moovinfast Posted October 27, 2009 Share Posted October 27, 2009 So right now I have 4x54w t5s over my 72 gallon tank. 2 white and 2 blue with moon lighting. Im debating if I should upgrade my lighting. My current fixture has a built in timer. But whenever our power goes out and back on (it seems to happen alot here) the timer stops working and stays stuck however it was when the power went out. All I have to do is open it up and unplug and plug it back in and it all works again. I emailed who I bought it through to see if it has any warranty. Anyways what would the overall costs be to upgrading to MH and what wattage. Such as how much more power will I use and how much evaporation will I have compared to my current fixture. And can I run them without needing a chiller? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef165 Posted October 27, 2009 Share Posted October 27, 2009 What do you plan on housing in the tank? The lighting you have now will grow anything but SPS, some anenomies and some clams. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moovinfast Posted October 27, 2009 Author Share Posted October 27, 2009 Mostly softies, but I do have some sps near the top and 2 anemones. I have a bubble tip and a carpet at the bottom. Everything is doing well so far. I can't keep clams in this tank as I have a fish that likes to eat them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef165 Posted October 27, 2009 Share Posted October 27, 2009 If everything ya want and have are doing good then why fix it if it aint broke. Use the extra $ and take the wife out for a nice dinner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stylaster Posted October 28, 2009 Share Posted October 28, 2009 if you want to go halides i would recommend two 250w halides and then some sort of t-5 or pc if you want more actinic. My tank i don't run any actinics but use 20k halides instead. you can run halides without a chiller, but recommended to have a fan blowing over the lights, this will increase your evap. In the long term it is best to save up for a chiller, especially in the summer. In the winter it stays cool enough Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mister crabs Posted October 28, 2009 Share Posted October 28, 2009 why not just look into a secondary timer that has the little battery backup built in. like this: http://www.somocohydro.com/734049.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted October 28, 2009 Share Posted October 28, 2009 So right now I have 4x54w t5s over my 72 gallon tank. 2 white and 2 blue with moon lighting. Im debating if I should upgrade my lighting. My current fixture has a built in timer. But whenever our power goes out and back on (it seems to happen alot here) the timer stops working and stays stuck however it was when the power went out. All I have to do is open it up and unplug and plug it back in and it all works again. I emailed who I bought it through to see if it has any warranty. Anyways what would the overall costs be to upgrading to MH and what wattage. Such as how much more power will I use and how much evaporation will I have compared to my current fixture. And can I run them without needing a chiller? I had the same set up come with the 72 I got and it sits in the garage. I am using my 24 inch 250w MH set up instead. But I keep it around as a back up, just in case something happens to my current light. Then when I upgrade to the 2x250's I will keep this 24 incher around as the back up and either use the T5's for an aggressive FO tank or simply sell\trade the light. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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