150W MH w/ 10 Gallon

[palndrm12]

Wondering if anyone has had any experience with a 150W MH over a 10 Gallon. I am looking at upgrading my lighting from the Custom Sealife 80W PC's to the Coralife Aqualight Pro 150W MH w/ the 2x65W Actinic and Moonlights. Would probably hang about 9-10inches above the water and I also have the ability to fan vent the rear of the stand setup I have if heat becomes an issue. Reason for upgrade is more flexibility to keep small amount of SPS and future tank upgrades to 40-50 gallons or more. Any opinions are appreciated. Thanks!

 

[lbaskball]

I had a 150watt on 24gal and did great. There were heat issues though, so I dont know if youwill need to invest in a chiller. Because having a fan, the water might evaporate really fast on your 10gal tank.Im sure once you put live rock on there,, it comes down to only about 8gals. WHy dont you just spend less money and buy the 70watt metal halide? You dont need 150watt MH to keep SPS, 70watts on a 10gal is more then enough.

 

[bigpete]

IMO 150 watts for a 10 gal is overkill. I have 70 watt MH on my 12 and its perfect. if anything, go with that.

 

[tinyreef]

i ran an 150W mh and 2x32W PC actinics on my 15H (same footprint as the 10g). that said, 150W might be a bit much for 10g though due to the much lower depth, especially with the 65W supps.
9" should be alright but you should allow for some adjustment up or down for intensity adjustment. i ran my lights about 7" off the water, i left extra water volume (15H) to allow for the adjustment.

 

[bonebrake]

I'm going to go against what others have said and say go for it, however, you definitely need to take the following into serious consideration: heat and evaporation.
Don't even think about it unless you have an automatic top-off. Otherwise you would need to add water at least three times a day to keep the salinity fluctuations under control. If you don't have auto top-off no coral nor fish will tolerate the constant swings is salinity.
Heat will be an easier thing to fix because if you're evaporating a large volume of water and have a climate controlled room you won't have any problems; as well as hanging/mounting the light several inches above the surface of the water will help tremendously.
Personally, I would rather go for two 70 watt halides side-by-side so there is no shadowing.
:joy:

 

[howard947]

I want to set up a nano from a 10 gallon tank. Do you want to sell the Custom Sealife 80W PC's? E-mail me at howard@goldbergpage.com

 

[laddy]

Wattage per gallon is not the only consideration in coral/fish husbandry......i've seen great, albeit limited SPS tanks, under power compacts/T5

 

[palndrm12]

Hey all thanks for the feedback! Before I didn't think too much about evap but I will take a deeper look into that. I do have a 10 gallon fuge so hopefully that would help with the salinity flux. I have also been considering moving to a 20 high which would prolly help too. I think I am still leaning towards the 150W MH but maybe less the 65W's. I'll let you know what I decide. Thanks again for your input!