Calling all Lighting Experts...

[gofor100]

Alright,

I'm converting my current standard (48"L X 12"W X 23"H?) 60 gallon from an LPS/Softie tank to a full blown SPS/clam tank.

Obviously, with this type of set-up, one of the most important aspects is the lighting. And just to preface this, I have never dealt with MH lighting (but have read plenty of materials on it, so I know enough to be dangerous).This is where my question comes into play...

I've decided that I am probably going with 2X250W DE MH lamps, but I'm not sure which type/brand/reflector. Since a lot of your feedback will be based on preference, and just so you know what I'm looking for, I prefer the crisp white look with a slight hint of blue (which I'm thinking will put me in the 10,000K with actinic supplement or 13,000K without actinic supplement). Further, I'm going to be installing the lights in my canopy and am trying to be somewhat cost efficient, so a complete MH system is not on my list of possibilities. Obviously, I would prefer to make it more simple and not have to use supplemental actinic lighting (unless there is a good reason to), and I also know that a lot of how a certain bulb shows in a tank depends on what ballast is firing it and what reflector is used.

My initial thought was to use 2 Sunlight Supply 250W Lumen Max Elite HQI and using (fill in the blank) 13,000K bulbs with (fill in the blank) ballast.

So, finally, my question is what 250W DE bulb/ballast combo do you guys suggest given my aesthetic preferences??? And if you have any pics, feel free to post so I get an idea of what it looks like over a tank.

Thanks in advance for your help...

[nikon187]

If I was going 250 MH, it would be SE radium 250 as I have yet to see a colour quite like it and doesn't need actinic supplements. It is a 20k bulb but doesn't look like it and it has a good PAR rating. ( More inline of a 14k bulb)

[Henry Bowman]

Chose your ballast wisely. Go to Sanjay's page that is linked in the stickey @ lighting at the top of this forum. Electronic ballasts will fire most any bulb out there. The older power hungry magnetic ballasts drive the best color and par.

I believe that good reflectors are as important as the particular light you chose. Lumenbrights or Lumenarc reflectors are some of the best. In the end, you can chose a "great" bulb and ballast combo but if the reflector doesn't get all that energy as efficiently as possible into the tank, you're wasting $$$$.

My .02 cents FWIW

[gofor100]

Thanks to you both... any thoughts on T5 vs. MH knowing my setup?

[nikon187]

You can get the job done with either t5 or MH, hence my reply. Personaly I would go T5 on that tank ( 6 bulb sun power or 8 bulb power module if money allowed) Icecap and aquatinics are good as well. T5 allow you to change the colour by switching just one bulb making it easier to get the colour you want

[seapug]

If you are looking for an all in one luminaire, the sunlight supply Maristar line probably has the best reflectors you can find in an all-in-one. I use their 2 X 250W MH + 2X 54W HO T5 fixture on my 90, with a dual 250W Galaxy ballast, but I'm sorta with nikon187.

My thought is if this tank is only 12" wide (front to back) you might have a lot of light spillage with Lumenbright or Lumenmax reflectors and most 250W fixtures. If it's anything like a standard 55, you're going to be working with limited surface area over the tank.

Some sort of combination of T5 and a 150W MH pendant over one end might be interesting, or if you want to keep it simple and maximize your space, go all HO T5.

just my thoughts....

[camaroracer214]

just curious if you have considered t5ho or not

[BigMc]

I did a lot of research when I was upgrading my lighting a while back. It sounds like you are trying to achieve what I was. I ended up going with the Lumenmax Elite reflectors (Sanyay did studies on them) with 20k Radium bulbs. This gave me a nice bright light with a slightly blue tint. I still supplement with VHO actinics but could get away without them. By the way, if you go with the Lumenmax reflectors you can keep your halide bulbs higher off the water and decrease heat. I'm running 3 400s with no need for a chiller. Good luck!

[gofor100]

Thanks everyone!!!

You've given me a lot to think about...

Nikon- I started out thinking that SE MH was the way I was going to go, but have heard/read that DE MH have better par output. And since this tank/set-up will eventually be a grow out tank for both clams and SPS corals, I was thinking of sticking with DE MH (instead of T5's). But to be honest, I haven't done too much research on T5s, so thanks for the heads up. I'll definitely look at those to see how they may compare.

Bowman- Yeah, I've skimmed Sanjay's articles and threads, but I'll definitely have to review them. Even though I do want to get the most PAR I can in the tank, I think I'm going to still go with an electronic ballast (easier to talk the wife into something I'll refer to as "Energy Saver" Metal Halide set up). Any suggestions on the ballast if I'm going with an electronic ballast that will power 2X250W 20,000K Radium bulbs?

Seapug- interesting idea... but now that I think about it, I'm not sure if the width (front to back) is only 12". I'll have to re-measure to make sure, but I think it might be 14" and a little shorter in height. I'm planning to break the tank down this weekend to take out the rock, clean the tank, re-stain the stand and canopy, and put new hardware on everything. So I'll double-check then, and see if my measurements are off.

BigMc- I initially thought I was going to go with the LumenMax Elites but didn't think of using the 20,000K Radiums (which I've heard good things about but never actually seen them at work). I might think of doing that without actinics if you think that will provide me with the type of color I'm looking for (crisp white with a hint of blue). Do you have pics of your tank with this set-up?