Lighting over 6 ft tank...

[czieler]

I currently have three metal halide pendants on my 6ft long 150 gallon tank that are the Coralife 250 watt super daylight 10,000k.

On my previous tank I had VHO's ( I still have these 4 36" bulbs ). I liked the lighting these gave off much better than my metal halides, and have been pretty disappointed in the metal halides. My greens don't really "pop" as much as they used to. My star polyps used to look fantastic neon green..but now they almost look a yellowish green... stuff just seems more washed out looking.

I just had one bulb bust and replaced it, but would like to find out:

1. Are there better MH bulbs I can get, that won't turn everything blue ( that was why my LFS told me to get these...I didn't want everything to look blue )... my VHOs were a crisp white...but these metal halides don't seem to light up the tank well..I have a lot of dark areas.

2. Should I mount my old VHO's in my canopy in addition to my metal halides... where I'd have two on side and two on the other?


Current fts:

 

[chadfarmer]

DE bulb mean small envelope with the reflector provided from the light dozen cover a lot of area i have 3 of these lights also (i have the 10k coralife junk bulb, 14k Phoenix, 14 ebay bulb, 12k, and a 20k xm)



i upgraded to the luminmax 3 pendant and its night and day deference (big price tag)

(the ushio 10k is nice but you will still have shaded spots)

i would maybe move the lights up a few inches to try and spread the light

if you are happy with your vhos that i would use them

 

[surfn]

DE bulb mean small envelope with the reflector provided from the light dozen cover a lot of area i have 3 of these lights also (i have the 10k coralife junk bulb, 14k Phoenix, 14 ebay bulb, 12k, and a 20k xm)



i upgraded to the luminmax 3 pendant and its night and day deference (big price tag)

(the ushio 10k is nice but you will still have shaded spots)

i would maybe move the lights up a few inches to try and spread the light

if you are happy with your vhos that i would use them

yeah, basically what he said. coralife lights are junk!

go and buy some pheonix 14k bulbs and some better pendants and then you'll LOVE metal halides!

btw.......can you show us a pic of your lighting system? reflector and ballasts if possible. just want to be sure.

 

[czieler]

Yah I can't move the lights up any cuz of the canopy...they are as high as they'll go.

My LFS guy said to bend out the reflectors some... I will get a shot of the lights and post them here in a little bit.

 

[czieler]

Ok..here are photos...

Will the mentioned bulbs fit in my existing fixture? I don't mind paying more for bulbs in a few months when I need to replace them anyway for burn out... but would hate to have to buy all new ballasts/reflectors...etc ( unless these reflectors are the problem )

I'm not sure where I'd put the VHO's in here..I guess on the part of the canopy that folds up?

I probably should have researched the lights a little more when I set this up in December, instead of just telling the LFS to get me what they normally got customers for MHs...but at the time things were so messed up from that local guy screwing me on a used stand...that I just told the LFS to handle it all.

 

[surfn]

OHHHHHHHHHHHH........those are SE mogul setups.

i thought coralife stuff was those stupid DE clip on things was what you were talking about.

well, good news is that those mogul setups are fine, bad news is that...yes, those bulbs are complete crapola and you need new ones.

you've got 250w standard electronic ballasts, so finding a bulb with a true 14k is going to be slightly difficult, as all 20k bulbs will run way too blue for your liking probably.

hamilton 14k bulbs are probably your best bet though, they should give you a good crisp light blue color, and last a while too since they are being run on a standard electronic ballast.

but yeah, reflector upgrades would DEFINITELY help your situation.

lumenarc reflectors *might* work, but i'm not sure since they would be so close to the surface of the water, normally you have to raise them up higher to get an even spread of light.

i think your best bet, reflector wise is to get two 36" PFO parallel reflectors to cover the entire tank length wise (instead of mounting your spider reflectors perpendicular to the length of the tank).
http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merc...OD&Product_Code=PFO-PR362SA8MO&Category_Code=


other things to try in the mean time, yes you could bend the reflectors, personally i dont think it will help much.

but i think you should turn the 2 outside reflector/mogules to be parallel to the length of the tank, so the bulbs are facing toward the middle of the tank, and leave the middle bulb where it is. that may help a bit.

 

[surfn]

oh yeah, dont ever listen to what the LFS people want to get you......you are MUCH better off finding your lighting equipment at Premium Aquatics, or Hellolights online.

you can probably buy the primo stuff for the same price online as the crap coralife stuff from the LFS IMO.

