 watts of T5HO over that tank, and you certainly could grow SPS with that. Compare that to the 500 watts you were thinking of running (plus any supplemental actinics you add)..... that adds up a lot over the course of a year. Plus T5's give you an incredible bulb diversity. __________________ "The measure of a life is not its duration but its donation." Corrie Ten Boom “The tyrant dies and his rule is over, the martyr dies and his rule begins” -- Søren Kierkegaard Current Tank Info: ghetto grad school reef.....11g rimless tank, 36X9X9, lit by Cree and Rebels scobbled together. Stocked mostly with free stuff I got from panhandling my fellow reefers.

12/08/2008, 10:40 PM	#3
Dave12678 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Cincinnati Posts: 616	yeah I could get https://diyreef.authsecure.com/shop/...roducts_id=421 but no bulbs which is still a nice deal. I see what your saying about the tek lighting I have seen post of people switching but I love my MH

12/08/2008, 11:00 PM	#5
Dave12678 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Cincinnati Posts: 616	You know I didn't even think about the cost of a MH setup on electric.