Halide question

[bowfish]

First question, What wattage would be the best for a 75 gallon tank? Second, Would it be better to have 1 fixture with that wattage or to split the wattage between two bulbs for better light coverage.

 

[btldreef]

I would do two 150watt halides with actinics. They make really nice 4' long fixtures that have two halides and 2-4 actinic bulbs. For example, I have a Coralife AquaLight Pro 6' that has 3 halides and 4 actinics. Not that I would recommend a Coralife fixture since there are better out there and I've modded the cr@p out of mine in the past year or so, but it gives you an idea of what I'm talking about.

 

[bowfish]

Im planning on this being a DIY

 

[btldreef]

Even easier. 2 150 watt pendents and ballasts to run T5's. Done. LOL

 

[acrylic51]

Only drawback I see with 150w MH's is bulb selection isn't great IMO.......

 

[bowfish]

What would you suggest

 

[acrylic51]

Are you referring to running DE or SE bulbs?

 

[bowfish]

Quote:
Originally Posted by acrylic51 http:///forum/thread/383353/halide-question#post_3352717
Are you referring to running DE or SE bulbs?
Probably SE if DE are anything like a halogen DE the things are a pain to replace

 

[acrylic51]

I have a couple I prefer.... Radiums, XM's, and Reeflux are a couple of my favorites.

 

[btldreef]

Quote:
Originally Posted by acrylic51 http:///forum/thread/383353/halide-question#post_3352755
I have a couple I prefer.... Radiums, XM's, and Reeflux are a couple of my favorites.
+1
all good choices if you're going the single end route. I found XM's and Reeflux to have better growth with SPS, but the XM's coloring is terrible.

 

[acrylic51]

When I first starting running the 10k XM's I wanted to smash the bulbs.....They are bad looking, but took me a while to find the sweet nipple orientation on the bulb and they actually burned as an ice blue color.....