105 Gallon Lighting (1 Viewer)

[smithder]

I have a Oceanic 105. Its a tall tank. It came with an Ice Cap 660 and VHO bulb setup in the hood. I was smooth enough to wash down the ballast with saltwater last night :-x and was wondering what you guys recomend for lighting. Should I replace my ballast or upgrade my lighting to something else. Of coure I am hunting the for sale forum for options.

I was thinking maybe this:
coralife Dual150wMH and 2 96w actinic

THANKS!!

 

[chriskb3]

It really depends on what you plan on keeping in the tank, and how much heat you are comfortable with.

A tank that tall will almost certainly need MH if you plan on keeping corals throughout the height of the tank. If you plan on keeping any of the higher light demanding corals/clams I wouldnt do anything less than a few 250w halides.

On the other hand, if you are only planning on keeping fish with at most just a few soft corals, you can get away using VHO, T5HO and/or smaller MH.

 

[smithder]

Thanks for the responce. I'm not sure where i might end up with the corals. I bought this as a complete set up and it has enough live rock that I built a rock wall all the way up the back. He had a few corals mainly mushrooms, purple bubble coral and I think frogspawn. Only two fish right now. Yellow tang and clown. Would the 150MH be good or are the way too small if I get alot of coral

 

[chriskb3]

I think you will be fine with the 150's for now if you stick with soft corals and LPS. If you see any of the corals streatching for light, then move them up a little.

I ran 2 150w halides on my 24" tall 180 gallon for a while and even most of my "easy" SPS did fine.

 

[crvz]

150W metal halide bulbs are fine on shallow tanks, but I imagine yours is in the 29" range, right? If that's the case, the 150W bulbs are not going to penetrate the water column and you'll be very limited on the type of coral you can keep. I'd seriously consider 250W metal halide fixture, but can you share the dimensions of your tank?

 

[i_am_poor]

48x30x18

 

[i_am_poor]

&($*#@*&$(#@&$ no edit button.

48x18x30

 

[smithder]

That sounds like about the right dimensions. So to move forward building a reef tank. The VHOs are not an option and I need the 250 MH??

 

[i_am_poor]

All depends on what you'd like to keep.

-VHO you can keep softie & some lps
-150-175w - can keep some sps on upper half of the tank
-250w - most flexibility