Retrofit or Commercial fixture

[salmon alley]

Plumbing is done.
Aquascaping is done.
Rear pane is painted.
Time to fill the tank... it's crunch time and I need to choose a lighting system.

I'm definitely going with MH + T5 supplementation.

It's a 20" tall tank, will have a 2-3" sandbed and I'll likely keep light loving SPS in the upper 1/2 and some lower light SPS, LPS in the lower half.

I was originally going to retrofit two 175W MHs and four 54w T5s into a homemade canopy, but now I'm considering purchasing an all-in-one fixture (like a Current USA Orbit) with dual 150w MH and four T5s for a cleaner look and less work for me.

Thoughts on this? Anything terribly negative or positive to offer about either system?

[twon8]

what size tank?

[salmon alley]

48" long x 24" wide x 20" tall

[MrSquid]

If you've got a canopy, definitely condider retros. You'll save some $$$, be able to piece together exactly what you want, and you'll have more clearance off your tops/water for heat dissipation.

Plus a lot of commercial all-in-one lighting units vent out the ends - but in a canopy the ends will likely be smacked right up against the sides of the canopy. But with the retros you can just throw some fans on the back of the canopy and be all set.

I was in the same boat as you - I went retros for the heat dissipation aspect and I'm glad I did. With four 4" fans, I only see a 2° temp swing through the day - and that's with glass tops too.

[salmon alley]

I'm gonna try and resurrect this thread with the following additional info:

Now that the tank is full of water I've measured 16-18" from water surface to sandbed. I still plan on keeping light loving SPS in top 1/2 to 2/3 and lower light SPS and LPS in the lower 1/3. I may also get a lower light requirement clam for the sandbed (squamosa or derasa).
I'm more interested in color than ridiculous growth rates (but I would like them to grow)
I've decided against 175w (for a variety of reasons).
That leaves me with 5 options:

1) 2 x 150w + 2 T5s
2) 2 x 150w + 4 T5s
3) 2 x 250w + 2 T5s
4) 2 x 250w + 4 T5s
5) 6-8 T5 bulbs

I'd like to hear opinions on not only which setup you'd recommend, but also what bulb temp combinations you'd suggest.

Thanks!

[hahnmeister]

1, 2, or 5.

If you do 1, then dual 10,000Kish halides with blue+ actinics.
If you do 2, same as the last, but with two true actinics OR
14,000K halides (hamilton or pheonix) with blue+, actinic, procolor, or even 6500K T5s.
If you do 5, then 6 bulbs is fine, and you could do something like 2x aquablue or 6500K (do you like daylight more, or blue more, thats all), 2x blue+, and 2x true actinic 03. If you want the highest output with 6 bulbs, then just do 3x aquablue+ and 3x blue+... a tried and proven combo.

250's are overkill for that tank. Even if you just did dual 250's it would be pretty bright unless you only used 20,000K bulbs.

[salmon alley]

Thanks hahnmeister..

anyone else care to share an opinion?

[sirreal63]

I will agree with Hahn. 250's are overkill, waste energy and produce too much heat on that tall of a tank. A good 10K bulb such as an XDE will give you the par you need and you can use the T5's to supplement the color.