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will 2 ..400mh lights be over kill for a 210g

sgarron

sgarron

Is the 210 6 feet long? If it is, you would probably be better off with 3 250w lights. Or 3 400w depending on what you plan to keep. I don't think 2 lights will give you the best coverage.
 
Phyl

Phyl

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
What do you plan on keeping? I also don't think 2x400 would give you the coverage you'd need unless you were using lumenarc reflectors.
 
H

harryk

I think if you use a 2 island design it should be fine, but if your going to have rock all across the tank then i would probably do 3 250MH's instead. it will give you more even coverage. But more importantly it would all depend on the type of coral you are planning on keeping

thanks
Harry
 
Hawkeye

Hawkeye

A single MH (unlike T5 or T12) light is focused typically on a 24x24 space. So you can't assume that 2 400watts (800 watts) would be enough for a 210 gallon tank. You need to take into consideration the size of the tank -which for you is I presume 72".

So if you get 2 MH lamps - you're coverage is 48". What are you going to do with the remaining 24"? If it's just sand - just be sure of not putting a clam in that sand or any other invert - since there may be insufficient light.

The most flexibility would be to get a set up with 3 MHs or a bank of T5s.
 
W

widebody

wow so i was thinking that would have been and over kill
yes its the 72" long tank
plans keep changeing ...
planing on keeping lps and softies......and a clam or 2 ...
so no matter what i need 3 mh ....
so whats the min wattage i can run ...on this tank ...as far as the sand bed
planing on do a 3-4"
 
sgarron

sgarron

Yes, the great SE vs. DE debate. I used 250w DE on my 180 and they were great. I'm building a 30x30 tank now and will be using a SE 400w bulb. There are as many opinions on SE vs. DE as there are bulb choices. My reasons for going SE this time are, more bulb choices, especially in the 400w department and it's just easier to unscrew a bulb than to take apart a fixture to remove a DE bulb. Personally, I don't think it matters much which you choose as far as coverage or par.

The next thing is to decide which bulb on which ballast. That's always fun. ;)
 
W

widebody

wow so many things to think about ...
so i can run 3 400w mh ...
do i have to run vho's or pc's with that ..
do they have to be the same or can i run mix and match lights
 
sgarron

sgarron

If you do 3 400w bulbs you can keep anything you want in the tank. As far as T5's or VHO's or PC's, no, you don't have to. You should be able to find the color you are looking for with the MH bulbs.

What do you want the appearance of the tank to be? White, blue, white with a touch of blue?

If you use different bulbs in each fixture you will see color variations and maybe even intensity variations in each section of the tank.
 
W

widebody

ok so that should give me about 5.7 watts per gallon that should be good
so has i wonder is there a way to see how much the light bill will go up with this set up ...
loooking for a white with a hint of blue...
but what light temp will make my corals colors come out
thats y poeple ran t'5 or vho's?
 
sgarron

sgarron

I don't put much stock in the watts per gallon rule.I believe it has more to do with how far the corals are from the light, how deep they are.

Elec calc.
http://www.reefcentral.com/calc/tank_elec_calc.php

White with a touch of blue: Radium 20k on a PFO HQI ballast. (personal preference)

10k or 14k with actinic supplements will give you nice color pop and a nice overall look to the tank. 20k on an electronic ballast will give nice pop with a bluer look to the tank. Some even run 20k and actinics. You really have to look at other tanks and ask questions to see what you like.
 
W

widebody

okay i been looking around for lighting ...pocket is taking a hit .....do i need the lights well i cycle my rocks and sand ..starting new with this tank....so i can hold off for like 6-8 weeks till the cycle is over ?
 
adesimone1

adesimone1

We use the dusk to dawn affect with our lighting our t5 actinics come 1st around 7am then the halides come on at 12pm and go off at 6:30 and the actinics go off around 10 pm and we have are moonlights after that. We are going another way with our lighting if you are interested in ours let me know
newbrit013.jpg
 
Hawkeye

Hawkeye

widebody said:
okay i been looking around for lighting ...pocket is taking a hit .....do i need the lights well i cycle my rocks and sand ..starting new with this tank....so i can hold off for like 6-8 weeks till the cycle is over ?
Click to expand...

Lights are probably the last thing you "need" in a set up. But you definitely need some type of lighting if you ever plan to keep any photosynthetic corals.

For example, if you set up a biotope of sun corals - you will not need anything but some light to help illuminate your fish/sand. Crazy talk I know. lol.

here's a sun coral (photo courtesy of worldoffish)...oh and if it's a dendro - i can never tell the difference.
d1ea1b77.jpg
 
W

waynes reef

i run 3-400 se hamiltons, 2 14k"s at each end and 20k in the center, the color is great and my growth is awsome, no supplimental atinics, when i cycled my rock and sand in my tank i ran just the skimmer at first for a month, then each week after that i started with the lights, 1 hour at first for a week then every 3 days i increased the light period by 1 hour till i got to 12 hours, i never had one problem with algea or cyno bacteria, its been going since oct and im starting to get some nice purple coraline growth on the rocks, 175 bow front with 270- 280 lbs of caribean lettuce coral rock and 3 inches of sand
 
W

widebody

waynes reef said:
i run 3-400 se hamiltons, 2 14k"s at each end and 20k in the center, the color is great and my growth is awsome, no supplimental atinics, when i cycled my rock and sand in my tank i ran just the skimmer at first for a month, then each week after that i started with the lights, 1 hour at first for a week then every 3 days i increased the light period by 1 hour till i got to 12 hours, i never had one problem with algea or cyno bacteria, its been going since oct and im starting to get some nice purple coraline growth on the rocks, 175 bow front with 270- 280 lbs of caribean lettuce coral rock and 3 inches of sand
Click to expand...
so you only run your mh 12hrs a day no dusk to dawn effect ...
adesimone1 said:
We use the dusk to dawn affect with our lighting our t5 actinics come 1st around 7am then the halides come on at 12pm and go off at 6:30 and the actinics go off around 10 pm and we have are moonlights after that. We are going another way with our lighting if you are interested in ours let me know
newbrit013.jpg
Click to expand...
sent you a pm about your lights



i been looking up lights i see that the reflector is a big deal what should i be looking for in them ...
 
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