Lights! Argh!

9 posts

Discuss all topics related to saltwater / reef tanks.


megski
 
Posts: 39
Joined: Fri May 08, 2009 6:15 pm

Lights! Argh!

by megski

Much of my late night research has been spent on lights. I really want to add some color to my tank with corals, maybe even starting a nano reef. A few weeks back Boss suggested a really awesome Sunpaq light to me, but from what I've been told my by dealer, I need to run T-5 lights for the corals I want to keep. I went down to the dealer and this is what she suggested:

http://www.hamiltontechnology.com/shop/ ... t=Specials

(Its a Cayman Sun 250 HQI system with 6 LED lights, Pheonix 250 Watt 14 K HQI bulb & Hamilton 250 W HQI ballast.)

Is a square light okay? I think this one is too big, I'm not sure if my tank is even 12" in width.

I'm not even sure how many watts all of that equals to, and even then, exactly how many watts per gallon do I need to suffice for my moderate light needing corals, and even THEN, how many watts equals to moderate lighting?!? AHHHHH!!! I hope some one can understand my frustration, lol.

I need everything broken down to me barney style, lol. All of this 1000K, HQI, Watts, Ballasts, LED, makes my head want to explode!

The only thing I have been able to understand about all this is that LED seems to be the way to go, as far as advancements in techonology go.

And going through google searches, I came across this light:
http://www.marineandreef.com/ProductDet ... T5&click=2

Is it worth the money, or are there modest alternatives that do just as good of a job? I have no idea what I should be looking for, so any help will be greatly appreciated!

And if its any help I have a 20 gallon tank that I recently started, and I like SPS corals, and I've got quite a bit of time before it matures enough for corals and time to learn. I just want to know what to plan for. :)


Snowboss4492
 
Posts: 2098
Joined: Sun Jan 27, 2008 11:24 pm

by Snowboss4492

SPS corals require pristine water conditions as well as high quality lighting. just make sure you have all your ducks in a row................you are jumping off into the high end of salt systems and thats absolutley fine as long as you know what your getting into. big skimmers, big filters, refugiums for pods and foods for hungry corals, etc etc

T-5 lighting is great quality lighting for the money, it's much less expensive as metal halide or HQI and bulb replacement is pennies compared to 100 dollar plus MH and HQI bulbs..........MH/HQI lights eat a lot of power but are by far the best quality of light
while im not a coral keeper at the moment i do know that a 250 watt mh fixture is serious over kill on a 20 gallon tank thats 12.5 watts per gallon i would think 5-8 watts per gallon is plenty in a small tank
another issue you will have with MH lighting over T-5 is heat.............a 250 watt fixture is basically putting 25 porch light bulbs on top of your tank at the same time........lol .....lil warm ?
your tank - -if its a standard 20 is exactly 12 inches wide so a standard fixture will fit..........i would suggest a combo light with actinics, leds, T-5's and or a small mh or hqi if your sold on em

http://www.petsolutions.com/SunPod-HQI- ... 6+C33.aspx

or if t-5's fit the budget {Boss's pick,lol} - this fixture is cool because if you need more light as your tank grows just order another link and expand rather than trash an old light and by a new bigger one

http://www.petsolutions.com/AquaticLife ... 8+C33.aspx

also keep power consumption in mind as well.................a 20 gallon isnt going to be to bad but for example, my new 120 is going to cost me about 50-80 bucks a month just in electricity ..................thats a nice hot tub ,...............shhhhhh dont tel my wife, lol - - just something to keep in the back of your head as you look at power hungry lighting equipment...................

this Hobby is the greatest !!!!!!!!!!!

Boss


gdeeber
 
Posts: 113
Joined: Thu May 22, 2008 12:27 pm

by gdeeber

megski:

I went through the same angst as you have been going through. I have a 55 gal tank and my first set of lights was way under powered and I wanted to keep SPS corals as well as my softies. The cost was way out there for MH lights around $750 for the ones I was looking at. So after a lot of research I bought this hood http://www.petmountain.com/product/aqua ... -t5ho.html
I have been very happy with it. I have a Stag horn, Short tentacle plate coral (Fungia), Candy cane, Button polyps, and some Montapora and they are all doing well with the T5 hood. These lights still put out some heat, just not as much as MH.

