Jump to content
Cultivated Reef

Best lighting for sps corals and clams in a 20L


[InuYasha]

Recommended Posts

Pretty self explanitory, what would be the best lighting for a 20L with sps corals and clams? And don't just say "Metal Halides are the best" give me brands, fixture types, ect.

Link to comment
EtOH_is_good

please define best? best price, best growth ... it all depends on the situation. i like my set up (see sig) but it is kind of expensive. i could have probably diy'ed the same set up for less, but i didn't want to allocate the time to plan and build. 250w mh is as high as you want to go for a 20l, higher and you start cooking things. lamp is good for par. actinic is good for the glow, which is why i really wanted a reef tank. with what i have it is difficult to maintain shrooms and yuma because the light is too much. however, my light set up has been problem free for over a month.

Link to comment

I guess what I am reffering to is what is the best way to light the aquarium. Do you think a single 250W metal halide will cover the entire tank? Price is a bit of a factor, but I don't mind building my own hood.

Link to comment
EtOH_is_good

you'll read that a 250 does not cover the ends. i think the spread is 24 inches, so that means the 3 inches on the sides get reduced lighting. i meant to have shrooms and yumas on the side, but the flow is a little higher. i already need a bigger tank. sigh.

Link to comment
Derek_setter

oh....well....i would do a 175 or 250 watt MH retrofit fixture ( i think lamp dr. can hook u up there for a good price) and you can go 10k 14k or 20k, depending on how blue you want it. and i would also do some actinic. Dual 65's with the 175 or a single 65 (or 55) for the 250. That is just what I would do to get awsome growth and the color i would want. For a reflector, you could go to home depot, get some aluminum, polish it, and bend it right. Thre are numerous diy threads on stuff like this

Link to comment

Thanks you two. I think probably the best way would be to build a simple hood, place a 250W in the middle, and stager a pair of 65W pcs to help fill in the edges. I hate having the water look blue, so I think I would run with a 10K bulb, and even use 10k bulbs for the pc, you have no idea how much I hate that blue hue!

Link to comment

i'm trying to gather materials for a new 20L and i recently acquired a 250w MH fixture w/reflector. i gotta say, these things are HUGE! i think anything more than 250w on a 20L is pushing it... and i'm already having second thoughts about whether or not i should've gotten a single 175w and 2x32w PC actinics for supplement. with the 250w and the way the reflector is shaped i don't think i could manage to stuff any PC fixtures in the hood.

Link to comment

you could also use 2 70w MH for a 20L. as long as your height is not over 14 inches (from water line to sand bed) 70w is fine.

 

 

nalbar

Link to comment
EtOH_is_good

yeah, forgot to mention that the 250w lamp is big, really big. you'll need a tall hood to keep the lights far enough away from boiling the water (kidding about boiling, more like tepid). there are a lot of new and old 20L tanks with all kinds of lighting combinations. definately do a search because some of the people with the nice 20l tanks hardly visit anymore.

Link to comment
Derek_setter

i thought about that idea nalbar, the two 70 watters, but inu yahsa was afraid of cost, and 70 watt dual bulbs can be more expensive than a single higher wattage bulb. I have a single 70 watt mh at 10k, and a 32 watt 10k/act retro. I did that so i coudl keep sps and clams wher ehte light is concentrated, and it would let me keep some lps or summin to the sides. plus ti gives good shadowy areas for lower lights things, like btas (they dont NEED high light)

Link to comment

Does "I hate blue hue" ring a bell? NO ACTINICS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I do like the 70W mh idea, LampDr. has some nice retros for I believe $140 with shipping, or did he stop making them?

Link to comment
Derek_setter

on that blue hue, when i run a 10 k halide and some 50/50 i cant see the actinic at all... I like a crisp 10k. it isn't blue, and it isnt yellowy and crappy looking. as for the 2x70 watt... 140 dollars for just the bulbs. for an equibalent wattage buble, DE 150 watt bulbs, 60-75 dollrs for the bulb. much cheaper/wtt with a better selection of bulb. I wish i had gone with making a 150 watt fixture, but i am not complaining about the 70's, they are great

Link to comment
Originally posted by [inuYasha]

Does "I hate blue hue" ring a bell?  NO ACTINICS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Get your head out of your ass. You want SPS and Clams.. but you don't want blue. Have you ever seen what a clam looks like under a 10k bulb? Not to say they don't look good.. but nothing like under an actinic supplemented 14-20k bulb IMO. It's your tank, have it your way, but if you're gonna spend that much money in trying to keep up your sps and clams- you're gonna be real pissed off when they don't look good.

Link to comment

Head in my ass? Where do you get off telling me what to do? If I want to keep my head in my ass, that is my own damn business!

 

Yes, I have seen sps corals and clams under 10K bulb, and I have seen them under 6500K bulbs, and they look great.

Link to comment

this shouldn't be a big deal... just get what you want, it's your money, he's just giving his opinion on "lighting" (which you asked for)... if you like 10K look, then so be it.

Link to comment

LOL Xx, what a silly post! lighting is SO personal! i HATE the blue look and only use 10K on my tanks. i HATE fish stores that 'cheat' on their lighting to give their stuff more color. to each his own.

 

ya derek, that single MH with pc's sounds sweet. interesting how you dont mind 'darker' edges. so many here fear that. IMO on a 20L you could go ONE 70w and be fine. the one i have on my 7.5 lights up all around the tank. of course this is with an open top, which allows you to raise the pendant, spreading the light. it might not be possible with a hood.

 

DIY 70w with bulb, ballast, and regent fixture are around 110 dollars. that means 2 would be 220-230 for a 20L. pretty resonable for lighting that allows you to keep anything.

 

 

nalbar

Link to comment

I saw someone that was using a single 250W Metal Halide above their 29, and I didn't see any sort of darkened edges. Do you really think suspending a single pendant high enough above the aquarium so that it will cover the entire tank will work? I would have to imagin that it being 250W would allow you to suspend it higher.

Link to comment

From what I know, the closer to natural sunlight you get, the better they do. My goal is to keep sps that you would find in high energy, shallow water areas, maybe with only a few feet of water, so it would make scense for the tank to look bright and white, maybe even a bit yellow. Not orange barf glow, but just barly a tint of it.

Link to comment
Derek_setter

yeah, the higher you suspnd it, the less heat will be transfered to the water (you will prolly wanna use a fan if it gets to be too bad) and it will light up more of an area. on my 15 gal.... a single 70 att mh looks like this.....(this was during a dust storm after moving hte rock around)

 

5822latest_scape-med.jpg

 

the pc light isnt on, andd the pendant isnt're more than 5 or 6 inches of the water.

Link to comment

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recommended Discussions

×
×
  • Create New...