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FAQs about Large Marine System Lighting
Related Articles: Large Marine Systems, Fish-Only
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Skimmers, Large System Stocking,
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Question About Lighting Spectrum 4/19/09
Hi Crew,
<Matt.>
I have a hopefully not too dumb of a question about lighting
spectrum. I am building a 800 gallon (120" x 44" x 36") in wall reef
tank and I'm weighing my options on lighting.
<Wow, big tank!>
The tank will be about 30 inches deep to the top of the sand. I am
planning on 36 inches tall with a 6 inch deep sand bed.
The tank will have sps corals. I don't know if 2 48" 8 bulb T5HO
fixtures will be enough for a tank this deep. What is your opinion?
<Well, it depends on where you intend to place the corals. If you
want some on the bottom I would go with 10+ bulbs or MH.>
Of course, metal halide is an option, but worried about heat and
power consumption. Would I need 250 watt MH or more?
<250s will do it.>
Now, the spectrum I want is 14,000K because of the corals and
inverts. I was looking at the Lights of America Fluorex fixtures
(the 100 watt fixture) but I don't want the 6500K bulb spectrum of
these fixtures. First, would it be possible to make a diy filter
(possibly blue tinted acrylic) to alter the spectrum, or would I
still essentially have 6500K wavelengths that just look blue to the
eye.
<Hmm, it effectively would change the spectrum by filtering out the
red end of the spectrum.
You do end up with less usable light for your corals.>
I have had the best luck with coral coloration and algae control
with 14,000K bulbs. With the cheaper fixture costs and operating
expenses, I could use more of the Fluorex fixtures, possible
supplemented with actinics. Please give me your opinion/advice on
what is the best lighting route to go for this size tank.
<I am not much of an advocate for MH these days, but in this case I
would go with four 250 metal halides.
There is little that will be frugal about running an 800 gallon
reef!>
Thank you for all you do, I use your site often. Matt
<Thank you and welcome, Scott V.>
Lighting a Large Tank, Reef 8/9/08
Hello,
<Hello.>
I am
researching and asking as many questions as I can about keeping a reef
tank because in a few years I plan on starting a 400 gal. tank that is
96"Lx36"Wx30"H
I am looking at light fixtures and my goal is that I
would like to mainly have LPS, polyps and mushroom corals (of course as
far apart as possible to prevent chemical warfare as well as other
problems) as well as fish and a bubble
tip anemone and maybe one
other type of anemone (probably not though as I am too afraid of
chemical warfare between two different species of anemone), but
seriously I am going to do more research before I start adding different
corals and fish.
<Good.>
The thing is I may want one or two SPS
corals and I just want to have the right lighting in the beginning so I
won't have to upgrade my lighting if I decide I want to do SPS instead,
although I really am not big on SPS but I do like a few Acropora
(http://www.liveaquaria.com/diversden/ItemDisplay.cfm?c=2733+5&ddid=45456)
. I am looking at Photon Plus 4' 2 x 400W HQI-SE+6x 54W T5 and I was
thinking of buying two of those for the tank but I have heard that MH's
only cover a 2'x2' area in tank and with it being wide
that would
mean a foot of low light.
<Pretty much, a light every two feet will
give the most even coverage. Some like the look of uneven lighting.>
I could buy 4 Photon Plus 4' 2 x 400W HQI-SE+6x 54W T5 but then that
would be 11 watts per gallon and I am afraid it would be overkill for my
tank. I could go with 2 Photon Plus 4' 2 x 400W HQI-SE+6x 54W T5 and 2
Photon Plus 4' 2 x 250W HQI-DE+6x 54W T5 which would give me about 9
watts per gallon, but I am just really confused on what is best in terms
of lighting for my tank. I've looked through several of the articles on
your site and I couldn't find exactly what I was looking for. 30” tall
tank you really do not need 400 watt halides for this, 250’s will do
fine. Do also consider the T5 lighting, something in the neighborhood of
800-900 watts should do. The T5 lights will impart less heat into your
tank, saving you on power while offering flexibility in both bulb
configuration and the ability to add and subtract bulbs as needed for
your livestock.>
Thanks for any input you have.
