lenver Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 So I used to be in the freshwater side growing out discus, and it was going well till about a little over a month ago my tank silicone seal failed and I sold my discus and other fish that I have, now I'm resealing my tank again, hopefully right this time, and want to go into marine reef, been reading a few and I've decide since I know how things go with the hobby to go slow and start getting my new equipment, for the lights i'm planning on setting a fake canopy and using a fixture on top, what do you think to this option? The tank is 30' High, and the lights will be raised 12-18" from the water, let me know opinions 48" Metal Halide 2x 250 HQI +4 x 65 compacts The Halides will be 14k, and the compacts actinic. So will I have enough lighting for corals? Will the water get too hot and I will need a chiller? I will then later ask about, skimmer, sump, etc. here's a pic on how my tank looked at when it was freshwater discus, also is there a way to know if the glass is tempered, it's really thick I think at least 5/8" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+brian.srock Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 Welcome to the Forum. I use LEDs so can't be much help with the Halides but I'm sure someone will chime in. Here's how to test for tempered. http://www.salt-city.org/showthread.php?9542-How-to-tell-if-glass-is-tempered Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lenver Posted January 23, 2012 Author Share Posted January 23, 2012 That's a cool way to try and determine if it's tempered or not, thanks. BTW I'm open to sugestions, I'm not hard set on the fixture I want, if LED's what fixture(s) would be good, I've heard mix things on the LED's, and I really can't spend 1500 on two radion light fixtures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+brian.srock Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 The LED I use are from Evolution LEDs sold by Reefkoi http://www.evolutionledlight.com/ The 2 EVO100s I know will work for your tank and their $300 each since we share the same depth but you have double the width but you can probably get away with getting one EVO200 for $500 and it could work. I would msg him for what will work for your tank but I'm on 2 years now with them and haven't had to replace any bulbs so just saving on MH bulbs alone that over $200 Super silent, No chiller needed, Dimmable to acclimate and whites and blues are on different switches. If you let him know I referred you that'll also get you free shipping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesL Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 I think that should be sufficient lighting to maintain a lot of corals. I use 2x 150W MH over my standard 75g. Any corals that need a lot of light could always be placed higher in the tank. (And welcome aboard!!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestep Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 That much lighting will be insane. You should be able to grow anything in there. Make sure you have some fans blowing across the surface or you may have major heat problems with that much MH up there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lenver Posted January 23, 2012 Author Share Posted January 23, 2012 Should I go with 150's instead of the 250's? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lenver Posted January 23, 2012 Author Share Posted January 23, 2012 Also, these will be able to be turned on and off independently, it will have one plug for lunars, one for the compacts and one for the MH's, and I have two coralife digital timers, what kind of scheduling would you use, they can have multiple daily scheduling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lenver Posted January 25, 2012 Author Share Posted January 25, 2012 bump Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerrickH Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 With 2 250w hqi, I'd just supplement with two vho actinics or 2 blue plus T5's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestep Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 If you don't mind the electric bill, I would stick with the 250's. It gives you pretty much unlimited options for coral or anemones. You will just need to be careful you don't bleach anything out when it first gets put into the tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lenver Posted January 25, 2012 Author Share Posted January 25, 2012 I won't mind the electric bill, the wife would, so saying I'll go LED, I was trying to find a good option that's you can set for morning, sunset, midday, etc, what would be a good option and without spending a fortune on, also I can do DIY, and I'm in no rush of setting the tank, so I can take time in building it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lenver Posted January 25, 2012 Author Share Posted January 25, 2012 I'm pretty much sold on the evo200, hopefully in the future they will make a control module for automatic dimming Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+brian.srock Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 So have you order your evo200s yet? I'm ordering the 14k spotlights from him and a timer in the next day or so and he's already confirmed free shipping. Going to have a little frag tank set up in the sump and for the price you can't beat it. And the timer is just 10 so pick up 2, 1 for whites and 1 for blues and that should get you the effect which is what I'm currently running. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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