 

[czieler]

Yeah... I was actually doing his website at the time and the insane corals site with him....so I just told him I wanted MHs that looked like my VHOs... and told him to order what he thought was best.

He probably got me what fit my budget ( since I had just been ripped off for $800 by some other guy for a used stand/tank that ended up not being useable ).

I will get my gf to help me take the canopy off in two weeks and try mounting the side lights like you said ( she is out of town next two weekends )... and see if that helps... then save up the money for the Hamilton bulbs. ( If anyone disagrees w/ these bulbs feel free to make other suggestions... as I have no idea..and ppl here seem pretty knowledgeable on lights ).

I'll also go get my VHO setup that I had the LFS guy trying to sell..and take it apart and maybe use the reflector for that..and eventually perhaps mount the bulbs in the front where the canopy folds up..not sure about that though...my ballast was faulty so I need to get another one.

 

[surfn]

btw......any idea who makes those ballasts?

but yeah, for a tank that size, its *best* to have a single reflector that spans the length of the entire tank. ESSPECIALLY if you are only going with 3 bulbs over a 6ft tank.

i think most sps people would go with 4-6 MH bulbs over a 6ft tank if they were going to be mounted like you have them mounted.

but yeah, turning those outside two bulbs towards the inside of the tank should help a little bit. it may make the very sides of the tank a little dark, but it will make the majority of the middle of the tank brighter.

 

[czieler]

I believe these are the ballasts:
http://www.coralvue.com/250metalb.html


I guess if you use one big reflector you can fit more bulbs in there...hadn't really thought of that.... everyone around here that has a 6 foot tank that I've seen has three bulbs over it... heh... so I sort of just figured that was the norm.

Premiumaquatics is the best price on bulbs?

 

[revhtree]

Hey I had my 6ft tank lighting set up almost exactly the same and it was great for me.

I had 3 250w MH's, but I had the reflectors turned long ways, and I had tow 6ft vho's spanning the entire tank up in the canopy. The vho bulbs were placed opposite each other one at the front and one at the back. The MH's were in the middle.

 

[revhtree]

 

[czieler]

Yeah ... that is beautiful... nice mixture of corals.

I seem to do well with LPS and softies.. but I can't seem to get any sps to grow well in my tank they do good for a couple of months..then bleach out and die. I do have one orange montipora frag doing well ..that's it though I keep my calcium between 400-450..maybe I should go higher though.

Since I have two white VHOs and two blue VHOs ( each 3 ft ) ... I could mount them similarly.... would just need another reflector... or I could take the three I have now on the MHs and line them up over them... not sure how I'd do the middle bulbe that way though... in between reflectors?

 

[surfn]

is this tank still operating? man its nice!

 

[revhtree]

Sadly no it's not running.... Thanks though.

I had to take it down before I moved, I plan on setting up a 250+ within the next year to take its place!!

czieler - hows your alkalinity?

 

[surfn]

Sadly no it's not running.... Thanks though.

I had to take it down before I moved, I plan on setting up a 250+ within the next year to take its place!!

czieler - hows your alkalinity?

oh thats right! i remember now.

you should set up a big viewing tank (like 180g) in a lounge/commons area of your church that gets alot of people traffic.

twon8 has a 180g set up in the hallway/gathering area outside the viewing room at his funeral home, it makes for a very pleasent/calm feeling in that type of setting.

 

[czieler]

I don't have an alkalinity test kit. I'm placing an order online today for dog vitamins..I'll throw that in there too...

I have test kits for nitrates, calcium, and phosphates right now.

Is this one pretty good:
http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/prod/203786/product.web

 

[revhtree]

Your alk may be running very low and affecting your sps. I would almost bet thats it.

 

[surfn]

I don't have an alkalinity test kit. I'm placing an order online today for dog vitamins..I'll throw that in there too...

I have test kits for nitrates, calcium, and phosphates right now.

Is this one pretty good:
http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/prod/203786/product.web

yup, i use salifert kits for everything (although i dont like the nitrate one b/c its only 1mL of water).

400-450ppm for calcium is PLENTY. your limiting reagent that is causing your sps problems is most likely your alkalinity.

as long as your calcium is over 380ppm, it wont make a difference on coral skeleton growth whether its 400ppm, or 450ppm. although the higher your calcium is, the faster your alkalinity get used up and the faster it drops.

i should also note that when you run your calcium higher (450ppm or higher), you are running the risk of putting large amounts of coraline and other calcium deposits on your pumps.

 

[revhtree]

Good points Surf!