PDA

View Full Version : Another Lighting Question


jminick2
02/06/2016, 11:44 AM
So I bought a new 480g (96x34x34). Going to be a mixed reef being sps heavy.

I am having a vida rock arch made to stretch most of the tank so the highest part will be in the center.

My lighting options.... are 8 hyrda 52s or 10(ish) kessil 360s

4 250w halides or 4 400w halides. Tank is deep but I can place corals in ways I may not need the 400w....I have experience with MH and LED

Heres where I need help... I have never used T5. Where does T5 fall into in terms of up front costs, Life of the bulb, and power consumption? I assume I'm going to need around 10 54w bulbs staggered. will this give me the penetration I need to place sps anywhere or will I have to be careful with this?

I Have also considered 2 400w halides spaced evenly over the 8 foot. Then adding LEDS around them as needed but I'm not sure if that would be cost effective or not.

I would appreciate any advice.

Thanks

Indymann99
02/06/2016, 05:59 PM
For a tank that large and DEEP (36") I would do a Hybrid LED +T5.

I would think you could do 4x Hydra52s or Radions

Then add 12x 48in T5 to fill in any shadows from the LEDs ( your SPS heavy requirement). NOTE the T5s will need bulb replacements every 9-12 months.

lighting would look like

3x 48in T5 3x 48in T5
1 / 2/ 3/ 4 Hydra or Radion
3x 48in T5 3x 48in T5

shifty51008
02/06/2016, 06:11 PM
with the right reflectors you could do 3 400 watt mh's and use T5's or led's for dusk/dawn effect.

jminick2
02/06/2016, 07:15 PM
Thank guys. Both good ideas, I'm run some numbers and find out whats gonna be the most cost effective... If you have a 400 mh ballast and 400w light one fixture is taking up 800w correct?

shifty51008
02/06/2016, 07:38 PM
Thank guys. Both good ideas, I'm run some numbers and find out whats gonna be the most cost effective... If you have a 400 mh ballast and 400w light one fixture is taking up 800w correct?

no, it is only useing 400 watts per ballast and bulb.

jminick2
02/06/2016, 07:47 PM
hmm. with 12 54w t5 and 4 LED fixtures I'm looking at 1100 watts and a start up of about $2500 if I use retrofit T5s from BRS.

With 3 400w halides and some supplemental lighting maybe 1400-1600w. Theres a steal on craigslist right now for. 3 400 watt MH with ballast 1.5 years old for 300 bucks.

its pretty much a toss up. Heck I don't know what to do lol.

shifty51008
02/06/2016, 08:31 PM
things to keep in mind also:

when useing led's your heater may need to run more often because they don't put off heat.

when useing mh's your heaters may not run often but may heat up the tank temp and may need fans or chiller. just depends on your setup. (i run mh's and my heaters still kick on because my sump is in the cooler basement.)

mh bulbs can last 2 years if you can lower the fixture a couple inches after 12 months.

if you run led's you will useually want twice the ammount of led's then the manufacture reccomends. (there are a few threads on this)

sorry to confuse you even more lol

jminick2
02/06/2016, 08:41 PM
this will be basement tank and I will have the ability to raise them as needed so heat should not be an issue also I will be able to add fans if I need to. Thanks for all the help.

TimeConsumer
02/06/2016, 10:13 PM
I'd take that Craigslist deal. 34" height you need some serious penetration. It sounds your setup is ideal for a halide + t5 combo.

velcro
02/06/2016, 10:29 PM
I'd also go with the craigslist deal. I love LED but I save it for the dusk/dawn because I've found that I have much better success growing SPS with MH. As long as you can deal with the heat and electricity bill, MH all the way.