9' Tank Lighting

[kckwilli]

What do you guys think would be the best lighting for a 9'long, 30" deep and 25" wide tank. I plan on keeping a mixed tank SPS, LPS Clams, Softies....I want to do the best lighting but keep the electric bills down....Wondering if i can do t-5's?

[C Dog]

If you go with t-5s that is a lot of bulbs to replace ever year. Why not a DIY LED?

[Meanmike]

I'm working on a 9'x40"x27" and I am thinking about using two of the new 48" ATI t5/led units and attaching some reefbrite led stips to the units.

[EnderG60]

I would either go with 5 400w halides or 3 1000w halides supplemented with LED or T5 daylight and LED actinics for dusk dawn.

[t4zalews]

I'd go with 3x250w with nice reflectors if your really concerned about energy. You can use large reflectors and have sps (although somewhat limited) under the reflectors and then in between softies and lps. Bulb replacement would be lower and you'd get more spread per bulb. You can get LED actinics to accent it if you like the dawn dusk effect. Hamilton makes a reflector called the Cozumel Sun that would be good. Or if you could find the large lumenarc reflectors those would be good too. Sunlight supply used to make a large lumenmax reflector, but I haven't seen any around anymore, but that would be another option.

You could easily upgrade the 250w to 400w and you'd notice a big difference.

[bkvreef]

I am setting up a 220 (72 x 24 x 30, LxWxH). I am going to go with l.e.d.
There are so many different options for them now. I had done t-5's in the past but now with the cost of bulb replacement not to mention electricity, and chiller if you go with m.h. I would definitely recommend l.e.d.'s

[fishgate]

A tank that big screams for LEDs. Check out rapid LED and build your own. It'll pay for itself inside of a year or two in electric and bulb savings over T5HO.

[rtparty]

A tank that big screams for LEDs. Check out rapid LED and build your own. It'll pay for itself inside of a year or two in electric and bulb savings over T5HO.

A tank that big screams for solar tubes, lol.

No way I'd use LEDs as the sole lighting on a tank that large. 3-400w halides in good reflectors would cover the tank and with that much water volume, a chiller won't be needed.

Sent from my Galaxy S3

[fishgate]

A tank that big screams for solar tubes, lol.

No way I'd use LEDs as the sole lighting on a tank that large. 3-400w halides in good reflectors would cover the tank and with that much water volume, a chiller won't be needed.

Sent from my Galaxy S3

$1000/year to run those halides! I think about $175 for equivalent LEDs. And I don't know how long halides last.

But I do like the solar tube idea!

[sirreal63]

$1000 a year...explain your math?

[ericdm]

i am having a 10x2x2 tank built for me right now and my lighting will consist of 4 24" led fixtured 50/50 ratio of 18k white and 455nm blue with 90 degree opticts and 3 watt bridgelux led i will be hanging them 10"-12" above the water and plan on a mixed reef led was my deciding factor due to heat and cost of electric i will have 576 watts of led compared to an ungodly number of metal halide watts and heat and t5 bulb replacement they will more than pay for themselves after the first year

[fishgate]

$1000 a year...explain your math?

Device Name: Halides
Wattage of Device: 1200
Kilowatt Hour Cost: .19
Hours of use per day: 12

Cost Per Hour: $0.228000
Cost Per Day: $2.736000
Cost Per Week: $19.152
Cost Per Month: $76.61
Cost Per Year: $995.90

[kckwilli]

I might just run 3-400w metal halides, thats what i had on a couple of my 210 gallons and i loved the look and growth, just wondered if T-5's would do it or not! I have blueprints for the large lumenarc reflectors to build myself, so might just take that route. What is everyone using these days for ballasts and bulbs.... i have been out of the hobby for about 8 years so i am sure everything has been upgraded!! I used to run SE XM20K bulbs

[sirreal63]

Device Name: Halides
Wattage of Device: 750
Kilowatt Hour Cost: .09
Hours of use per day: 7

Cost Per Hour: $0.02
Cost Per Day: $.473
Cost Per Week: $3.308
Cost Per Month: $14.372
Cost Per Year: $172.463

12 hours is too long and not needed, you have expensive electricity and with the right reflectors 250 watters would suffice. Even at your horrid electrical price it would only be $250 per year in electrical use. You can run the bulbs for 14-16 months and some people go longer so it isn't really as bad as you may think.

250 watt Radiums in Lumenmax large reflectors or LumenArc's with M80 ballasts would be more than enough. kckwilli though some things have changed, what worked 8 years ago still works today, in some ways it works better.

[kckwilli]

So you are saying that 3-250's would work on that size tank?

