I just upgraded my lighting over my 135 gallon, 6 foot long 2 foot high saltwater reef tank that is loaded with numerous corals and fish. Pretty happy with the new metal halides.
I know a couple other Alleyites have posted about owning reef tanks in the past so I thought I'd share.
I just added three 250 watt metal halide bulbs, Coralview Reeflux 12K spectrum over the six foot long tank which adds a nice even crisp white light with a blue actinic tint.
Yeah, I grow coral rocks as a hobby.
And you though Vipers were expensive, in the last 15 years I've spent 1/2 a used Gen I / II viper on this tank.
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- Dave
Vipers are fast with tons of Torque but are nose heavy, a Porsche 911 is quick and nimble. I love to corner like a hummingbird.
Jackson, post some pictures of your tank, I've always wanted a 240-280 gallon reef, something like 8 foot long x 2' x 2'......I don't like the taller tanks, too deep to reach the bottom for maintenance and then you just need more lighting like 400 watt metal halides.
Reefin' ain't cheap, but it sure is cool watching the corals grow, and I do aquaculture and ship and trade corals if anyone is interested in swapping some zoo's or something. I'm into soft corals mostly but would swap some LPS or SPS corals.
Glad you liked the eye candy Jay, some of my bigger fish are 5-6" long>
Rocman, look to the very left at the edge of the photo towards the bottom, I've already got a good luck Buddha with both arms in a Zen pose over his head......but thanks for the second one in the robe. You sure he won't poop in my tank?
Actually, I do run a pretty dirty tank, that radioactive stuff is called algae and the herbivore fish love to graze on it. Many people run sterile sanitized tanks without a spec of grime in them.......not me, when you're a scuba diver as I am, all the critters from algae up to sharks have a place in the ecosystem and yeah the world is a dirty place. My reef is real, not a low light sanitized one you'll see in a restaurant.
Plus, yeah, I'm a lazy reef keeper, I didn't even wipe down the outside glass of the tank before the photo. I Just took it. So shoot me. heh heh.
While we're on the subject - I've always loved SW tanks and want to put together one of those nano setups on the desk in my office. I don't really have the time to do all the research so was going to stop in a local place and ask for advice, but I might as well ask here. From the searching I did do, it seemed the latest tank from Red Sea Max looked like a good setup.
