Looking for tips on pendant build

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Babyreef
Amoeba
Posts: 164
Joined: Sat Oct 17, 2009 12:24 am
Location: Mobile

Looking for tips on pendant build

Post by Babyreef »

Ok story is I want more light. Size that i have to work with is 18"x 14". What i want to do is jam in 2x250hqi with led actinic lighting. Basically i want to have Max lighting coverage throughout my entire tank. I was looking to see if anyone had any tips or opinions to offer before i get started.
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Amphiprion
Astrea snail
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Joined: Sat Mar 05, 2005 10:41 pm
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Re: Looking for tips on pendant build

Post by Amphiprion »

Packing 2 halides in that small space isn't going to be terribly beneficial, since you won't get maximum reflectivity in that limited space. That's not even including the heat involved in having 500 watts in that small space. While halides normally operate at gigantic temps, that kind of proximity may reduce some lamp life. Any particular reason why you want to do it this way? My recommendation is to get/mimic a decent reflector, like ReefOptix or LumenMax or something that has moderate spread with one 250w lamp. That should be enough, depending on the dimensions. What size tank is it going on?
Andrew

25g planted nature aquarium
Babyreef
Amoeba
Posts: 164
Joined: Sat Oct 17, 2009 12:24 am
Location: Mobile

Re: Looking for tips on pendant build

Post by Babyreef »

Going onto my 29g bio cube. I wanted this setup to basically have light blasting everywhere. Front to back side to side. I want the sps to literally grow out of this tank and have very few shaded areas. I have never liked the single halide in the center of the tank as to me it seems there are quite a few low light areas around the outer edges.. I had done the dual 250s before to my old 29 however it was a diferent footprint. The coral growth and color was insane. I know i can drop to a 10k bulb on my current setup and improve lighting dead spots but not sure if i want to go that color route...
I would do the different reflector however i would have no room for actinic supplimentation.
I do welcome the opinions and ideas as i may just be going crazy here lol
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Amphiprion
Astrea snail
Posts: 1472
Joined: Sat Mar 05, 2005 10:41 pm
Location: Mobile, AL

Re: Looking for tips on pendant build

Post by Amphiprion »

It doesn't sound crazy, just very inefficient. You'd honestly be better served, if you want that much light, with a single 400w lamp. It will give you higher peak intensity, plenty of spread, less heat overall, and less electricity. If you aren't getting good spread on that relatively small footprint, the reflector is ill-designed or the lamps are too close. Otherwise, you'll be trading a lot more heat for less overall light when confining those lamps to that small amount of space compared to other options. That should still give you plenty of room for LED supplements, especially if you position them on the periphery of the fixture.
Andrew

25g planted nature aquarium
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