In the long run I think you will be happier with the T5's because of lower overall cost (electricity bill, bulb replacement, heat added to your tank). Like I said in the beginning, I went through the same decision process you are going through now and I’ve seen first hand how well all the corals do under T5 lighting.


gdeeber
 
Posts: 113
Joined: Thu May 22, 2008 12:27 pm

by gdeeber

P.S. The lights you mentioned above are on the high end for T5 lights. You can buy a good T5 hood and when it comes time to replace the bulbs, replace them with German bulbs Giesemann or some other high end bulbs.


megski
 
Posts: 39
Joined: Fri May 08, 2009 6:15 pm

by megski

Yeah, I'm trying to be well prepared for when I start my corals. I want to have everything done and start putting them in there around Christmas. I figure thats enought time for me to accumulate all the live rock I need and get all of my tank equipment. They just passed the GI bills onto spouses so I'll be making a good chunk of change and some of that money will be invested into our new found hobby, lol.

Thanks guys, that sheds a lot of light on the subject, har har ;). I think I will probably go with T-5, however, while I've been doing research I came across the PFO solaris, which is too many watts for my system, but I think it must be the mecca of all lights. Its a shame though that PFO is going out of business, I love all those crazy timing features.


Snowboss4492
 
Posts: 2098
Joined: Sun Jan 27, 2008 11:24 pm

by Snowboss4492

might i suggest a 20 long tank, i started with a standard 20 and didnt even put water in it because my wife took it back and bought the long one...............its 30 inches long verses 24 and only 12 inches tall...............lots more room for corals and swimming length and lots shorter for light penetration for the corals = less intensity on the lights = less electricity etc etc ..............and now is the time to change it out if you gonna - - of course a 150 long would be hot as hell but ........lol

Boss


puffedupseagull
 
Posts: 623
Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2008 8:38 am

by puffedupseagull

Alphabetical arranged list of common abbreviations that may be encountered within the reef keeping hobby. If there is an abbreviation that has been left out, then please let the me know.

