Halide arrangment opinion?

[Gools]

Just need some feed back or your opinion. I'm putting 2 more halides in my tank, along with 2 already in there. But just wondering how should I arange them. Front to back, or Side to side?

[CableGuy]

what are the dimensions on your tank? and what wattage are the halides?
what spectrume are you going to be going with 10,000K 20,000K or a mixture? Do you have actinics to complment the halides?

[Gools]

It's a 180g tank, 6 feet long, 2 wide. But I got that damn big center brace that I have to work around. I have in there 2- 175w 10000K, and 4 NO actinic's. And I'm adding 2 -400w 13000K that I got from Ivan. But I can't decide on wether to put them each facing front to back beside each other, or all end to end.

[CanadianGuy]

I would run them end to end with the lights as close to the center brace as possible.

If you go front to back, you'll basically be lighting a 1'x3' section under each light with a very bright section between the 2 lights om each side. If you go end to end, you'll be lighting a 2'x1.5' section under each light....giving you better light distribution. Usually MHs are good to light a 2'x'2 area, so getting as close to that as possible will give you the most benefits without overlighting any specific area.

[Toutouche]

Just wanted to add a little trick I've picked up from someone about lighting in a tank. If your tank is up against a wall and is only viewed from the frontside, then offset your row of MH lights a bit more to the front. This way, all the coral that's facing you will get a somewhat better lighting and give you the best look visually as far as coloring goes.

[CableGuy]

Ok one question about your centre brace. whats it made from glass? I have a centre brace on my 220, it has a large glass centre brace. I have a 400 watt halide directly over it, will this reduce the light output to the tank alot?

[Gools]

Toutouche, I'm not quiet sure what you mean. Can you draw a diagram or something, my tank is against the wall and only viewable from the front. Cableguy, my center brace is glass and 18". it will cut out quiet abit of light, that's why I never use cover glass.

[One Salty Dog]

Gools If you are going to have 4 bulbs over the tank I would put 2 back to back with the bases directly over the brace. The other 2 would be centered over the remaining area 1 on each side. Toutouche's suggestion of offset mounting so they are closer to the front is a another good idea.
CableGuy ... Light is changed somewhat when it goes through glass but there isn't must you can do given that the brace is needed. Just keep the brace as clear of salt creep and algae as you can.
Rob

[Gools]

Rob that's what my idea was from the start. I think I'm going to end up doing it that way. Thanks guys.

[Toutouche]

Gools,
Place your lights along the dotted line more or less.



Back wall
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Front wall
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This is an approximation, use judgement on the actual placement. Doing it this way, with most corals being the X's somewhat along the back, they will be lit from the same angle that you will be viewing them, therefore the coloring will be the nicest at that angle. Stuff nearer to the front is usually lower near the sand anyways, and will still get lit from the top where you look at them from anyways. It's the higher up stuff that benefits from this setup.

[reefmutt]

Gools, as rob said, don't worry about the glass. It will filter out a bit of light but you can offset the reduction by putting the 400s over the glass, the increase in light from the 400s will more than compensate for the reduction.
I like to put my m.h.s about 2/3 of the way to the front of the tank. As Greg says, it will shine back at the corals and make them look nicer whan looking at the tank and it allows the light to make it down to the front where the tank is deepest
I'd run them parrallel to the tank, in a line.
The only concern is how close you put those 400s to the brace. 400w bulbs produce a LOT of heat and with time will dry out the glass brace and make it more brittle. I have a fan plugged into the same timer as the m.h.s aiming at my braces to keep them from getting baked - this also helps cool the tank, as 400watters really heat things up!! It's a dramatic increase in heat as well as light- adding 2 x400w -go slow with those puppies!!

[One Salty Dog]

Man I'm Glad I went with euro bracing and would suggest that anyone upgrading to a LARGE tank go that route.
Rob

[Toutouche]

I know I plan on Eurobracing for sure!!!

[CableGuy]

OK what's Eurobracing?

[One Salty Dog]

Check this pic and notice that the top of the tank has glass all way round to prevent bowing instead of a center brace. This arrangement also allows for some serious surface movement including waves without the water getting over the tanks sides.

[CableGuy]

My 220 gallon has both. It has a large glass centre brace and the glass rim that runs all the way around. Damn them why did they have to put both on my tank? They should have left out the centre brace.

Oh well, live and learn right?

Thanks for the pic by the way.

[One Salty Dog]

CableGuy ... thats ODD to have both a brace and euro bracing. What are the dimensions of your tank? How thick is the glass?
Rob

[CableGuy]

My tank is is 6 feet long 2 feet wide and 2.5 feet tall, 1/2" thick glass I think.

After thinking about it, you would'nt be able to have corner over flows with eurobracing right? May I ask what all the holes are for in that tank? Are they for overflows and a closed loop? If so which are which.

Well I sure got the wheels turing now. Is there any way I could take out my centre brace and add the eurobrace? My tank only has water and sand in it no critters, so it wouldn't be hard to drain it and do some modifications.

I just went down stairs to clarify my thoughts. the glass rim on the sides are 2.5 inches. and there is a glass rim that runs across the front and back but it's only 3/4 of an inch wide (it runs underneith the black trim.) My tank has corner overflows so would it be possble to transform my tank into a eurobrace tank with corner overflows?

One more thing, does the centre brace really reduce that much light to make all this extra work worth it?

[One Salty Dog]

That center brace is not that big an issue if it's kept clean. it's just another thing to remember to do. Your tank is exactly the same dimensions as mine and I have no center brace. If I understand your description correctly you have 2.5 inch euro braces at the sides meaning the ends and 3/4 inch along the front and back? If this is correct the brace is because the rim at the front and back is too narrow to be of much use. should be 2.5 along the top of the front and back pane and somewhat narrower at the ends.

The euro bracing is only about 2.5 to 3 inches and most overflow boxes are somewhere around 5x5 or 6x6 inches square. It is a tight fit but doable and serviceable because about 1/2 the overflow box is straight down access.

To see what's up with the holes in my tank check out the "large tank forum" under my post named 'my new 225 has arrived"
Rob