is this lighting overkill?

shep77

shep77

Member
I am starting a 75 gallon reef tank and a friend wants to give me two mh lights. A 250 watt pendant and a 400 watt pendant. Is this too much?
 
verde_ad

verde_ad

Member
I have a 250 watt hqi over a thirty gallon, so I think those lights would be fine over a 75. How would you mount them though, so you get even light dispersment? wouldn't one end of the tank look different then the other? I am just wondering, I am sure there is an answer for this.
 
dreuster

dreuster

Member
I have one MH 250 W Double Ended HQI 14k pendant on my 80.
My clams seem to be doing well...but the ends of the tank lack light....2 of these pendants would be ideal on a 75g.
 
shep77

shep77

Member
verde_ad I had thought about the uneven lighting and if they are free I am not going to complain at all. I was more thinking about differing the corals and anenomes on different ends. High light requirements on one end and not so high on the other. I know I can not make things like anenomes sit and stay but thought it would be worth the effort. They, including fish and other inverts would also be able to find a shady place. I planned on suspending them above the tank. From what I have read , approximately 12 inches but I do not know about the 400 watt. Seems like there would be so much more heat generated. Thoughts? :happy:
 
verde_ad

verde_ad

Member
Free is a very good price. It would be worth it even if the light didn't look exactly right. Eventualy you could purchase one more 250 and put the 250's on the end and the 400 in the middle.
 
shep77

shep77

Member
Now that is a good suggestion. Gotta think long term... Still wondering about the height above the tank. I guess I would rather not boil my fishes to death.
 
verde_ad

verde_ad

Member
Like I said on earlier in the thread, I have a 250 watt de hqi over an 18" deep tank. I added the light and a fan at the same time and my temp actualy went down. My room is pretty warm because I have reptiles with heat lamps in the same room and I can keep my water at about 78 without any problem. I turn the fan off at night because the temp gets too cold. All that said if you are going to hang your lights and add fans, your temp should be fine.
 
verde_ad

verde_ad

Member
Sorry, I wasn't meaning that all of that detail was stated earlier, just that I have a 250 watt hqi over a small tank with no real problems. I was just elaborating on why I think those lights would be alright.
 
shep77

shep77

Member
Sorry about any confusion, I literally re-read the posts trying to find how high you had yours. :notsure:
Thanks though, 8" sounds just fine and thanks rubberduck, I hope it would appeal to different types of creatures.
 
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