A
Amp
AC
Activated carbon, chemical filtration media / alternating current
AC
Alternating current
AF
Aquarium Frontiers, electronic magazine
AFAIK
As far as I know
AFM
Aquarium Fish Monthly, magazine
AISI
As I see it
ALK
Alkalinity, measure of buffering capacity of water
AOL
America Online, internet service provider
ASAP
As soon as possible
ASW
Artificial sea water
ATS
Algae turf scrubber, reef setup technique
B4
Before
BOD
Biological oxygen demand
BR
Base rock
BTA
Bubble tip anemone
BTW
By the way
Ca
Calcium
CaCl2
Calcium chloride
CaCO3
Calcium carbonate
Ca(OH)2
Calcium hydroxide
CC
Counter current, type of protein skimmer
Cl
Chlorine
CO2
Carbon dioxide
CO3
Carbonate
CR
Calcium reactor
CSD
Carlson surge device
CTA
Cellulose triacetate, type of RO membrane
Cu
Copper
CUL
See you later / catch you later
CUL8R
See you later / catch you later
CYANO
Cyanobacteria
DC
Direct current
DD
Downdraft, type of protein skimmer
DI
Deionisation, type of water purification
DIY
Do it yourself
dKH
Degrees of carbonate hardness, measure of alkalinity
DO
Dissolve oxygen
DOC
Dissolved organic carbon
DSB
Deep sand bed
FAMA
Freshwater and Marine Aquaria, magazine
FAQ
Frequently ask question
Fe
Iron
FFE
Flying Fish Express, mail order company, United States
FO
Fish only, type of marine aquarium
FOWLR
Fish only with live rock, type of marine aquarium
FW
Freshwater
FWIW
For what its worth
FYI
For your information
FYM
For your misinformation
GAC
Granular activated carbon
GAL
Gallon
GBR
Great Barrier Reef
GPH
Gallons per hour
HCO3
Hydrogen carbonate
HO
High output fluorescent light
HSA
High speed aeration, type of proteins skimmer
HTH
Hope this/that helps
I
Iodide
I2
Iodine
ID
Indentify/indetification
IE
Internet Explorer, WWW browser
IM
In my
IMCO
In my considered opinion
IME
In my experience
IMEO
In my expert opinion
IMHO
In my humble/honest opinion
IMNSHO
In my not so humble/honest opinion
IMO
In my opinion
IO3
Iodate
IOW
In other words
IR
Infrared, type of light of longer wavelength than visible light
IRC
Internet relay chat
ISP
Internet service provider
KALK
Kalkwasser, German for calcium hydroxide solution or limewater
KI
Potassium iodide
KISS
Keep it simple stupid
kW
Kilowatt
L8R
Later
LFS
Local fish store
LHS
Local hardware store
LOL
Laughing out loud
LPH
Litres per hour
LPS
Large polyped Scleractinian (stoney) coral
LR
Live rock
LS
Live sand
LT
Litre
mA
Milliamp
MACNA
Marine Aquaria Conference of North America, held annually
MACO
Marine Aquaria Courses Online
MASA
Marine Aquarium Societies of Australia
MASNA
Marine Aquarium Society of North America
MEQ/L
Milli-equivalents per litre, measure of alkalinity
Mg
Magnesium
MG/L
Milligrams per litre
MH
Metal halide light
MO
Mail order
mV
Millivolt
MV
Mercury vapour light
mW
Milliwatt
Na
Sodium
NaCO3
Sodium carbonate
NaOH
Sodium hydroxide
NCM
North Coast Marine, mail order company, United States
NG
Usenet newsgroup
NH3
Ammonia
NH4
Ammonium
NNR
Natural nitrate reduction, reef setup technique
NO
Normal output fluorescent light
NO2
Nitrite
NO3
Nitrate
NP
No problem
NRN
No reply necessary
NS
Netscape, WWW browser
NSW
Natural sea water
O2
Oxygen
OBTW
Oh by the way
ORP
Oxidative redox potential
OTOH
On the other hand
PAR
Photosynthetically available radiation, unit of measure of amount of light available to zooxanthellae and algae
PLS
Please
PC
Power compact fluorescent light
pH
Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, equal to -log[H+], <7 acidic, =7 neutral, >7 basic
PH
Powerhead, water pump
PO4
Phosphate
PPM
Parts per million, equivalent to mg/l (milligrams per litre)
PSI
Pounds per square inch
PVC
Poly vinyl chloride, used for piping / plumbing
RAMR
Usenet newsgroup rec.aquaria.marine.reefs
RC
Reef Central, website
RDO
reefs.org, website
RO
Reverse osmosis, type of water purification
RO/DI
Reverse osmosis, followed by deionisation, type of water purification
ROFL
Rolling on the floor laughing
ROFLOL
Rolling on the floor laughing out loud
ROTFL
Rolling on the floor laughing
ROTFLMAO
Rolling on the floor laughing my ass off
ROTFLOL
Rolling on the floor laughing out loud
RTAW
Reefing the Australian Way, Australian discussion board
RTN
Rapid tissue neucrosis
RUGF
Reverse flow undergravel filter
SAL
Salinity
SD
Surge device
SG
Specific gravity
SHO
Super high output fluorescent light, equivalent to power compact fluorescent
Si
Silicon
SiO2
Silicon dioxide
SITD
Still in the dark
SO
Significant other
SPS
Small polyped Scleractinian (stoney) coral
Sr
Strontium
SW
Saltwater / seawater
TAT
Thiel Aqua Tech, mail order company, United States
TBS
Tampa Bay Saltwater, mail order company, United States
TDS
Total dissolved solids
TFC
Thin film composite, type of RO membrane
TFN
Thanks for nothing
TIA
Thanks in advance
TIC
Tongue in cheek
TMCRA
The modern coral reef aquarium, book by Alf Nilsen and Svien Fossa
TRA
The reef aquarium, book by Charles Delbeek and Julian Sprung
TTYL
Talk to you later
TWP
Tap Water Purifier from Aquatic Pharmaceuticals
UGF
Undergravel filter
UV
Ultra violet, type of light of shorter wavelength than visible light
V
Volts
VHO
Very high output fluorescent light
W
Watt
WMC
Western Marine Conference, United States
WWW
World wide web
WYSIWYG
What you see is what you get
YMMV
Your mileage may vary
<g>
Grin
<G>
Big grin
<s>
Smile
<S>
Big smile
:-)
Smile
;-)
Smirk
:-(
Sad
:-O
Surprise


puffedupseagull
 
Posts: 623
Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2008 8:38 am

by puffedupseagull

thats for you megs might help in future


megski
 
Posts: 39
Joined: Fri May 08, 2009 6:15 pm

by megski

Haha, thank you, thats most helpful!

Lights! Argh!

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