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RE: Lighting for a 2' tank

argi — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 03:23:25 GMT

No problem...you can actually figure out your whole tank that way. Most pumps (unless on a wavemakers) will be running 24/7, your heater will usually run anywhere from 0 hours (summertime) to 12-14 hours (wintertime) a day, lighting already talked about, etc... Basically anything you plug in your tank should have a wattage reading on it, but if not they sell something called a kill-a-watt that plugs in to the wall and then you plug your electrical device into it and it lets you know the actual wattage it is using (google search kill-a-watt if you are interested in one or home depot carries them).

Also depending on your usage, you may have different rates. For example the first X amount of KW are figured at 0.12, if you go over that amount the next X amount of KW are figured at 0.15 and if you go above that the next X amount of KW are figured at 0.20. This also doesn't take into account the generation rates charged by electric companies. I know the generation rate on my electric bills are about the same as what they are charging me for the energy.

So while it is fairly simple, there are other factors that need to be looked at to get a true total.

HTH,

RE: Lighting for a 2' tank

DRRT — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 17:13:17 GMT

Ok, so it is simple. Here I was thinking it was a really complex equation to figure that out. Cool, now I know how to explain it all.

Thanks again,

RE: Lighting for a 2' tank

argi — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 16:39:11 GMT

I thought you meant replacing the old fixtures (PC and normal output bulb) with a new T5 fixture, so at that point you would only have a T5 fixture over the tank. Sorry for the confusion.

If you are keeping the PC fixture and just replacing the old normal output bulb with the T5 fixture then you would have 80 watts of PC lighting (running 10.5 hours per day) and 108 watts of T5 lighting (also running 10.5 hours per day) for a total of 188 watts running 10.5 hours per day. 188 watts x 10.5 hours equals 1974 watts per day. I believe a kilowatt is 1000 watts, so almost 2 KW per day. If your KWH rate is 0.12, then your lighting will cost you around $7.20 a month to run (2 KW x 30 days in a month x 0.12=7.20).

HTH,

RE: Lighting for a 2' tank

DRRT — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 14:04:48 GMT

How did you do that?

And that is replacing just the old light and keeping the 80w pc right? How does it come out to less? Please explain.

RE: Lighting for a 2' tank

argi — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 03:46:30 GMT

1) They are very good fixtures and I think you will be very happy with them.

2) Currently you are running 120 watts (assuming the unknown is 40 watts, if it is a 4 foot T12 bulb it is 40 watts, if it is a T8 bulb it is 32 watts so we will just figure 40). You are running that for 10.5 hours per day so your current lighting system is using 1260 watts per day. If you can find out how much your parents pay per kilowatt you can figure this out (or you can also call the electric company and they should know). Going to the T5 fixture of 108 watts and running it the same amount of time you will be using 1134 watts. So basically you should be saving some money on your electric bill by going with this light. But this is just comparing the bulbs. If there are fans running on either fixture that would also play a role in this.

HTH,

RE: Lighting for a 2' tank

DRRT — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 22:03:56 GMT

Thanks,

And now, another lighting related question. In my 50g tank, I currently have 80w of PC lighting and a flourescent light of unknown wattage. Just a light I have had for over 2 years and can't be more than 40w because the balast is limited to 40. I was thinking of spending my hard earned money on a new light to replace my old one. I am on the verge of getting a 48" Current USA T5, which will give me 108w.

My question is two fold. One, is this a good light? Two, is there a way to figure out what I an adding to my parent's electric bill and how do I figure that out? I keep my lights on for 10.5 hours every day.

Thanks,

RE: Lighting for a 2' tank

argi — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 14:09:23 GMT

It is never a waste of time. It not only helps me keep up on things, but others I am sure can use the information for their tanks.

Keeping looking for a good deal out there...you will find it. I know when I worked in pet stores there were always people asking me if I wanted their set ups (sometimes to buy, sometime for free).

RE: Lighting for a 2' tank

DRRT — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 13:54:21 GMT

I feel kinka bad that I wasted your time. The tank as it turns out has dried out silicone on the 6" that were exposed to the air. So it leaks and I don't want to reseal it because I don't know how to do that very well and it will probably leak. So instead, I will invest in my current tank and make it even better!

RE: Lighting for a 2' tank

argi — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 03:29:13 GMT

Lighting will eat into that budget fairly quickly. If you are not going with any clams or corals that need high intensity lighting (especially if they have to be towards the bottom) you can probably use 150 watt DE. If you would prefer to play it safe and have lighting that would be suitable for many different species then I would go with 250 watt DE.

CurrentUSA makes a couple of different 150 watt and 250 watt DE fixtures in 60" length. They have their OuterOrbit w/PC, OuterOrbit w/T5 and SunPod. All good choices IMO. If you can budget in for the 250 watt fixtures I think that would be a much better option.