~*~Brat~*~
<Welcome, Scott V.>
Lighting for the big one 02/03/2008
Hello,
<<Hi, Andrew
today>>
I am building a custom tank from scratch. So far I have the
tank, sump, and skimmer done so now I'm to the point of choosing the
lighting system. First of all the tank dimension are 83"W x 27" H x 27"
D. roughly 270 gal. the sump is roughly 60 gal and the skimmer holds
about 18 gal of water. The filtration has a 1800 gal meg drive pump to
return water to the display and the skimmer is using an ocean runner
2500 with needle wheel to re-circulate the water within it. . The set up
will start out as fish only and gradually going to reef plus fish and
eventually adding corals.
<<Sounds superb>>
I have searched and
asked questions on many sites and forums but the opinion seem to vary so
much that I can't make an intelligent decision.
<<One of the many
issued posed by forum questions. Lots of answers>>
I've been told
that MH are only good for about 22" depth and compact fluorescent even
less.
<<A 400W metal halide lamp will be fine for over 22 - 24" deep
tanks>>
I've been suggested to use a 400W MH in the middle and 2 175W
on either side with the addition of 2 compact fluorescent fixtures for
the length of the tank to even out the lighting of the display. This was
suggested by a site that sells lighting.
<<Certainly agree with the
400W, however having the 175w's on each side of the 400w will give the
tank darker areas and may not be suited to you taste or stocking plans>>
Now it seems to me that that is an awful amount of light not to mention
the expenses. Of course I'm thinking
the heat generated will give me
a big problem as well. So how would you set up the lighting for this
huge tank?
<<Due to the depth of the tank, 400w lamps are your new
best friend. If you deem 3 400w to be too much lighting, then maybe a
400w in the middle and a 250w on each side of this and place light
demanding corals per their lighting requirements>>
Off the subject,
what do you suggest as far as initial amount of live stock and species
to get this tank started?
<<That really only something that you can
suggest, as its your system>>
Searching for an answer to this riddle,
I ran across this site so here I am with the question. Hope you guys can
be of help on the lighting dilemma.
Thanks in advance
<<Thanks
for the questions, hope it helps. A Nixon>> T5 Lighting
7/7/06
I am in the process of upgrading my 55G tank to a 140G
tank. The 140G is a 30" high tank which I know is less than ideal but
was the largest one
I could fit into my space. I plan to keep some
clams, soft corals, and a few stony corals (high up only). My question
relates to the lighting. I
have a T5 set up that has 3 80W bulbs and
another in front that has 2 54W bulbs. At the moment I have 11K Aqua
Blues in the 3 bulb and actinic
bulbs in the 2. The lighting seems
rather intense but one of my corals at the bottom of the tank is losing
its color. Is there a problem with my lighting?
<With this depth of
water... likely so>
Do you have any suggestions on bulb setups?
Thanks for all your help.
<For water depths over two feet, many
"corals" "need" metal halide... Please read here re:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/T5fluorFAQs.htm
and peruse the files
linked above. Bob Fenner> Supplemental HQI Lighting On A 900
Gallon Tank 8/6/06
Salutations!
<Hello Tim>
I'm currently in the process of setting up a rather large aquarium, a
10' x 4' x 3' monster (3 feet deep). The tank is acrylic, and has 3
large 30" square cutouts on the top.
My setup is as follows:
1)
I live in Arizona in a house with a flat roof.
2) I installed 3 24"
Solar tubes in the ceiling directly over the tank. The tubes extend
down to about 18-24" off the top of the tank, and don't precisely
line up with the cutouts. The two on the ends are slightly to the outer
edge of the tank, and all three are more towards the back of the tank.
(Joist placement issues)
3) The tank is in a dedicated room, (front
of the tank is picture-frame style into the living room) so aesthetics
of the fixtures is unimportant.
4) I plan to dedicate this tank
primarily to shallow water SPS and clams.
I suspect that the three
solar tubes, while providing a huge amount of light and hopefully
offsetting my electric bill, will not be enough light for this tank. I
also think that for aesthetic reasons, I will need some blue or actinic
lights to offset the natural sunlight coloring.
Along those lines,
my current thinking is to add three 20,000K 400W HQI MH fixtures to the
tank. However, because of where the tubes are, these would be
centered more towards the front 1.5 feet of the tank. I'm concerned
that alot of my light will go directly onto the sandbed and the living
room out the front
face. I was thinking perhaps I could angle the
fixtures towards the rear of the tank, but I'm not sure if this will
cause a high loss of light through
reflection off the water
surface. The other option would be to put 2 halides over the braces
between the solar tubes, but I am concerned about the effect of
the
high intensity light being directed directly at an acrylic panel. I
suspect I will end up mounting a fan on the wall blowing crosswise
across the entire
tank to keep the heat down. Also, the room is
air-conditioned.
