2 175 watts halide question

[jack the reefer]

I have a 46G Bow front, planning to get 2 175 watt 10K halides is this enough light for hard and soft corals? I dont plan on adding actinic...my setup: 3" sand bed, about 50 lbs LR, 2 powerheads, prizm hangon skimmer, Rena canister filter no bio balls just carbon and some media..amonia right now is 0 nitrite is 0 but Nitrate is about 25mg/l..how much ppm is 25mg/l?.

 

[captain hook]

Sounds like plenty to me. Good luck.

 

[dlight692000]

sounds good

 

[burnnspy]

IMO, You need more actinic lighting so I recommend 175watt 12000K Sunburst bulbs. That will be good for LPS corals, soft corals and polyps, but stay away from SPS corals(low light corals are okay) that demand intense lighting.
Your biofiltration has some holes in it hence moderatle high nitrates:
You need another inch of LS and I recommend getting rid of all mechanical filtration from the canister it is producing nitrates if it is not being added in the water.
BurnNSpy

 

[dhe420]

You have enough light to sustain any sps you want. Sorry burn I keep all types of sps under 355 watts pc, i am switching over to 2 175 watt mh w/ 2 96 watt pc actinic.

 

[jack the reefer]

thanks for all the replies. I already ordered it, BurnSpy: you think its good idea to remove the thick foam in the canister and just leave the carbon and the fine media on top?

 

[burnnspy]

DHE420, sure SPS corals will survive under 175watt MH but the best colored ones will lose some color if not turn brown.
I recommend removing everything from the canister except the pump.
BurnNSpy

 

[dhe420]

Burn i guess thats possible, but in my experience i have had no bleaching or turning of color, even with my purple acro,s and blue tips, under pc. Just going from my own experiences

 

[burnnspy]

I have very little experience with SPS corals myself, but other people I have contact with have noted a dramatic difference when they go from 175watts to 400watts with SPS corals in the brightness of the color.
All major coral farmers also use 400watt MH lighting for the rapid growth of SPS frags that they use to make a profit.
They could all be wrong but it is not likely.
BurnNSpy