dpg Posted December 2, 2009 Report Share Posted December 2, 2009 Delving into the saltwater world, with a faily largish setup. Looking to go for a 84 or 96x24x24, end panel overflow plus a closed loop, with piping to a separate fish room in the basement, 3 pumps, 2 heaters w/controllers, separate refugium and sump. Looking for advice on lighting, stuck btw MH and T5's, eventually want to graduate ot a mixed reef, really concerned about all the wattage for teh equipment and electricity bills! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murminator Posted December 2, 2009 Report Share Posted December 2, 2009 It all depend what you are going to do if your going reef tank then MH and T5 actinics, if FOWLR then just T5 is plenty but on the tank that deep you are going to need MH to get light to the bottom. I run MH and T5 actinics for me it works to best. I like the shimmer of the MH and you can grow anything under them with now worries ...unless something low light up high in the tank. If I was to do it all over again this would be the only way I would go again. IMO if the extra $15 a month in power is a concern maybe saltwater is not the way to go. To set up a SW that size starting from scratch you looking at $6000+ without fish or corals so the extra power per month is nothing in the big picture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpg Posted December 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 2, 2009 Im budgeting for under 15K so I guess 15 would be peanuts compared to. So what brand MH is good? That german brand giesmann is costly. Looking to do a topless style, so no canopy, pendant style prefferred, how would i work t5 actinics into that? And moonlighting? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murminator Posted December 2, 2009 Report Share Posted December 2, 2009 (edited) Gieseman lights are very nice. All depends on what you are going to do open top get a nice 1 piece enclosed system BUT I think they only go up to 6' lenth so if you go with a topper go retro fit, or 2 smaller pendants. I use a PFO 2X250W with hamilton bulbs and 2 actinics driven by an icecap ballast over a 4' tank that has been bullet proof over the last 5 years. If Gieseman is in your budget that is the way to go IMO in a 7'-8' tank I would probably go at least 3 MH 4 might be overkill but at least 3 Almost forgot there is also LED out there less power and no bulbs http://www.eco-lamps.com/pdf/KR92%20leaflet.pdf Edited December 2, 2009 by Murminator Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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