So:
What kind of supplemental lighting would
you recommend for this setup?
How would you position the lamps?
Is a 400W HQI too much power? Maybe some other combination? I can
always also run them for only a few hours each day to simulate a
mid-day-sun.
Any other thoughts on lighting this monster?
<Tim,
a few questions before I can proceed. First, is the tank currently set
up and running? If so, are any SPS corals or clams in the system at
present, and,
how are they looking with just the solar tubes? James
(Salty Dog)>
Tim Big Tank- Big
Plans (Pt. 2)
Dear Scott,
Thank you for your response.
<You're quite welcome!>
One last thought please. Will the live
rock/sand in the sump and tank floor itself need special lighting ? What
kind do you recommend? How long should the lights be left on if I put
live rock in the sump?
<The sand does not necessarily need to be lit.
If you are going to keep macroalgae in the sump, lighting is, of course,
mandatory. I'd use an inexpensive power compact fixture, run on a
"reverse daylight" schedule (i.e. lights on when the display is dark,
and vice-versa).>
You guys have no idea how much I appreciate all you
do and it is obvious so does everyone else!!!
Chris Drialo
<Thanks
so much for the kind words! We certainly enjoy bringing WWM to you every
day! Good luck with your system! Regards, Scott F.>
Lighting a Huge tank
Lets say I built a aquarium 96" long by 48"
wide by 48" tall. Is this even possible??)
<Sure>
out of plywood
and glass according to the methods on www.garf.org. Would 8 96" VHO's be
enough lighting to make this tank relatively bright and enough light for
live rock and softies and polyps and shrooms?
<Barely... metal
halides are best for this size, depth of system>
If I made a tank to
these dimensions, would (2) Berlin XL's Protein Skimmers each rated for
up to 500 gallons be enough skimming?
<Should be close... but I'd
look into EuroReef, ETS lines>
How many GPH on an external pump
would you recommend?
<5-8kgph... look into Baldor-motored Sequence
pumps... much cheaper to operate>
And HOW would I heat a tank this
big? With what type of heaters? This would sure require a lot of salt.
Well, Thanks!, Adam M.
<There are in-line resistant heaters of
thousands of watts... You can find these on the Net. Bob Fenner>
Tank Recommendations - 06/20/05
WWM Crew,
How's it going?
<<Well, thank you.>>
I'm sure you get a lot of these types of "Is
this right?" questions so I appreciate anyone who can take the time to
reply.
<<Just glad you're asking the questions now <G>.>>
I'm
currently planning (I over plan everything. From substrate to filtration
to livestock to daily/monthly routines) a 375 gallon reef tank.
<<SWEET! That happens to be what I have too!>>
It will be 96x30x30
with a sump of around 80 gallons.
<<Hey man!...you been peekin' in
my window?>>
That is unless I can get it plumbed into the closet in
which case I want to go bigger.
<<There ya go!>>
As well, it
will have a 100 gallon refugium that will be on a stand next to it.
<<Excellent!>>
My goal is to actually make the refugium interesting
and not something hidden away.
<<Is just as fascinating as the main
display, yes.>>
With mainly Chaetomorpha and Gracilaria Parvispora
for occasional tang feeding.
<<Both great algae for a vegetable
refugium...but I would recommend picking just one to go with. Just like
corals, the algae will compete for space/dominance in the refugium.>>
The refugium will have a 6-8" sand bed, 150-175 pounds of Fiji live
rock, and will be where I can finally put my 3-stripe damsel.
<<Dude...I was right there with ya up to this point! With the sand bed
(which I applaud) and the live rock, you won't have much room for
macroalgae growth. I would suggest choosing one method or the other
(rock 'fuge or veggie 'fuge). And whatever you do...DON'T put that
damsel in the refugium, it will quickly deplete your pod population
(read: defeat the purpose of the refugium).>>
As well, I'm planning
on keeping a mated pair of coral banded shrimp, and a flame hawk in this
tank as well.
<<All good. But do be aware hawk fish are neither
peaceful nor particularly reef-safe.>>
Moving on, the main display
will have over 500 lbs of live rock (mainly Fiji, but some Tonga
branch), a 3-4" sand bed.
