Too Much Light?

1825 Views 13 Replies 8 Participants Last post by Tdon1md, Nov 11, 2007

bwagner

Discussion Starter · Oct 9, 2007

I was thinking of upgrading from my 4 x 55/65W CF on my heavily planted 120-gallon tank (48 x 24 x 24) with an additional 2 x 250w MH (double ended) lights.

Do you think that will be too much light? If not, what would you recommend for the MH bulbs 10K, 15k, 20K? And what brand bulbs would you recommend?

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zoidberg

· #2 · Oct 10, 2007

It depends on how close the lights are to the tank. 250w MH lights will be way to bright unless you raise the lamp well above the top of the tank.

I think you'd be find with 2x150w MH lights and you'd also save on electricity.

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Canoe2Can

· #3 · Oct 10, 2007

bwagner said:
I was thinking of upgrading from my 4 x 55/65W CF on my heavily planted 120-gallon tank (48 x 24 x 24) with an additional 2 x 250w MH (double ended) lights.

Do you mean that you want to add 2 x 250 MH in addition to the PCs? That sounds like a really bad idea. If you want to replace the PCs with MHs, that would be okay if you're prepared for really high light and fast growth.

If you do that, I'd stick with Zoidberg's recommendation and use 150s. As for color temp, anything above 10K or 12K looks too blue in my opinion. I think ADA makes 8K MHs that look nice.

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Tdon1md

· #4 · Oct 10, 2007 (Edited)

bwagner said:
I was thinking of upgrading from my 4 x 55/65W CF on my heavily planted 120-gallon tank (48 x 24 x 24) with an additional 2 x 250w MH (double ended) lights.

Wow, that would be impressive to see, a 120 G tank w/ either 720 or 780 Watts!
________
LIVE SEX

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bwagner

Discussion Starter · #5 · Oct 10, 2007

It seems that I am having a hard time getting light to the bottom of the tank (through all the other plants). I was thinking of going with the 150's, but I would hate to invest in the 150's and then find out that I want/need the 250's. I would probably keep only 2 of the 65w PC on only for color, becasue I agree that the MH would prob be too blue. Humm.....

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mrkookm

· #6 · Oct 10, 2007

Wanted to know if you would have enough light? Here is an example of 3 150watts & 30" high too, so 2 would be more than enough light for your tank :thumbsup:

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bwagner

Discussion Starter · #7 · Oct 11, 2007

Thanks for the link, it really puts it into perspective. Thanks for all the feedback.

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mrkookm

· #8 · Oct 11, 2007

I figured it would....

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eklikewhoa

· #9 · Oct 11, 2007

I would go for it if you have enough of everything else to back up the lighting!

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medicineman

· #10 · Oct 11, 2007

Safe those troubles related to too much light. I have two 260g tank both with 3 x 150W MH. I found them already quite strong and it does penetrate real good to the bottom of the tank that some sensitive plant will die due to too much light, plants near or above the surface directly below the light might melt/dry up. That is why I raised the lamp a bit higher, and you may find that you need to keep it at least 12" from water surface.
In fact I keep my almost ridiculous 400W MH lamp at almost 3 feet away from water surface so that it works as it should, not blistering my plants.

I would opt for mild 70W, 150W at most, double ended MH and combine it with the existing PCs. 2 of them I think will be enough to cover the tank area.
Blast the MH for a shorter period (30-40%) if you need it and let the PC handle the rest. Look for those with 6500-10,000K range rating. Above that is usually very blue and not really much usable in spectrum. Below that you might find it too yellow even though they work great.

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ianiwane

· #11 · Oct 11, 2007

What kind of PC light do you have? For a 24" tank you need good reflectors. I would consider going with a tek light either 4x54 or 6x54. My friend has a 4x54 tek on the same size tank and is getting very good results.
Here is the picture borrowed from Bill

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zoidberg

· #12 · Oct 11, 2007

bwagner said:
It seems that I am having a hard time getting light to the bottom of the tank (through all the other plants). I was thinking of going with the 150's, but I would hate to invest in the 150's and then find out that I want/need the 250's. I would probably keep only 2 of the 65w PC on only for color, becasue I agree that the MH would prob be too blue. Humm.....

2X150w MH will be fine. I have a 90g (48 x 18 x 24) with 2x150w MH and it is plenty bright to reach the bottom with it being 24" deep. I'm actually thinking of raising my lamp since it's so bright.

As Medicineman stated, you can go with either 6500 or 10k bulbs. Current sells 6500 MH bulbs that work well in my Coralife fixture.

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bwagner

Discussion Starter · #13 · Nov 11, 2007

Thanks again for the advice, my new light is on the way. I ended up going with a 48" Coralife with 2-150W HQI MH and 2-96W PC. I also ordered 2 new 6500K HQI bulbs to change out the 10K ones that come with the system. Any recommendations on what to have the PC's to be? I was thinking 1-6500K and 1-10K....

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Tdon1md

· #14 · Nov 11, 2007 (Edited)

Current also makes a "Dual Daylight" w/ 6700 and 10000 in the same bulb. Might be another option.
________
WASHINGTON MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES

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