75 gallon light question

[dvmsn]

That is plenty of light. Not all sps require extremely intense light, although that lighting setup will provide enough for those that do. I keep my halides about three inches from the surface.

 

[Nathan1]

Sounds good to me. I use two 400W 10K Ushio, but the 250W Iwasaki's are pretty bright. You should be just fine, and above average.

Good luck!

-Nathan

 

[Anonymous]

Are you going to put any glass on the top of the tank?
If not; just make sure your lights are out of splash range.

 

[pez]

That's very close to the setup I have on my 75 right now. Except I have NO lamps instead of VHO FL's. I have my lamps about 6" from the water level. FWIW, they get splashed all the time without a problem. However, better safe than sorry. Also, acrylic would probably be better than glass.

-Tom

 

[SuperLeet]

acrilic tank? or covering?

 

[SuperLeet]

acrilic tank? or covering?

 

[Anonymous]

acryllic lid or shield on the top.

there is a school of thought that says you pay a lot of money for MH lights, so why put anything between the water and your bulbs?
even glass can cause reflection, a filtering of colors, and loss of intensity.
so many folks raise the lights out of splash range (i think about 6 inches) and leave an open top. evaporation may increase, but your lights will be pure.

 

[danmhippo]

Not to mention that raising the clearance height, you will also less likely to have overheating problems.

 

[SuperLeet]

Will this be enough for SPS corals and anything else i want?

2 65k 250 W MH
2 48" 110W VHO Actinics?

Thanx

Also, if i decide to get a retrofit, how high should MH be above the water?

 

[Burgman]

Hi,

Be careful about putting any type of plastic between the lights and the tank. 2-250w lamps might melt or deform the plastic. I would keep the MH at least 12" off of the surface of the water. The amount of light you have should be fine for any type SPS corals. I'm running 2-110w VHO's and 2-175W MH on my 75gal. and my SPS's are doing great.

 

[pez]

I had acrylic 4" from 2 250 watt MH lamps with no problem. The lamps are also ~6" from the water surface, give or take a few inches. If you choose to use a shield, I was recommending using acrylic instead of glass. FWIW, I have removed my shield because I couldn't keep it clean. You will loose a lot of light as the salt spray grows. The corals seem to like the extra light - of course, they're probably getting more UV too.

-Tom

 

[vp39]

I take it you have a canopy or are going to get one. For MH's to be mounted safely and for heat purposes make the top of the canopy 12 - 14 inches from the top of tank. And you will need to install fans also. I build them and stands and have found from experience that this height works the best. No real need for chillers this way. If you have one of the canopies with the top that has only 1 or 2 boards across this will can be lower, but you will be loosing light and your ceiling will be lit up pretty good.
Glenn