mtglore Posted January 16, 2004 Share Posted January 16, 2004 Hi all. I am the proud owner of a 6 gallon nano under 32 watt PCs. However, I have been dreaming lately of a longer, larger tank with SPS potential. A 20L (30" long) or a 30L (36" long) comes to mind. In addition, I am ready to make the leap (finally!) into MH with a DIY retofit for one of the above tanks. My main questions are as follows: -I want to add some actinic PCs or flourescents to the MH for some blue, but also so I can have them on independent timers for the whole dawn/dusk effect. Given the addition of actinics (say 55 watts, each) what color MH should I strike for? Would 10,000K be OK, or should I go to something with more yellow? -Would a single MH bulb (with actinic PCs) over a 20L or a 30L suffice? Given the "longness" of the tanks, I am concerned about light dissipation in extreme portions of the aquarium. -If anyone out there DOES use a single MH bulb for a 20L or 30L (supplemented with actinic or not), what wattage bulb do you use? I was thinking 175W or 250W over the 20L, or 250W over the 30L. Any input, experience, or other help will be greatly appreciated. I have considered using 2 70W bulbs over the 20L, for example, but I have an empty 55 gallong and 75 gallon in the basement and I plan on upgrading to either in the future (given money and enough space). If I use a 175W or 250W retro on the 20L or 30L, I should be able to used them on the larger tanks when (and if) I upgrade. Thanks and best wishes, Michael Link to comment
KrackerG Posted January 16, 2004 Share Posted January 16, 2004 still building it as we speaking, but I will be using 2 70w MH Ushio 10KK DE over my 20L...thats it. Link to comment
Reefer_Buddha Posted January 16, 2004 Share Posted January 16, 2004 thats my setup also If you use a 20k bulb should be enough blue to not need actinic. Link to comment
mtglore Posted January 16, 2004 Author Share Posted January 16, 2004 Do you need any kind of UV filtering lens over the DEs? If so, what do you use? Link to comment
Vincerama Posted January 16, 2004 Share Posted January 16, 2004 Yes, DE's require UV filtering. Use them in a pendant with a UV blocking glass and you should be OK. Having said that, my Ushio 70W bulb is labelled "UHI70AQ-UVP" and looking at USHIO codes, apparently UVP means "UV protective quartz glass" ... but I don't trust it! V Link to comment
Reefer_Buddha Posted January 16, 2004 Share Posted January 16, 2004 stare at it for a while then get back to us, if you can find the computer Link to comment
Von digity Posted January 16, 2004 Share Posted January 16, 2004 Originally posted by mtglore -If anyone out there DOES use a single MH bulb for a 20L or 30L (supplemented with actinic or not), what wattage bulb do you use? I was thinking 175W or 250W over the 20L, or 250W over the 30L. Yes. I have a single, single ended, 250 watt mh over my 20L. No actinic, due to the fact that the bulb is 20k. Since your a DIYer, it costs the same if not cheaper, amount of money to build a 250 than two 70 watters. Link to comment
mtglore Posted January 16, 2004 Author Share Posted January 16, 2004 Von diggity, Are there any dark corners in your 20L or does the single 250watt MH have a nice spread. I read somewhere that they can only illuminate a 24" X 24" area... Link to comment
Von digity Posted January 16, 2004 Share Posted January 16, 2004 Well, its in a pretty big , eclipsed, housing, so the light gets thrown further than if it were in a small block shaped pendant. Corners might be kinda iffy, but I don't see a major problem with it, its a good place to grow some softies anyways, and let sps be dominant in the middle. Plus its more intense (even if it ain't spread out super evenly) than 2x70 watters. I'm such a cheap sun of a gun. Link to comment
jdsabin1 Posted January 16, 2004 Share Posted January 16, 2004 Depends on what you want to do with the inhabitants quite frankly. I have two 175 watt 20k XM's over the tank and it illuminates it beautifully without the need for actinics. If I had one over it I would most definitely have dark spots due to the length of the tank. I wanted SPS and clams so the brighter for me the better. HTH! Link to comment
MrKrispy Posted January 16, 2004 Share Posted January 16, 2004 I just got my 250W mini pendant going last night. I held the pendant over several heights and it still gets light to the edges of my 20L no problem. It won't be as intense, which means it will be great for rics, shrooms, montis, etc... I am using a 20k bulb, it looks great although it isn't broken in yet. I am glad people steered me to 250W. (thanks!)) Link to comment
netscout Posted January 16, 2004 Share Posted January 16, 2004 I'm also planning a 30L with a single 400W PFO MH pendant. I'm going to use a 20kk XM bulb, so I'm hoping that the intensity of the light is enough to provide a good environment in the middle for SPS and Clams, and decent coverage on the ends for softies. I'm going to set it up and see how it looks. If it's too dark on the ends, I'll probably just build a hood and add some PC lighting to the mix. It would be cool if someone was running a similar setup and had some pics to show what the ends look like. I considered a 29, but I like the extra length of the 30 (plus it's free). -Rob Link to comment
KrackerG Posted January 21, 2004 Share Posted January 21, 2004 LOL:D ask 5 different people, get 10 different answers! Link to comment
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