Lighting a big square tank?

[aquaman7]

Hi everyone,

I'm planning out my dream tank. It is a roughly 250gal tank 48" deep 48" wide and 24" tall. I'd like the tank to be open and viewable from all sides. I plan to have a single live rock island or groups of live rock islands in the middle of the tank with a good 12" of space between the rocks in the middle of the tank and the side panes.

My first predicament is how to light it? I think I definitely want mogul base metal halides. My first thought was 4x 175W pedants... one over each quadrant of the tank then I thought that'd be too much and would light where I may not particularly need it. 2x 250s or 400s side by dide in the middle? Then I thought a single 400w lumenarc-type pendant right over the middle... but then would that be enough? I figure the lighting will probably need to cover the inner 36" square area of the tank where the live rock island(s) and predominantly SPS coral inhabitants will be.

If anyone would care to entertain the idea with me and provide any advice for lighting such a tank, the help is GREATLY appreciated. Thanks!

Please note, this is just a dream tank of mine... I'm probably going to have to wait some time til I graduate college or get a house of my own for this one! However, since I have time, I'd like to plan out every detail.

 

[aquaman7]

Bump.

 

[SaraB]

You could get 2 light mover's and just run 2 MH pendants opposite of each other.

 

[Reef Pets]

Thats pretty much the same size that I use for holding tanks. My tanks are oly about 18 inches deep though. I use (2) 400 watt metal halides and they are in the large Lumen Bright reflectors. The reflectors are about 2 feet from the water surface and the lights cover the tanks just fine. Some of the tanks only have one reflector over them an the SPS does well. The photos with all of the SPS is taken through a glass tank at a frag swap but will show how nice the colors remain with the lighting set up over 4' X 4' tanks
Gary

 

[benny z]

i would use one 400w halide in the large now out of production sunlight supply lumen max reflectors. they are good for a 4' spread imho. supplement with blue leds. :)

nice setup, gary.

 

[Troylee]

Thats pretty much the same size that I use for holding tanks. My tanks are oly about 18 inches deep though. I use (2) 400 watt metal halides and they are in the large Lumen Bright reflectors. The reflectors are about 2 feet from the water surface and the lights cover the tanks just fine. Some of the tanks only have one reflector over them an the SPS does well. The photos with all of the SPS is taken through a glass tank at a frag swap but will show how nice the colors remain with the lighting set up over 4' X 4' tanks
Gary

wow!!!! nice set up there man... keeping nice and clean without breaking the bank....:)

 

[aquaman7]

Thanks a lot for the responses everyone.

Benny z... Do you know of good source for those "original" lumen max reflectors? Does anyone still carry them or would I just have to hunt around?

Gary... Pictures paint a thousand words... thanks for showing me some examples of the lighting on your tanks! I really like the lighting you're running. What kind of difference do you see between the coral under the single 400w and those under the double 400w?
Also, what kind of bulbs are you running? I like the coloration.

Thanks again everyone! Any additional feedback is greatly appreciated.

 

[JNye]

you could use 1-4 halides as you know. It comes down to what corals are you keeping and where. If it was me I'd use 2 Lumenmax elites. I would aquascape smartly with a PAR meter. i might even orient the LME's based off of how the aquascape turns out.

 

[aquaman7]

you could use 1-4 halides as you know. It comes down to what corals are you keeping and where. If it was me I'd use 2 Lumenmax elites. I would aquascape smartly with a PAR meter. i might even orient the LME's based off of how the aquascape turns out.

Yes, the aquascape is definitely going to be a decisive factor, when it comes right down to it.

One goal of the tank is for the rockwork to be "low" in the tank (not stacked too high) in the inner 3' square of the tank... allowing plenty of vertical and horizontal space for the coral to grow and lots of room for good water circulation around the aquascape... and the ability for each side of the tank to have a good, aesthetically pleasing view.

Right now I am really looking for what ammount of light certain MH light combinations will provide. I don't want to over- or under-light the tank (who does?) so this is just for me to form some baseline ideas. If anyone has pictures to share of a set-up with similar dimensions and MH lighting that would really help!

 

[Lazys Coral House]

Gary that is a nice setup but could you eliminate a couple thousand watts by adding a light mover?

 

[JNye]

based on how i envision your aquascape 3x175 watt in any good reflector(tightly in a triangle in the center) should give you good even spread with high PAR. you could even use 250s if its going to be mostly SPS and you need higher PAR in more areas.

 

[LegoZ81]

i would use one 400w halide in the large now out of production sunlight supply lumen max reflectors. they are good for a 4' spread imho. supplement with blue leds. :)

nice setup, gary.

misread... revised reply:
if you can mount high enough you can pull off that kind of spread you should still be ok in the middle for the pillar

 

[Reef Pets]

I actually dont see much of a difference at all from having 1 light or two lights. If I were you I would only use one 400w light.
If you want one of the original square style lumenarcs I have one that I would be willing to sell.
I use all Radium Bulbs, Single Ended 20K. I just put in a couple XM's today and wont be able to see the differece until they burn in.
In the photos I have 3 tanks that have 2 lights and 1 tank that has 1 light. Now I have 2 tanks with 2 lights and 2 tanks with one light.
Just go with one light and it will be plenty of light....
Gary

Thanks a lot for the responses everyone.

Benny z... Do you know of good source for those "original" lumen max reflectors? Does anyone still carry them or would I just have to hunt around?

Gary... Pictures paint a thousand words... thanks for showing me some examples of the lighting on your tanks! I really like the lighting you're running. What kind of difference do you see between the coral under the single 400w and those under the double 400w?
Also, what kind of bulbs are you running? I like the coloration.

Thanks again everyone! Any additional feedback is greatly appreciated.

 

[Reef Pets]

I would be able to save a total of 650 watts by using light movers. Honestly, I absolutely hate light movers. To see one side or the other go dim drives me nuts for some reason.
I was at a guys house that had a light mover and waiting to see the coral and or fish was so irritating for me. On the other hand the guy with the light mover really likes it.

Gary that is a nice setup but could you eliminate a couple thousand watts by adding a light mover?

 

[aquaman7]

Gary, thanks for the offer on the 'original' style lumenarc but it would be very preemptive for me to make any purchases towards this tank. I am still quite a way off from actually setting up such a tank. The wait will give me plenty of time to plan everything out, though.

As per the light-movers, thanks to everyone who suggested this but I'm really not a big fan. I totally understand the reasoning and benefits of employing them but I have seen a couple tanks with them and they are kind of neat but they really do irk me. Also, the way I plan to display this tank I am planning, I'm not sure if the mounting and so forth for the light-movers would look very appealing.

Thanks again for the feedback everyone. I had been leaning towards a single 400w pendant.. we'll see if I change my mind as time goes on or as I continue planning this tank. This is a great forum... I don't visit here enough... I'll be sure to stick around!

 

[hounddog01]

i would use one 400w halide in the large now out of production sunlight supply lumen max reflectors. they are good for a 4' spread imho. supplement with blue leds. :)

nice setup, gary.

or VHO actinics. Either way it would be really nice.

 

[aquaman7]

If I were to supplement the MH's (which I don't intend to do as of right now) it would probably have to be LEDs or some other kind of a compact, sleek pendant with what I have planned for the tank... being very open, rimless, viewable from all sides, etc. etc.