lighting advice (1 Viewer)

[Guest]

okay im in the final stages of getting every thing ready to switch out for my 20L. the only thing lacking is my hood. One of my concers which i have been discussing on some nano forums are my lights. Figured why not discuss it here. I'm running 300 watts vho over the tank. I'm now thinking im just going to frying any coral i put in the tank. Does any one else think this?

 

[ShaneV]

I run 300 watts VHO over my 29 and its fine. (Though the tank is a little deeper)

 

[toefu]

you might run into an issue with heat. I have to have a fan blowing straight into the water to cancel out my 150 de halide pendant.

my 20 high has a 15 gallon sump too

 

[Guest]

temp runs now (which is same setup, im redoing my whole system, see diy section) at 80 degrees with out a fan and 78 with only one. Its just that after i made the switch to this about 2 to 3 months later i lost 95% of my corals. i figure if it was do to my lights they should of died sooner and not months later. and any thing newer i have bought never made it. all tank parameters are optimal. Can i run T-5s off a ice cap ballast that runs vhos?

 

[Bakapuma]

300 watts is good for a 20L. How far away are your lights from the corals? Also, How old are you bulbs and what temp ranges are you using?

 

[Guest]

i would guess the bulbs are 4-5 inches from the surfaces. i was using 2 actinc and 2 actinic white (50/50) all bulbs are a little over 3 months old. but yester day i chaged 2 of the out. now i have 3 actinic and one 10k.
the front 2 are actinic then the 10k then the actinic.
the old configuration was making the tank look pink.

im thinking of replacing the lights with 2 96 watt pcs. isnt this to much light for softys?

 

[Brad]

I think you are probably ok with what you have. if your concerned you could always just rewire to take one (or two) bulb(s) away. Much cheaper than buying a whole new setup.