Lighting for a 24" deep tank

[areefguy]

Im building a 120g tank that is 24" deep and trying to pick what kind of lights to get. I was thinking about 8x95w(6.3w per gallon) VHO's but not sure if this will reach the bottom. I would like to keep pretty much any coral. if you dont think this would work is there a cheap alternative. i know MH but out of my budget.

[Ereefic]

What is your budget?

[hahnmeister]

8x54wattT5s...

2x400wattMHalide in Lumenarc3 reflectors

2x250wattDE MH + 4x54wattT5s

Those would be my choices.

[dannieboiz]

2x 250w 10k HQI, 2x T5HO 460nm, 2x VHO super Actinic. Can't go wrong there.

THis is what I'm doing to the tank i'm working on now. Also 24 high, but I may go with just 1 T5HO 460nm (blue) and 1 more 420nm actinic.

[Fiziksgeek]

What are the tank dimensions?

If its a 4x2x2, I would go with 2x250W MH in Lumenarc mini's and 2x95W VHO actinics.

[RichConley]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7814563#post7814563 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by areefguy
Im building a 120g tank that is 24" deep and trying to pick what kind of lights to get. I was thinking about 8x95w(6.3w per gallon) VHO's but not sure if this will reach the bottom. I would like to keep pretty much any coral. if you dont think this would work is there a cheap alternative. i know MH but out of my budget.

MH is out of your budget? I can't think of any situation (other than Sfilgois or Maristars) where a 2x250 setup will cost more than a 8x95w VHO setup.

[hahnmeister]

Yeah, a couple of 250watt halide pendants should only cost you about ($130 per HQI ballast, $100 per reflector, and some bulbs for as little as $55 each, like the pheonix 250wattDE at illuming.com ) $600.

OR, the reason I mentioned T5 is because if you are using a Icecap VHO ballast, you can easily just buy the reflectors, endcaps, and bulbs for under $300 and have a kick butt T5 setup. Icecap SLR reflectors are about $25 ea, standoffs and endcaps are about $10-12 a pair, and bulbs are about $20 each.

Heck, a cheaper way out with the halide might be to remove the center brace on it and do a euro-brace mod in the tank, and then just use one large halide...like a 400wattHQI in a lumenarc reflector....right dead in the center of the tank. And then put T5s or VHOs across the top as supplimental & fill lighting. A single 400wattHQI can have the output of two 250watt bulbs when combined with a decent reflector like a lumenarc3, and have plenty of coverage.

[King-Kong]

250w DE HQI 10k will be more than enough light for that tank; even for acroporas sitting on the bottom.

[hahnmeister]

Some SPS types will want more. These outputs will only be reached with T5, halide+T5, or larger halides (dual 400s).

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/august2003/feature.htm

I see you also mention only using 10,000Ks King-Kong...which is about the same as using 400watt 14,000K or 20,000Ks...but who wants to run 10,000Ks w/o actinics?

[areefguy]

Thanks for the help. i think i will look more at MH's, always thought they were way expensive. the tank im building is 72x16x24 (odd place to put it) so just one more question will a single MH work with a few t-5's or not? thanks again

[hahnmeister]

Ohhhhh. You said a 120g...those are usually 48x24x24...and so 4' bulbs and dual halides are the norm. You are building something more like the traditional 125g...72x18x22", but taller and narrower. In that case, usually people end up with 3 halides since the All-glass and Perfecto pre-made units have 2 cross braces (making 3 sections out of the top). If you can do it, make the tank with one cross brace in the center...a wide one...and then 2 halides should be fine...but one is pushing it even with a 4' long tank.

FWIW, do you have an icecap ballast for the VHO bulbs right now?

[areefguy]

hahnmeister, i do not have the ballast yet. i have a 20g tank going but wanted to go big, so right now im in the process. just finshed part of the tank but havent got to the brace yet, thanks for the tip on putting it in the middle, i'll probably do that