<<Way too much rock, in my opinion. Think
about going for a more "open" seascape. Open space/rockwork looks
fantastic in a large tank like this, gives corals/fish space to grow
"big", not to mention the ease on the pocket book. You really don't
need to "fill" the tank with rock for effective bio-filtration,
specially with the DSB (I'd bump that to 5-6 inches, by the way.)
The skimming will be done with a Euro-Reef CS12-3 and I'll also be using
a KNOP Calcium Reactor S-IV. This is the only brand that I've found for
this size at a reasonable price. Any recommendations would be great.
<<No problems here with either product. I have the same skimmer on my
375, though I went with the PM-CR622 for my calcium reactor.>>
As
well as Maxi-jet's, Tunze Turbelle Streams, and such for water movement.
<<Love those Streams! I'm pushing around about 11,000 gph...would
recommend same (or more) for you.>>
My first question is about
lighting.
<<Uh oh...shoulda been pacing myself.>>
My goal is to
primarily keep LPS with some Zoanthids and a couple of Montipora SPS
species. Would you recommend 4 400W MH or 4 250w MH?
<<Wouldn't
recommend 400w even of you were keeping "high light" acros...go with the
250w... or better yet 150w (DE), considering what you want to keep.>>
Also, do you think PC actinics or VHO actinics would work better?
<<Moot point...use 10,000k halide bulbs and the actinics will be for
your pleasure, not the corals.>>
Would 1 watt blue LED's reach the
bottom of the tank for moon lighting?
<<Yes. But again...this is
for you.>>
Also, what do you recommend for Kelvin rating? I've seen
really good tanks with 10,000k and 14,000k, but have also heard
recommendations for mixing different ratings.
<<Maybe...tis up to
you. My recommendation is all 10K.>>
I know much of this is opinion
questions, but I really do like getting honest opinion.
<<No
prob! Opinions I have in abundance <G>.>>
As far as livestock, I'd
like to know if you foresee any problems with this livestock list
(attained over a very long period, 2+ years). All quantities are 1
unless stated otherwise: Opistognathus aurifrons,
<<Hold off on the
mandarin for at least a year (good advice for all fish if you can do
it!) until the refugium can provide a sustainable food supply.>>
6
Chromis viridis, Centropyge Aurantius, Centropyge Multispinis, Ecsenius
Midas, Salarias Fasciatus,
<<I don't really consider ANY blenny to
be "reef-safe.">>
2 Amphiprion Ocellaris, 2 Black Amphiprion
Percula, 2 Elacatinus Oceanops, 2 Pterapogon Kauderni, 1 Stonogobiops
Nematodes, Gobiodon strangulatus, 1 Gobiodon Okinawae, 2 Nemateleotris
Decora,
<<The gobies will be great in this tank.>>
Paracheilinus
Filamentous, Wetmorella nigropinnata, Cirrhilabrus, Laboutei,
Pseudanthias Dispar, Oxycirrhites Typus,
<<Longnose hawks are
fascinating, curious fish...but you'd be surprised at the size shrimp
they can get in their mouths...you are forewarned.>>
Centropyge
Loriculus, Centropyge Bispinosus, Tank Bred Pseudochromis Fridmani, Tank
Bred Pseudochromis Springeri, Acanthurus Achilles,
<<I can't endorse
the Achilles Tang...needs more flow/more space than even this tank can
supply.>>
Ctenochaetus Hawaiiensis, Paracanthurus hepatus ,
Zebrasoma Flavescens,
<<Honestly...not a tang person when it comes
to reef tanks...but these last three should be fine in this size
system...if you must <G>.>>
2 Blue Synchiropus Splendidus.
<<Again with the mandarins? Please do wait on these.>>
As well as
various snails, hermits, and cleaner shrimp.
<<Other than noted...a
fine selection...do keep an eye on the pygmies though...can be risky to
mix so many, even in a big tank, as well as a risk to corals.>>
Any feedback you have would be greatly appreciated. I'm just looking to
make sure I have the best possible start that I can provide for my
underwater friends. Also, one last question, I want to use a 55 gallon
tank just for holding live rock to culture algae on it so I can put it
into the main display for the tangs and angels and then remove it and
continually replace it with other pieces in the algae tank about once a
week. My question, what lighting would you recommend for growing algae
on the rock and would I have to use any supplements on this tank as well
to encourage growth?
<<No supplements...and a couple or three 65w
6500K PC lights will serve you well.>>
Thank you again for your
help.
