250w MH over a 20 gallon?

csrobe02

csrobe02

Member
Hey I have a 20 gallon reef tank that is lit by two 75w VHO's and one 36w actinic PC bulb. The tank has mushrooms, xenia, zoos, open brain, candy cane, RBTA, and a couple SPS frags. My questions is: Would a 250w metal halide be too much for a 20 gallon?
 
S

spsaddict

Guest
raise it 12" off the surface, get alot of fans and a small chiller.... i will be have dual 400 on a 65
 
csrobe02

csrobe02

Member
How about 8" off the water and alot of fans and no chiller? :D
Thats all I would be able to work with. The reason I ask is because I am setting up a 120 and about to buy the lights for it (dual 250w MH) and would love to setup one of those MH fixtures in my 20 until I got up the big tank.
 
stapler

stapler

Member
Look into getting a MH pendant. I have one on my 30g, and it works great...and dont have heating problems. I have a 175w 20k bulb, and like it alot.
Just an idea...but for a tank that small...it might be a good thing to look into.
HTH
stapler
 
S

spsaddict

Guest

Originally posted by CSRobe02
How about 8" off the water and alot of fans and no chiller? :D
ALOT of fans needed and possibly open the back of the canopy up.. duals on a 30 minght be a lil much.... you would need to buy a chiller for that....
 
csrobe02

csrobe02

Member
Cool I might give it a try. Im ordering the lights anyways for the big tank. If I do it, how would I go about acclimating everything in the tank to new (more) light. I have 186 watts in there now, stepping up to 250.
Also, would you reccomend the 14k bulb? As I would have no actinics (I would think that a 250 MH with two 75 watt actinics would be a bit much).
EDIT: Wow jugger, thats pretty weird. Almost the identical question for the exact same cause. preeetttyyy freeakkyy!
 
S

spsaddict

Guest
id raise em really high off the top of the tank, 14" or so, and drop by 1" ever week n a half, also run the lights for 1 hr then have em off for 4 hrs, run for 1 hr, off for 4 hrs, every week slowly add 30 min to the on time
 
jugger

jugger

Member
yes it is!!!! i dont plan on doing is for about another month or 2 so if you do this before then please post an update on how things went...thanks
do you plan on keeping the PCs in there with the MH???
 
csrobe02

csrobe02

Member
Thats not stressful for the corals to have to open and close so many times in a day. Also for my fish who would go to sleep, then wake up... go to sleep, wake up, etc?
Jugger I really want to, but I am afraid that heat is a big issue with just the 250, let along adding another heat source. If I can keep the temp. at a reasonable temp with the MH I will add the extra lights and see how that goes.
 
S

spsaddict

Guest

Originally posted by CSRobe02
Thats not stressful for the corals to have to open and close so many times in a day. Also for my fish who would go to sleep, then wake up... go to sleep, wake up, etc?

any changes are stressful, our job is to limit this as much as possible. and trust me they will like this alot better than baking out under a mh for a few hrs... besides its not like there wont be ambient light, your fish will stay awake as light from the room will be there, the idea is not to fry the coral... it is more for them than for the fish imo
 
stapler

stapler

Member
If your worried, got for a 175w pendant. That would be your best bet, and you could hang it from the ceiling to adjust the height...therefore adjusting the heat problem.
 
stapler

stapler

Member
Install some fans in your canopy(not sure if you have one). If my water hits 80....they turn on and cool down the water very well.
If you have heat problems, your probably going to have lots of evaporation too.:yes:
 
S

spsaddict

Guest

Originally posted by stapler
If your worried, got for a 175w pendant. That would be your best bet, and you could hang it from the ceiling to adjust the height...therefore adjusting the heat problem.
hes buying a bigger tank eventually and doesnt want to upgrade again, 175w mh are junk, not worth the money, when you spen 30 more and can get 250w
 
S

spsaddict

Guest
nothing to be sry bout :)
i skim through alot of posts too :yes:
 
csrobe02

csrobe02

Member
Carole, yes! either thursday or friday, whichever is best for you.
Also are 175 MH really that bad? I just had the thought to do dual 175 over the 120 gal with four 110w VHO. If I go that route than im sure I would be able to keep the heat down in my 20 with a 175 burning over it.
 
007

007

Active Member
I too have a 20 gallon (actually 22) and am considering a MH set up for my tank as well.
What about a 150w HQI? I think that this along with my existing VHO's is going to be my best option. What do you all think?
 
jugger

jugger

Member

Originally posted by 007
I too have a 20 gallon (actually 22) and am considering a MH set up for my tank as well.
What about a 150w HQI? I think that this along with my existing VHO's is going to be my best option. What do you all think?
again another 20 gallon person with the same problem......as for me i dont want to waste money on buying bigger lights for a bigger tank in the future so im going with the 250 DE
 
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