[kckwilli]

even at 500 a year, i guess its not too much to worry about i would rather have the look of the metal halides(shimmer) and make sure the corals have enough light even if i want to put them on the sand!!!

[sirreal63]

The full size LumenArc will cover 30x30 easily and the tank is only 30" tall so a high par bulb in the proper reflector will work fine. You won't be able to keep Milli's on the sand at the tank corners very easily but you probably wouldn't want to do that anyway. You could do 4 but I don't think you will need to. It will depend on how the tank is braced, if you have 4 openings then it makes sense to use 4 lights, if you have 3 openings then adding a fourth bulb won't make sense.

[kckwilli]

No it has 3 openings!

[kckwilli]

What kind of bulb do you think would be best? I like the look of the 20k but would do what it takes and supplement!!!

[fishgate]

My bill is:
KWH used 1,915 cost $208.40 - not sure how to figure that out backwards!

[Skynyrd Fish]

I'd look at reefbreeders or everrgrow led's. If your fricking loaded than I'd recommend whatever you can afford that you like. You also could suppliment t5's with them.
or
2 ati 8 bulb 54watt fixtures. Bulbs will run you $340 per year. 864 watts per hour
0r
3 x 400watt radiums or bulb of choice= $240 per year in bulb approx 1200 watts per hour

4 x evergrow/reefbreeders 24" fixtures = 0 bulb cost per year, 500 watts per hour

or 4 or 5 of there value fixtures at $179 per fixture. 500 watts per hour for 4 of them.

Watts to think about! sorry I had to do it. lol

[sirreal63]

The Radium is still king with or without supplements. There are higher par bulbs but not in the 20K.

[rtparty]

No it has 3 openings!

3-250s and then add some LEDs for dusk dawn stuff.

Led lovers will always trash talk halides and T5s and tell you how "expensive" they are. It isn't usually true for most of us. A good LED setup for my tank would use just as much, if not more, electricity than my t5 setup and my success with LEDs was mixed. Now I have full confidence in my lighting as I'm keeping delicate sps in a 24g skimmerless, sumpless, no frills type of tank that had LED for 18 months prior.

My new tank will either be my current t5 setup or a 250w halide with some LED accents.


Sent from my Galaxy S3

[kckwilli]

They look decent too, wonder how the corals work with them.....point me to a thread with them!
I would buy 5 of them if they will work!

[Zstriker]

^ +1 - Use the King!

[kckwilli]

I just like the look of the Metal Halides, but i have never seen the LED's set up on a tank....I do not like the look of a flourescent

[kckwilli]

i could always do 3-250w radiums and then do t-5's for complete coverage!!!

[sirreal63]

Or use led's for supplements, many of us do. I would not be opposed to the reefbreeders led's on my tank other than they have not really been out long enough to judge them on how well they keep the corals color. If I wanted to go led and price was no object I would go with the GHL Mitra, 3 would do it nicely and early results with them have been fantastic.

[kckwilli]

That is rediculous as far as price for the GHL Mitra!!! Wont be going that route!

[sirreal63]

Yeah, the price doesn't help sell the fixtures, but so far no one has a fixture that is it's equal for coverage, features and looking at the results on rodneri's thread shows it to be a solid performer. It's a tough bill to swallow though.

[kckwilli]

Think that the 250's with lumenarcs are going to be the way to go... They say with a lumenarc they are like having a 400w.

[madean]

My bill is:
KWH used 1,915 cost $208.40 - not sure how to figure that out backwards!

fishgate- some of us are on a tier system where a certain amount of electricity is charged at a certain rate. As you consume electricity you will get charged accordingly. For example the first 700 KWH might be .10 a KWH, the next 500 KWH might be .15 a KWH, and then everything else might be .20 a KWH. So lets say you used 2000 KWH. The first 700 would be billed for $70, the next 500 KWH would be billed for $75 and the remaining 800 KWH would be billed for $160- giving you a total of $305. If you are in a tiered system that last tier is a killer, usually. So look on your bill and if its broken up like this or shows multiple rates, then this is probably the method for billing.

Other places just charge a flat rate, which I am envious of. If this is the case just take the dollar amount and divide by the KWH consumed and it should yield the KWH unit charge. Of course there are always other charges thrown in there, like an equipement maintenance fee or some other stuff that usually isn't too much. The big one here is a green energy fee if you choose to contribute to.

My utility company likes to charge me, for gas, by what their contract rate for bulk purchase was on gas. I could, and often do have multiple rates in a month for my gas usage. I had someone explain to me that it is tied to how they purchased the gas for the month and their un/secured contracts.

Back to electricity-look at your bill. You should be able to figure it out relatively easy, and if you are having a problem with it call the customer service rep. They will explain it for you, if they cant then they should be fired immediately.