Nick
<<Is a pleasure, Eric R.>>
Lighting For A
Deep Tank - 08/12/05
Hello,
<<Evening>>
I have a large
reef tank that is 3.5 feet deep with the lowest part of the tank being 3
feet from the (soon to be) halides.
<<neat>>
I was wondering if
250w HQI bulbs would be sufficient to keep various Montipora species
alive at the lowest levels.
<<Well...I'm one of those folks that
believe lighting is a bit "overrated and overstated" when it comes to
reef tanks. Not saying it isn't necessary mind you, but rather than
just throwing mega-watts of light at the corals I feel proper flow and
adequate feeding can do much, with "light" serving as an adjunct to
these rather then the other way around. I would try this, especially if
you keep the species with higher light needs in the upper two-thirds of
the tank. Do pay special attention to water clarity (ozone is wonderful
for this!).>>
Also how far apart should I space the lighting
fixtures from one another.
<<Maximum of two feet apart, but I like
to go with 18" (or less) myself for a bit more "overlap." EricR>>
Large System - 08/16/05
I recently acquired a 600 gallon tank
that I am planning some upgrades for.
<<cool>>
The
tank came with 2 - 6' VHO's. It's a 4' tall tank, and I just want it to
look REALLY nice, not necessarily try to grow anything in it (aside from
healthy fish).
<<ok>>
I haven't gotten it filled yet, or the
lights hooked up so I'm not sure how bright it's going to be, but I'm
curious if VHOs can hack it or would it be recommended to bump it up to
halides even though its a FOWLR.
<<The VHOs will work fine for the
fish (may want to add a couple more tubes), but I wouldn't expect any
life to "flourish" on the live rock in the bottom third of the tank. I
prefer the look of a single-point light source myself...and considering
the depth of this tank, would likely opt for the halides.>>
I want to mount my 125 above the 600 if that is possible and use it as a
refugium/invert display to complement my FOWLR, so it would be nice if
I could avoid the heating issues that would inevitably arise with
halides.
<<A valid concern...but don't be fooled in to believing
VHOs won't be hot. The use of cooling/exhaust fans will likely be
required for either application.>>
That leads to my next question
and that is...are there any nifty tricks aside from drilling (glass
tank), and overflow boxes (the devil) to getting a top mounted tank to
overflow to a tank below?
<<Not that I'm aware/would
trust. Drilling really is you're best option.>>
Third
question - The tank came with two Oceanclear canisters (which I am
scraping for this project), and two 1200 gph external pumps. There are
four drilled holes and bulkheads in the bottom of the tank from this,
and two pumps I have no great use for. Would it be hazardous at all to
just run two small closed-loops right out the bottom - provided that I
elevated the drains above
the substrate?
<<Employ "true"
closed-loops and you have no worries.>>
And would that be
worthwhile?
<<Absolutely!>>
I'm going to plumb a Dolphin AquaSea
in for a closed loop on the back so if I had to plumb them any other way
it probably wouldn't be worth the hassle.
<<More flow the
better...whether a reef or a FOWLR.>>
Lastly - just
before my dreams get out of control - assuming I have top notch water
quality, and 600+ lbs of live rock how many "stocking rules" can I break
in a tank this size?
<<Every tank has it's own set of rules...>>
Can I keep a school of Yellow or Blue Tangs...or multiple Pomacanthus
angels...or keep a Sohal with other types of tangs...or....you get the
picture :)
<<Unfortunately yes, I do <G>... You don't give the tank
dimensions, but at 4 feet in height I'm guessing it's no longer than 8
feet (96"x48"x30" ?). The Sohal gets too big even for this tank to be
happy/well adjusted for its lifetime...the blue tangs (Hippo?), though
not quite as large as the Sohal at maturity, are so robust, active, and
high strung/twitchy as to (in my opinion) require more swimming room,
more flow, and more "hidey holes", than most casual hobbyist can
provide...especially if more than one. As for the yellow tangs, I might
be tempted to try a trio (all same size introduced together) in this
tank. Careful selection of a Pomacanthus might prove interesting as
well (two might be trouble)...tho be warned, these can/will become
bruisers at maturity...choose tank mates well. At least research your
selections (fishbase.org provides good info on adult size, gut content
(food), etc.) and seriously consider their requirements/needs before
purchase.>>
Muchas Gracias, I always appreciate your
input.
Scott
<<Happy to be here to assist/give
opinion. Regards, EricR>>
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