Mobile Bay Reef Keepers

I am trying to decide what kind of lighting to put on my 125 gal tank. This is what I have right now.

175w MH (home made ballast) (bulb 10K 8 or 9 months old)
400w MH (coral view ballast) (bulb 20K blueline 2 months old)
Ice Cap 660 ballast
tar ballast

I know I will use both MH (soon to be looking for another MH)
My question is what type of VHO bulbs should I go with? 4 or 6 foot bulbs? I know I can use 6 four foot bulbs, but how many 6 foot bulbs could be used If I go with this. Should they all be blue buld or a mixture of white and blue? Where would be the best place to get bulbs cheep? Any help would be great

thanks Andy

6' bulbs will run you about $40-42 ea. Cheapest place I've found was Aqua Works or Aquaria in Pensacola.
I'm running 2 6' vho's and 3 250watt halides. I would definetly not want 400 watters on here, the height just isn't there in a 125, you'd barbeque your corals, infact, I wish I would have gone with 3 175 watt halides instead of 250's.

4 6' bulbs would be nice, and I had planned on doing 4, but never got around to it.

I just got a 135 and i'm sticking with the lights i have for now and may add 1 more 250 DE pendant. I will only be running 2 250W DE pendants with the Hamilton 14k Bulbs. I want some dark areas in my tank for specific fish so thats why i might stick with the two.

If i were setting up for sps on your tank i would go with 3 250W DE bulbs in the 14k range and not run VHO at all. Actually I'd go with the exact bulbs i have and wattage. The colors i got with my zoanthids and acros were just amazing and the tint was a nice blue, but not as much as the radiums. I think my ballasts could be better and get me a whiter color from what i read but i like the 14K DE bulbs and i basically stopped using my VHO once they were on.


I want to note that i also have a 14K Hamilton for a SE 175 set up and do not like the color. It is too blue. It is also the only bulb running on my 26 bowfront tank.

My tank is 36"x18"x24"

1 - 250w MH
4 - 36" (95w) VHO (2 actinics & 2 50/50)

A couple of notes of interest:

1. The SPS in my tank are doing REALLY well about 2" under the water directly under the MH.

2. The softies in my tank do not like to be within 12" of the top of the tank because of the MH.

3. The rule of thumb is 1 MH for each 24"x24" footprint of tank. I can tell you that I see MH "shading" at the outer ends of my 36"x18" footprint. Stick with the rule of thumb!

It comes down to this... if you'll be having ANY softies (LPS) in the tank, with a 250w MH they will be banished to the bottom of the tank. With the 400w I think you'll bleach the softes (LPS). I don't know about the 400w with the SPS... talk to Terry or John. The 250w are perfect in my tank for the SPS!

BTW, I also think 2 VHO actinic strips are a good number to supplement the 10,000K MH. I do like to have the 2 "extra" VHO (50/50) so that my dusk to dawn look isn't too blue.

I am currently using 3 4' vho bulbs and both MH on a 55 gal tank now. I am not having a heat problem now but I was when I got it. I am running them for 4 or 5 hours in the morning and the same at night (total 8 to 10 hrs). To keep the temp down I am haveing to keep the hood open all the time to circulate the air. The hood is 12" off the water. My temp is staying around 80 degrees. I am building a canapy for the 125 gal that is 18" off the water. I may have to keep the hood open for it also. When I bought it I did not know that much about MH's and Eddie suggested the 400w to me. Could some one tell me how to build a homemade ballast set up or does anyone know where I can get some cheep 175w of 250w MH set ups. Or would anyone want to trade or buy for a 400w MH.

The 125 is 21 or 22" high, add in the sandbed 4" maybe and there just isn't a lot of height there. That is why I said I would not do 400watt bulbs. I guess it really depends on the kind of bulbs you use also. The bluer bulbs are usually much lower par than the 10k bulbs, so might want higher wattage for those, if that is what you like.

Stay with the 400's. If they were too much, then why does every reef shop run them?? I have never had an issue with "burning" in tne 75. It is only 20" high and had a 3" deep sandbed with acros less than an inch from the surface. As I told you before you bought yours, Heat is the only thing you need to worry about.

I too like the 400's but heating is a problem. With a 3 halide set up I would go with a 400 in the middle (like a 14kk bulb) with two 250's on each side. When I was running 400's I got good colors with a 5 hour photoperiod that I am only getting with 9 hours using 250's. A 400 with 175's on each side would be a second choice.

Thanks everyone for your help. I think I have decided what I am going to do.

I am going to run what I have right now on it until I can get the money for what I want. For now I am going to put on it the 2 MH (175w & 400w) and 4 or 6 four foot vho bulbs. Later I would like to put 3 MH (2 175 or 2 250w & 400w) bulbs and 4 6' vho. Does anyone have any MH's for sale or could someone tell me how to build on for cheep.

My plans have changed. I am going to run 3 MH (400w and 2 250w). I just found out that a icecap 660 will only run 2 5' bulbs and 1 6' bulb so I will make all of them blue bulbs. Do you think this is enough lighting or would I need more vho bulbs?

with a 6' tank I also would and have run 4 vho bulbs...(I prefer the 50/50) but that is a matter of taste...I also would run three MH if you are going to have sps or clams....I run 4X400watt 20k on an 8'tank but 175watt should be fine and produce less heat. Rember MH cover about 2' so figure three in a 6' tank. Again spectrum is a matter of taste....(6500 for better growth and 20k for more blue color....) With the 50/50 vho and the 20kMH I get the color I like but again that is just my taste.