# How would you light up a 220 gallon??



## LilLou (Apr 23, 2006)

Looking into the possibility of getting a 220 gallon tank.

Tank is 6' X 2' X 30" tall.

Thinking of going with T5HO but how many and what size (wattage/length) is stumping me.
Should I go with a MH because of the depth. Any help you could provide would be greatly appreciated.

Lou


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

60" long 80 watt each T5HO will be completely adequate for your length and depth. You need to stack them - one bulb a bit to the left, the other one a bit to the right - so you cover most of the 6 ft. length.

In a few days I will post a detailed explanation with many pictures of how exactly I made my T5HO lights (for a 6 ft tank) and you can replicate what I did - it's very easy.

As far as wattage is concerned 480 watts of T5HO (6 bulbs) is a huge amount of light if every bulb has an individual reflector. 480 watts is actually an overkill. 320 watts will be enough.

You cannot use less than 3 MH bulbs over a 6 ft. long tank because each MH covers an area of about 2 sq. ft. or you will end up with shadow gaps. Cheapest MH that you could do yourself will be around $120 for 150 watt double ended, so at least $360 for 3 of them if you are handy:
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/do-it-yourself/34650-100-diy-150w-hqi-metal-halide.html

To these $360 add the cost of at least 2 fluorescents + ballasts because you will probably want to use the MH only a few hours a day.

Six 60 watt each T5HO from reefgeek.com will be around $430. They will have to be replaced much less often than the MH. Heat is not an issue with the T5HO. The diy T5HO will be much safer than the diy MH. You can point the T5HO reflectors to where you want them (away from the tank glass) but you can't do that with the MH. If you have a center brace on your tank the MH will produce an elegant and ugly shadow.

As I mentioned before - MH have only one advantage over T5HO - the shimmer effect. Everything else is inferior, but only if you get the right bulbs. Do not go for the cheaper GE bulbs or brands that don't publish the spectrum.

Here are some good links to topics about T5HO:
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/science-of-lighting/37512-t5ho-or-pc-ballasts.html

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/science-of-lighting/37484-lighting-up-a-75-gal.html

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/equipment/37471-60cm-lighting-full-spectrum.html

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/...1-60cm-lighting-full-spectrum.html#post279524

Cheap T5HO ballast (but this one is for 2 x 54 watt T5HO bulbs, not for the 80 watt ones. It could probably power up one 80 watt T5HO but it may overdrive it quite a bit - shifting the original spectrum toward blue which you do not want):
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/science-of-lighting/37512-t5ho-or-pc-ballasts.html

--Nikolay


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## LilLou (Apr 23, 2006)

Thanks Niko for the reply.

I will wait to see what you have built.

Sound like it's my choice as to whether I want the MH w/ 2 t5HO
or 4 t5HO.

320 W / 80 W per bulb = 4 bulbs

Correct me if I'm wrong but I would need 2 of the following ballasts to power 4 tubes, and three if I wanted to run 6 tubes? Obviously I would need the same number of reflectors as bulbs.

http://www.prolighting.com/wo7elba12loc.html

Lou


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

Lilou,

You can buy the Workhorse ballasts from reefgeek.com too - and cheaper than prolighting or any other place. They carry the Giesemann T5HO tubes and also Tec reflectors for them. Shipping is free - google around and you will see that noone beats the reefgeek deal.

As far as I know the Workhorse ballasts are not program start. I don't know if the IceCap 660 is a program start ballast but it overdrives the T5HO too much for my taste. If you must have a program start ballasts then just spend the money for the special T5HO ballasts (reefgeek has them too). 

You are correct - one Workhorse 7 will power two 80 watt T5HO. So for 4 tubes you will need 2. For 6 tubes you will need 3.

--Nikolay


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## dodgefreak8 (Jul 26, 2006)

like this. 








its 320 watts and more than enough for most plants. I actually had to turn 2 of the 4 off because I don't run co2 in this tank and i was really fighting algea.


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## LilLou (Apr 23, 2006)

Dodge 

Are those T5HO's?
They look like T-12 shop fixtures. 

I am hoping to make my light this weekend. Stuff from reef geek should be in on Friday.

I will have to stagger them like shown in yours. Except I want to hang mine above the tank to let stuff grow out of the top.

Thanks for the photo looks like you did a real nice job

Lou


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## dodgefreak8 (Jul 26, 2006)

they are shop fixtures. Not the greatest but WAY cheaper and despite what some poeple think they still grow plants.


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