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Light for 40G, 24" high tank [6X 39W T5HO or 250W MH + 4X 39W T5HO]

I am looking for a light fixture that doesnt prevent me from keeping anything in my tank {SPS,clams etc].
I am debating between a 6X 39W T5HO fixture and a 250W MH + 4X 39W T5 fixture.

Please help me decide and/or provide me with alternatives.
 
with a 24" tank t-5's would be ok if you kept the sps/clams mid to top level of the tank....

with the mh + t-5's you could keep anything...anywhere
 

redfishbluefish

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
I don’t have direct experience, but MH plus four T5’s on a 40 gallon…I would think you could have a potential heat problem without running a chiller. I defer to those who know to comment.
 
That was precisely what I was thinking of doing. I would run a fan with the same timing as the MH bulb.

Jerzsky, I can keep my SPS only in the top-midlevel of the tank (no matter how unnatural that looks), but how do I confine my clam there? Don't they move around?

Also I would be running the light on my 20G setup till the time I am not done with the 40G. If I replace the 250W with a 14K 150W bulb, and run a fan with the MH, do you think that would be OK?
 
with clams you have to be careful....

pick a spot that you think would look great, and thats it. once they lock theyre foot there, you will damage/kill them if you try to remove the foot and move them. you could always place the clam on a rock, and if you dont like the spot after a while you couldmove the rock without hurting the clam.

sps dont look unatural at mid level. just think about a reef, they grow wherever they can get substatial light and food. i know of an awesome 40 gallon full of sps at all different levels
 
OK .. now I am back to the option of having both and utterly confused ??? T5s would consume less energy and give out less heat though.

Thanks a lot jerzsky :mad: ;D
 
My 40G is 24"H X 36"L X 12"W. ... but its a bit more complicated than that. The fixture I want to get I would like to be on my 20G till the time the 40G is not setup.

If I got the MH setup, then I was thinking of running it with a 150MH bulb on my 20G
If I got the 6X 39W T5HO setup, then I was thinking of running it with 4X 39W on my 20G.
 
well if your going mh route, you would want to buy two 150 mh and two t-5. you could go with a fiji purple bulb and an ati actinic, they would bring out amazing colors. and just run the one 150 till the 40 is up.

if you go with the all t-5 setup. you could get the 6x39 model, it wouldnt hurt to run them all on the twenty
 
Thanks a lot jerzsky, it does make sense to have two lower powered MH instead of one higher powered. I am thinking of the currentUSA outer orbit, which might work nicely for me.

Good advice, you just saved me from bidding on something I should not have got.
 
Well the seller of the light let me know I could replace the stock 250W MH with a 150W MH so I got the light.

As per description it should have:
4X 39W Actinic T5H0, with an individual switch and parabollic reflectors.
1 250W MH with an individual switch and a parabollic reflector.
14 blue LED lights
UV protecting shields on the lights
5" legs
Optional hang bracket setup
2 yrs warranty (hopefully it doesnt catch fire after that :))

And I got the baby for $270 all inclusive ;D.

.. But as is the case with all irritating noobs, I still have questions...

1. Can I replace the 2 stock Actinics with white T5s and run them in the same cycle as the Actinics, till I get the 150W MH?
2. Will the 250W 14K MH be an overkill for a 20G. (its 12.5W/ gallon).
3. Can I run the MH at night, when the ambient temperature is lower and I am at house in case of fire?

Thanks for the patient reading,
Gogol
 
ok...first of all, im not up on the info of the outer orbit, but the ballast do not switch to a lower rating, your bulbs just gonna pop!

and i thought you were gonna go for two lights instead of one?? theres a good place for retro kits, and one for dual pendant kits. better check on that fixture, you might be running into a ripoff.

and yes, you can run the bulbs at night. your lighting cycle will be at night though...
 

magic

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
gogol said:
Well the seller of the light let me know I could replace the stock 250W MH with a 150W MH so I got the light.

As per description it should have:
4X 39W Actinic T5H0, with an individual switch and parabollic reflectors.
1 250W MH with an individual switch and a parabollic reflector.
14 blue LED lights
UV protecting shields on the lights
5" legs
Optional hang bracket setup
2 yrs warranty (hopefully it doesnt catch fire after that :))

And I got the baby for $270 all inclusive ;D.

.. But as is the case with all irritating noobs, I still have questions...

1. Can I replace the 2 stock Actinics with white T5s and run them in the same cycle as the Actinics, till I get the 150W MH?
2. Will the 250W 14K MH be an overkill for a 20G. (its 12.5W/ gallon).
3. Can I run the MH at night, when the ambient temperature is lower and I am at house in case of fire?

Thanks for the patient reading,
Gogol

I don't think you can swap bulbs between a 250w mh and a 150w two different fixtures.

Bob
 

magic

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
I have a Outer Orbit 36" 2x 150w, 4 x 39w T5s and I love it. It did raise the temp on my 46g to where I needed a chiller for the summer.

Bob
 
Ok, so if I was to shut off the my for my 20g and keep the 4 t5s running (either 4 actinics or 2actinics and 2 white) but on the same cycle, is there an issue with that?
 
well...if you get the oftional hanging kit, you could raise the unit up higher and use the mh on the twenty. me personally, 5" is too close on any tank. i beleive 8" is perfect, and if your running a fan, there is next to no eed for a chiller. depending on what you do will decide if you use the mh or not.

but yes you could use the t-5's in the mean time.

what type of lighting do you have over your twenty now?

if you have compact flourescents. your gonna need to acclimate your corals to the new lighting. t-5's or mh.

t-5's and mh lighting put out a much brighter and broader spectrum than cf lighting, and theres a chance of hurting the coral.

if you just go with t-5s, putlike two layers of pet screening across the top of the tank. leave them there running the t-5;s for 4-5 days, then remove a layer. leave the other layer there for another 5days, then remove that one.

for using the mh theres a bit more tedious method. but it works with out any problems.
acclimate it like this and there wont be a problem:
start with 2 hours of MH on today.

Actinics on 6pm to 8am

Then bump the MH up one hour every three days.

So at the end it will be:

Actincs on 6pm

MH on about 7pm

MH off 7am

Actincs off 8am

LEDs on all night, off all day

unless the 40gallon is getting setup soon, then just use the t-5's only. just givin ya the info, so you dont bleach out your corals.
 
Thanks a lot for the info jerzsky. I contacted the guy again, and he said that if he does provide the 150 , it will be with ballasts for 150 and I would not be able to put 250 without replacing the ballasts.

So for the 20g I would go ahead with just the t5s.

Yes I do use pc lighting right now and would be looking out for petscreens for the acclimatisation. Any ideas where to get them?

Again thanks so much for the advice, I will need to find out how high I can suspend the lights in my current setup.
 
home depot carrys pet screening. its like regular window screen, but a lil thicker.

what do u have now for a top. is your current setup open top, or does it have a canopy.

cause if you suspend the light about 8" from te water srface, and acclimate all your corals in the 20, with the mh, and t-5's. you wont have to acclimate them all over agin when u setup the 40.
 
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