400w MHs over a 55g?

[darknes]

Originally Posted by Bonebrake
If your room is cool, and you go topless and keep the lights high over the tank you can probably skip the chiller. Get tons of SPS and clams. It will look really sweet! Post pics if you get a chance!

Really, I don't think having ReefNut run around his house topless is going to keep the tank any cooler.

 

[crzyfshygy]

Sounds awesome......I would do it in a second!!!! Imagine, run perfect water conditions, make sure you have a yellow tang in the tank for alge control, be very careful of your nutient level by running a good skimmer and do not feed so much. Make sure you have a good clean up crew, LIGHTS DO NOT CAUSE ALGE...EXCEESIVE NUTRIENTS DO, RUN THE CHILLER, test phosphate regularly, THEN THROW IN THE ACRO'S. Remember also the higher the kelvin rating the lower the par. So if you are worried about to much light.......go 20k or 14k and then it wont really look like a NUCULEAR POWER PLANT BUT THE SPS WILL STILL GROW.
I say do it, I would!

 

[ags]

No softy's or musrooms, zoo.s. you will bleech out most of your corals.
Not true. The multi colored (rare) zoos from Fiji LOSE color in less intense light. I have purple, radiant oranges, and multi colored with white specks that lost most of their brillance in my 90 with 660watts of VHO. The 400watt MH will actually help keep the color.
From what I have read and been told Fiji zoos are so colorful bc they sit in shallow water receiving intense light all day. And 400watt MHs don't come close to matching the intensity of natural sun.
400 watt MHs are NOT overkill, IMO.

 

[reefnut]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I'll post pics after it's stable. I would also like someone to answer this question... In what way is it overkill? Now I do agree you can get by with much less but overkill... not in my opinion.
Originally Posted by klaramore
No softy's or musrooms, zoo.s. you will bleech out most of your corals. I would cut it back to 250 -275 or 1 400

In my 110g I ran the 400s and had mushrooms, zoos and other softies I couldn't get rid of. Xenia LOVE MHs... the stronger the better. The pictured zoos were within 12" of the top of the water and growing like crazy. You can see white in the center of the disks but they were still multiplying like crazy. You would be surprised at the adaptability of corals... all you have to do is understand their needs.

 

[ags]

Oceana, who is pretty much the authority on rare and multi colored zoos would also dispute the idea that zoos will bleach under intense light. He is the one to consult.

 

[reefnut]

Originally Posted by Drewsta
It is overkill IMO unless you have the halides laying around I would just go cheaper and get a couple of 250s with VHO + If you walk within 5 feet of your tank your face will melt!
That's just silly... and if you read my original post, I do have them laying around...

 

[bonebrake]

In speaking for the high intensity light requiring corals, there is no such thing as overkill with lighting in this hobby. The corals that require intense light get far more PAR in the wild than they do in 99% of the "best" hobbyist systems.

 

[coachklm]

you will be fine many corals photosynthetic ability change and adapt to the intensity or lack thereof of the lights.. to a certain degree of course.