[Dredneck]

I am getting a 150xh gallon Aquarium that will be set up as live Rock some Fish and down the road some Soft Coral. I am new so I will take it slow and get advice from where I can.

Now, my first confusion, and what I have a question on, is lighting. My tank is a 48" x 24" x 30" 150 gallon tank and I am confused on the lighting that would be best (for a live rock/some fish/ Soft Coral). The shop set me up with one 48" LUNAR AQUALIGHT 4x65, but when I researched on line, I found a chart that showed for that size and depth of the tank I would need to get 3 of those for 780w total. That would be allot of money on lights! It also gave other light setups for that tank including 1x 48" Metal Halide 2X250WMH, 2X96W PC (692W Total). That may be more expensive but it looks like I would only need one.

I really just would like guidance on the best lighting for my tank, and low power consumption would be nice too! There are so many types. I even saw electronic ballasts lighting.

Here is the Link to the Lighting Chart in case someone wanted to see it;
marineandreef.com/ Aquarium Reef Lighting Chart--Find the best aquarium hood lighting for all sizes of reek tanks

Thanks!!!!!!!

[NATIVEVAMAN]

That lunar aqua light would be a joke on a tank that deep.I am not a great proponent of metal halide because of the expense of operation and heat,but that fixture may just be your best bet.

[Dredneck]

Yea that is what I'm starting to see. I am a little suprised the place led me in that direction.
All the equipment is still at the store so I have an exchange option, but now I am wondering If should consider a tank not so deep.

[Jeremy0322]

I think it was on this forum and not one of the books i read but Metal Halide is really what you need for a tank that deep. That lighting is able to penetrate to the bottom where as most lights can not. Also, lately there has been some controversy about how accurate this is but for softies you need something like 5 watts per gallon and it goes up for stuff like clams.

[NATIVEVAMAN]

If you can change that tank I would do it in a heart beat,unless you have really long arms lol.Also it puts it in another lighting catagory,you wont need those nasty metal halides any more.

[Dredneck]

I am going down to the Shop today so i'll see what they say.

[Dredneck]

Well the store manager was very helpfull, he understood the problem and that the salesman sold me lighting that wouldn't be right for my tank. He took back the light gave me double points on my card and gave me a good discount on the 48" Aqualight Pro 250W HQI -- so thats what I got ( I had the option to get the discount on the 150w version but I figured the 250w would be better in the long run)

[Jeremy0322]

For a 125 gallon tank you may still be lacking in the lighting area with a 250watt fixture.

[NATIVEVAMAN]

I am pretty sure that if its 48 ich's long it has two 250 watt bulbs.

[Dredneck]

Yes it does it has - 2X250W HQI Metal Halide and 2X96W Compact Fluorescent Actinics. the light is the 48" Aqualight Pro 250W HQI

Thanks!

[Jeremy0322]

Alright, the thought of there being 2 bulbs never really crossed my mind. You should be alright for most stuff then.

[bnhaus]

Remember that you have a deep tank. The extra light is needed to reach the bottom.

A good GENERAL frame of reference in deciding how much lighting you will need for your inhabitants is a wattage-per-gallon ratio of approximately 3-5 watts per gallon, for the lower light corals and the more light-loving corals require between 5 to 8 watts per gallon*.

Please keep in mind, these numbers are purely a general starting point.

I have a 48" long tank and use 2 metal halides and PC's for Actinic.

Don't forget about the extra heat they produce.

[pogodzib]

There's a sticky thread at the top of the equipment forum area that talk about the minimum lighting requirements. This is what I like to go by: NOTE: Tank DEPTH, not WTG.

Originally Posted by mcintosh

I think the best way to go about the lighting issue is to break it up a bit.
High light - light loving animals throughout the tank, from the top of the tank to the bottom, clams on the bottom of the tank.
Medium light - Light loving animals at the top of the tank, lower light required species at the bottom.
Low light - Really, a softy tank. Maybe a few montis or LPS up top, and very low light animals at the bottom of the tank.

High light--
18 inch deep tank or less 150 HQI/175 MH plus supplemental lights per 2 square feet.
24 inch deep tank or less 250 W MH plus supp. lights per 2 square feet.
more than 24 inches 400W or greater per 2 square feet.

If using T-5's, as many T-5's lights as will fit across the tank (Probably need 8 T-5's spanning the full tank)

Medium Light --
18 - VHO/PC @ minimum of 6W per gallon or 70w MH/poor PAR 150/175, no supp.
24 - 150/175W MH or approx. 4 T-5's spanning the tank
>24 - 250W MH or approx 6 T-5's spanning tank

Low light --
18 - normal output Fluorescents over tank (ie 4 40W fluo. over 55 gallon tank)
24 - VHO/PC's no more than 3 or 4 watts per gallon (4 65W PC's over 90 gallon tank)
>24 - same as 24 inch tank above.

HTH. And feel free to flame me on any of the above statements. I know that there are exceptions, and I am more than happy to hear about them.

I have a 220 gal tank, which is also 30" tall. Cleaning it can be a pain, but overall, I like the height. For lighting, there is no way I'd consider PCs. I have 250w MH as well over my tank. The 250w MH bulbs are sufficient for softies and LPS down at the bottom of the tank. Some SPS corals and clams may do alright near the bottom as well. The 150w MH bulbs would have probably worked for most softies, but you'll like the 250w MH much better in the long run. BTW - The reason why I'm not mentioning the PC bulbs at all is because they will do very little on a tank that tall and all that their purpose will be will be for actinic supplementation and your visual pleasure.