Lighting Issues for my Reef

[d00d]

I am thinking of setting up a SPS/LPS tank with a dimension of 24"X12"X18". SPS would be on the higher regions of the tank and LPS lower. Yar, a little small, but I am inspired by some nano and also danano's totm

I have some doubts in my head to clarify and hope that you guys can enlighten me!

1. When it comes to the wattage/gallon lighting rule, is the water in the sump which adds up to the entire volume, accounted for?

2. I am think of going for 70W from viclite.com. There have been suggestions by one or to reefers I converse with that recommended 150W.

Thanks! I love you guys!

[ZeRoC00l]

As a rough guide you'll need a min of 250W for good growth and colouring up. There are ppl getting good results with T5s, think is 6 - 8 T5s. Check with the nano reefers as their more familiar

As yours is a 18" ht, minus 6" fr DSB and 1" from overflow, roughtly left 11"-12" of water depth. Good penetration by the 250W 6"-8" above the water level will theorically allow U to have acros anywhere in the tank.

A 250W 14KK, and a good reflector will allow you to utilise 1 MH to cover the entire tank. Cost saving as well.

Maybe a a T5 or 2 to balance the colour to your liking. If you plan to use 10KK, note that 10KK will shift after the burn in period and it's kinda yellow

My tank is 24 X 24 X 30" and I use only a 250w 20KK for the space but with a 150W 10KK for balance. Still abit too yellow for my liking. Will change to a 14KK in yr end

Mh is alot hotter than T5s, so must tank into account of water evaporation, especially for small tank.

My 0.2 cents opinion

[lightningstrike]

As a rough guide you'll need a min of 250W for good growth and colouring up. There are ppl getting good results with T5s, think is 6 - 8 T5s. Check with the nano reefers as their more familiar

As yours is a 18" ht, minus 6" fr DSB and 1" from overflow, roughtly left 11"-12" of water depth. Good penetration by the 250W 6"-8" above the water level will theorically allow U to have acros anywhere in the tank.

A 250W 14KK, and a good reflector will allow you to utilise 1 MH to cover the entire tank. Cost saving as well.

Maybe a a T5 or 2 to balance the colour to your liking. If you plan to use 10KK, note that 10KK will shift after the burn in period and it's kinda yellow

My tank is 24 X 24 X 30" and I use only a 250w 20KK for the space but with a 150W 10KK for balance. Still abit too yellow for my liking. Will change to a 14KK in yr end

Mh is alot hotter than T5s, so must tank into account of water evaporation, especially for small tank.

My 0.2 cents opinion

well said.

[FuEl]

You can avoid a chiller if you go for T5s. Running a profantec fan for 24/7 will solve your problems with temperature issues. However you will have to compensate your evaporation rate constantly. An auto top-up device would be useful.

[DeepBlue]

I used to run fans for my 2 footer....in the end I find the fluctuation in wate parameter affects the general well being of the reef quite a bit. If you run T5s....probably can try those ice probes....think they save energy more than chillers.

but that tank seems too big for ice probes to handle...

I still find chillers reliable as compared to fans...not so much water evaporation and if you use a fan....surrounding area maybe to damp for comfort

[d00d]

Thanks guys for the replies and comments! I appreciate it!

ZeRoC00l >> Whoa 250W ah? Not too much? Me not going for SPS full tank and I am afraid my LPS can't take so much light. I was thinking of the Oct**** B*y 150W MH/PL, very attractive.

DeepBlue >> Yup, I think the fluctuation in water parameter would be too much for SPS and perhaps other corals as well. Think I must use

FuEl >> Was thinking of T5s but they dun have the shimmering effect leh. Haha! I just love that, reminds me about the sea and its natural environment. Also T5 to replace them not cost effective. Its like 6-8 tubes to change in 9 months or so. $$$

Anyone heard of the "drop in coil chiller with titanium coil"? Heard that it is a bigger version of ice probe and can cool bigger tanks. Can anyone enlighten me on this one.

[Zero Oxygen]

DIY bar fridge chiller???

Will be doing those 8 can fridge soon, will post updates when it is done.

[ZeRoC00l]

ZeRoC00l >> Whoa 250W ah? Not too much? Me not going for SPS full tank and I am afraid my LPS can't take so much light. I was thinking of the Oct**** B*y 150W MH/PL, very attractive.

Anyone heard of the "drop in coil chiller with titanium coil"? Heard that it is a bigger version of ice probe and can cool bigger tanks. Can anyone enlighten me on this one.

IMO, if you really want to have SPS colour up and grow well, 250W is e min i'll go. Tried 150W before, and no colour (is brown a colour?) and min growth. Just growing but not thriving well

You can shift yr MH from side to side so as to vary the amt of light received in the tank. LPS can slowly adjust to the higher amt of lighting. or raise the Mh higher fom the tank, so to have less intensity. But you can't do tt if you find the 150W too little placing the MH too close to the water surface is kinda

I have a hammer doing well under my lighting

The drop in coil chillers hare not tt popular as U can easily see. mroe popular brands like Teco, Resun, Hailea, etc

You'll need to place the prob in a high water ciculation area. I can;t say more indepth as I seldom seeand haven used any before. But i know Oct**** B*y has them.

another 0.2 cents

[sps_dude]

bro.... we first need to know.... do u want those colourful sps or u only interested in those brown shades of sps..... i have personally kept brown sps under 150w 10k metal halide.... its thriving... grown up........ if u want u need to put the light closer to the tank surface.... 4 to 5 inches away.........for two feet .... it should be enough light spread...... furthermore if u going for the one frm octopus bay which contains the two actnic tubes.... it will be just fine......

[d00d]

Zero Oxygen >> Good innnovative idea dude, but not for me. But it s a cheap althenative though.

ZeRoC00l >> If I put SPS at the topmost areas with 150W n actnic support would I get away with coloured SPS? Hehee. Yeah, also thanks for the info on the chiller from Oct**Bay.

sps_dude >> Thanks for your input bro. Do you know the wattage of the actnic bulbs? Would check it out maybe this weekend with Oct**Bay.

" if u want u need to put the light closer to the tank surface...."

Btw what you mean by this....Want what? Colourful SPS huh?

Feel free to answer any question posted to the individuals dear reefers. Hope we can share more as it would also serve for future reference to reefers with 2ft tanks with similar dimensions.

[lightningstrike]

Zero Oxygen >> Good innnovative idea dude, but not for me. But it s a cheap althenative though.

ZeRoC00l >> If I put SPS at the topmost areas with 150W n actnic support would I get away with coloured SPS? Hehee. Yeah, also thanks for the info on the chiller from Oct**Bay.

sps_dude >> Thanks for your input bro. Do you know the wattage of the actnic bulbs? Would check it out maybe this weekend with Oct**Bay.

Btw what you mean by this....Want what? Colourful SPS huh?

Feel free to answer any question posted to the individuals dear reefers. Hope we can share more as it would also serve for future reference to reefers with 2ft tanks with similar dimensions.

b4 my tank crashed last mth, i used to keep most of my sps under the conditions stated in my signature. i still managed to keep the sps thriving and coloring up. but it might juz grow slower and color up slower as compared to using 250W.