You could also look at using individual pendants over the tank. For example you could go with 2 or 3 LumenMax DE pendants, Ballast and bulbs. If you price out 2 of the pendants, a dual 250 watt Sunlight Supply ballast and two 14K Phoenix bulbs it comes out to $814.75. For a little less you can get a 60" SunPod fixture with three 150 watt MH or for a little more you can get the SunPod with three 250 watt MH (just something to think about).

All of the above fixtures are meant to go over an open tank. If you are building an enclosed wooden canopy, you might consider going with a retrofit kit. I have used the IceCap/Spiderlight reflector kits in the past and was very happy with them. This is the kit I went with (http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem~idProduct~ICSPK53.html). Two of them would run $536 or three would run a little over $800. Then if you wanted to add some supplemental T5 lighting down the road you could probably do that.

HTH,

RE: Lighting for a 2' tank

DRRT — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 09:15:00 GMT

argi (4/8/2008)

60" left to right, 18" front to back and 24" top to bottom?

60" tanks cause a little bit of difficulty when it comes to metal halide's. It is generally recommended to have one MH per 2' of tank. So a 4' tank will have two MH and a 6' tank will have three MH, but what to do with a 5' tank? You can go with two MH and have the tank a little less lit (darker areas due to the spread of the light) or go with three MH and get full coverage over the whole tank.

Have you thought of a budget for the lights (what is the max you are willing to spend)?

24" deep. Budget will be based on pricing online and how much it would cost with my discount at work, and how much to build a new stand and hood. I have to make a really tall hood to complement the height of the tank and house the MH safely. Max total, probably about $1500, but like I said, that includes everything like additional filtration since all I have is for my 50 g.

RE: Lighting for a 2' tank

argi — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 15:28:37 GMT

DRRT (4/8/2008)

I was looking at some of the other lights, what about these?

Current USA SunPod PowerPaq

The captive sun lighting are on sale, are those any good?

The SunPod's are good fixtures, they just don't have any supplemental lighting (unless you count the moonlights). Your link wasn't working, so I edited to just show the sunpod page. Was it to a particular fixture or just to the page with all the sunpods?

I like to call the Captive Sun fixtures a "house brand" for Marine Depot. They are custom built just for MD customers and MD (no one else carries them). They are good fixtures and you can customize them with different wattage and K rated MH bulbs.

RE: Lighting for a 2' tank

argi — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 15:22:42 GMT

60" left to right, 24" front to back and 18" top to bottom?

60" left to right, 18" front to back and 24" top to bottom?

Have you thought of a budget for the lights (what is the max you are willing to spend)?

RE: Lighting for a 2' tank

DRRT — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 15:19:52 GMT

I was looking at some of the other lights, what about these?

Current USA SunPod PowerPaq

The captive sun lighting are on sale, are those any good?

RE: Lighting for a 2' tank

DRRT — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 13:51:10 GMT

argi (4/8/2008)

Is the tank 48x24x24? New or used? Glass or acrylic?

60x24x18. It is used glass aquarium currently housing 2 aquatic turltes. The owner is looking to downsize and I am always up for an upgrade, so we might just trade my 50g. I know I will need a lot more filtration, but I need to figure out lighting costs. It also has two glass shelves 6" from the top that is used for the turtles as a rest spot.

argi (4/8/2008)

Are you looking for a full fixture or individual pendants?

It doesn't have a hood, and I would have to make one along with a new stand. It has a dual pillar stand, but I parents said they would only let me have one with a cabinet because they want the filtration to be hidden.

argi (4/8/2008)

If you are not going with any acropora, montipora or other high intensity light needing corals IMO you could go with a 150 watt DE system. If you wanted to you could even bump it up to a 250 watt DE fixture.

I don't want to get something that might limit me if I choose to add a couple frags. But I don't want to spend a small fortune.

argi (4/8/2008)

For a full fixture my choice would be:

CurrentUSA OuterOrbit T5 fixture 150 Watt or 250 watt version. There are also nice fixtures by AquaMedic and Giesemann but generally they are a little more money.

A mixture of lighting wouldn't be bad. I was just under the impression that MH would be needed to reach the bottom of the tank to be effective.

Thanks

RE: Lighting for a 2' tank

argi — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 03:35:50 GMT

I should have also mentioned you could look into T5 fixtures for the tank also if you are just doing softies and macroalgaes. This can save you some money on both the fixture itself and your electric bill.

HTH,

RE: Lighting for a 2' tank

argi — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 03:31:49 GMT

Is the tank 48x24x24? New or used? Glass or acrylic?

Are you looking for a full fixture or individual pendants?

CurrentUSA OuterOrbit T5 fixture 150 Watt or 250 watt version. There are also nice fixtures by AquaMedic and Giesemann but generally they are a little more money.

HTH,

Lighting for a 2' tank

DRRT — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 18:32:52 GMT

What would be the best lighting for a 120 gallon tank 24" deep? I want to keep softies and macroalgae. I really won't be able to get a refugium to house the macroalgae if I get this tank because lighting it will be so expensive. I would like some decent quality metal halide lighting that won't be too expensive.

Thanks for all your help.