Light Advice

I am setting up my new tank - its a 36 x 36 x 24 (front to back)
With the 36" depth I am a little unsure what to go for in terms of lighting.
The cost of electricity is set to go up 20% in Sydney over the next four months so I am looking to try and keep the watts down to a minimum.
Currently I am thinking either a 250W SE MH and T5 HO's or 2 x 150W DE MH's and 2x 39W T5 HO's
What does everyone think, will 2 x 150W lamps penetrate as deeply as a single 250?
I am willing to compromise on livestock, maybe keeping a few light hungry corals towards the top and just having leathers etc closer to the bottom.

Any reason why 250 SE not DE?

250 DE is quite strong but cannot cover 36" length

To penetrate 36" height, I suggest LED with lens. The ones I made for outside lighting easily project 60 feet with the help of lens.

Find a local electronic forum to have someone build it for you or you can DIY it.

1 halide will not cover, i would go with 2 150's and actinics

I'd go with a 14,000K 400-watt metal halide fixture with 4-t5's at 10,000Ks for supplemention. I doubt that you'd get really adequate penetration otherwise for a wide variety of coral.

10-12 bulb t5. this way you really could set up for a dusk to dawn effect or light sweeping across the tank

Nova Extreme Pro with Geismann bulbs. It has self reflectors! then you could pick up extra LED strips for kicks.

A LOT cheaper than MH and uses A LOT less electricty.

Well my tank that i will soon be setting up is 36 x36x27 and i plan on using 250se with 4 overdriven 39w T5's hanging would that be enough lighting?

consider 2 or even 3 of these


http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewI...t_USA&idProduct=CU01083&idCategory=FILTFIT5T5

36x24 and 36 inch tall tank is really hard to get lights for.. Single MH bulb will not cover 36x24 effectively and two will not be efficient. I would consider either go a foot wider or a foot shorter.

I have not seen any T5 or LED that have enough punch to reach 36" of depth.

Hope you are going MACNA this Sept.

cali_reef said:

I have not seen any T5 or LED that have enough punch to reach 36" of depth.

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Aqua Pro Builder said:

Hope you are going MACNA this Sept.

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I am....:splitspin

cali_reef said:

36x24 and 36 inch tall tank is really hard to get lights for.. Single MH bulb will not cover 36x24 effectively and two will not be efficient. I would consider either go a foot wider or a foot shorter.

I have not seen any T5 or LED that have enough punch to reach 36" of depth.

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I am confused you are saying it will not provide enough lighting at all? Even with my plan in overdriving the bulbs to run as 54w

Aqua Pro Builder said:

Hope you are going MACNA this Sept.

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I plan to.. Can you give me a ride from Flushing?

The Soloris I have seen did not..

Hey this is my thread.
Get your own car thread wingo!
LEDs are out because they are just too expensive, even if I did everything myself I would be looking at close to $1000. I know they save electricity, but it would take years to recoup that outlay.
I am leaning towards 2 x 150's DE and a couple of T5's to up the blue a bit and to give me a sunrise sunset period. Then I may add an extra two T5's further down the track to give me a few more lumens when i can afford it.

aaron said:

I am leaning towards 2 x 150's DE and a couple of T5's to up the blue a bit and to give me a sunrise sunset period.

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how much will this setup be in your location?

Hey Wingo, should work out about 200 - $300

Nova Light fixtures are not available in Australia, and I think with a tank that is 24" wide front to back, Halides are the only way to get enough light into a small space.
I am going to defer my decision until the tank is filled with water, that way I can set up a 150 and a 250 and measure the light levels in the tank with a submersible light meter to see what I'm actually getting. I'll post my findings when I do.

That's a great price especially if it goes to the lower 200.

Come back to NY, parts for LEDs here will be around ~$650 for 126W

Can't wait til you have the PARs of your final setup

aaron said:

Hey Wingo, should work out about 200 - $300

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How do you go with the LED's penetrating the water? how quickly do the lumens drop off?

I did not have a systematic measurement done. Hopefully i can finish that chart by Macna.
In my frag tank's bottom is 144 PAR, 13 inch water height, 60 watts, 16" above surface.

Emmanuel did a DIY LED with par numbers in this thread. Good info for trying on your own. Note: the part he said about that he had to turn down the LED as it's too strong for his nano. I had the same problem in my frag tank and in my nano, it literally burned my coral. One of the coral still have burn marks(charcoal like burn marks) on it-I was experimenting my 90W "different wavelengths version" then.

aaron said:

How do you go with the LED's penetrating the water? how quickly do the lumens drop off?

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All good advice, but LED's are definitely out of the question until they get a fair bit cheaper.
My current thinking has changed slightly, I am now thinking I will go with a DE 400W in the centre and have two T5 HO's to give me a dawn and dusk and help me get a little extra light into the edges of the tank. I may possibly go to 4 T5's but it really depends on how they fit in the fixture. The tank also gets a lot of ambient (not direct) sunlight which cant be a bad thing.