Piecing together my tank, need help on lighting

Hey all,

I'm starting to piece together what I believe I will be purchasing for my tank and looking for some opinions/advice. I think I have found a pretty good deal on a 180g tank/stand, and am looking to nail down my lighting. The tank is 72" long and I intend to have a number of corals. A fairly knowledgeable guy at the LFS recommended the following:

Coralife 72 Inch Aqualight Pro, 3x150W HQI MH Lamp + 4x96W PC + 4x1W Lunar LED

Of course he also wanted to charge $1400 for it... I have been searching the web, and it looks like I have found it for as low as $650. I just want to make sure this is ample for what I am looking to do. Any thoughts or opinions? Thanks.

Scash

 

Do you know how deep the tank is? That is more important than the length or gallons. Also, what exactly do you want to keep? Coralife fixtures are not the best quality, people have had to replace the wiring or ballasts as they tend to wear out or be defective. If you are handy, it shouldn't be a problem and you will save a lot of money, if you don't want the hassle, you could go with a retro fit kit or a nicer fixture.

 

It's 72x24x24. I plan to keep a bunch of different corals (to be honest havent exactly planned them all out yet), as well as one or two anemones. I know the issues with mixing the two, but I'm a sucker for a clownfish in their anemone. I'm planning on an open tank, so the fixture will need to be on legs. What would you buy? Thx for the advice.

Scash

 

The Coralifes have hanging kits. I could not stand my legs. The hangers are not expensive, and you can move your lights up out of the way.

I have not had trouble with my light, but it came with my setup. I am going to be replacing the 150w with 250w lights and ballasts. The Coralife fixture comes in 250w models and honestly, for your 180, I would consider the 3x250w minimum. If you are spending your money, at least get that. I like my light and have not had any problem. They are any number of other setups. Lights are quite expensive. Don't be afraid to buy used.

 

I have one of the coralife fixtures, except its the 48" 150w mh. So far its been nice, but its the first mh light fixture I have owned so its hard to judge. I would definitely hang it though rather than the legs, makes it easier to move up and down. So far the only issue I have had was that when I got it one of he actinic bulbs was bad, but I got another one sent to me pretty quickly.

 

Very cool. I saw the 250W as well, it's a bit more expensive but if it will make a big difference then I'm ok with it. As for the hanging kit, is that what the retro fit is? Or is it something different?

Scash

 

No, just the hanging kit. It's an accessory and should be easy to find. I would not pass up the Coralife 3x250w model. My only sugestion (and I have not shopped fixtures) would be to find a 3x250 fixture with electronic ballasts. That would be about as good as it gets. Unless you know you want a SPS dominate tank and then 3x400w would not be too much.

Coralife uses magnetic ballast. Electronic has more advantages, but is a bit more. I don't mean to jump you up in money, just letting you know the stuff I have ran into. The watt is one thing, the ballast driving it is another. The fixture is just what holds it all. Most come with actinics lights and moon lights. You will be happy with the Coralife, but you can look at other fixture ballast combos too before pulling the trigger. hamilton is another popular fixture, but I don't have any experience.

 

Been doing some more digging online, and I have found an interesting deal on ebay for: 72' Metal Halide 250 T5 HO Aquarium Light Moon New

3 X 250 Halide + 4 T5 HO's DELUX MODEL Very Bright!

There is no brand name, but this outfit has sold a ton of items and looking at their feedback their service is great and everyone seems to like the product. I'm a little leery of not having a brand name, but at $599 with free shipping, it's a compelling offer. What do you think?

Scash

Edit: Forgot to link it

http://cgi.ebay.com/72-Metal-Halide...|66:3|65:12|39:1|240:1318|301:0|293:1|294:100

 

If you are going to go with the Coralife then wait until they rerelease them with the T5s instead of the lousy PCs that are in there now.
Also you will need 250s not 150s on a 180 if you want to grow the corals well.
Currents lights are better than the Coralife if you are looking for an entry level light.

Retros might be a better alternative for you.
Look into some of the Pendants made by Sunlight supply coupled with a few T5s to add the supplemental blue and or actinic lighting.

You will get better lights for probably not much more than the entry level fixtures.

Or you can get a Maristar if you really want to go big...
Or you can go T5 like I did, retro or kit. Sfiligoi has some nice 72" fixtures as does Aquactinics, BUT they are NOT cheap!!

 

Thanks for all of the advice. Interested to hear what anyone thinks about the ebay link I put in my last post. It seems to be a great price, but not sure about a no-name brand.

Scash