lighting a LTA

[moraym]

Looking to add a few LTAs, standard condys, nothing exciting or too demanding. Adding these to a 55g tank, and since I will be upgrading hoods in the next year or so, I am looking any information on bulbs that can be placed in my existing hood.
It's just the standard plastic hoods that came with glass top my GF purchased for me (got a new, albeit cheap, 55g for christmas). So I was curious if there were some high-intensity bulbs to get in there to make her happy.
Sorry for the rambling. Anyways, what exactly should i be looking for when i search later on?

 

[moraym]

Or should i just go w/ a Hamilton mini pendant w/ 250w HQI?
Essentially i would like to place the light/housing directly on top of the glass top, i dont want to suspend it over the top and have an open top.
I obviously don't want to overheat the lights or the tank.
can you tell i'm new to upgrading lights, too many aggressive tanks over the years, thanks again.

 

[thegrog]

A single 250 HQI will not be best for this system as your tank is a little too long for the light to evenly distribute. I would go with dual MH's. Either dual 150W HQI's or dual 175W moguls if your tank is 18" deep. Go with the 250W's if your tank is 24" deep and you don't have a DSB.
As far as the temp, if you go with 13,000K or 14,000K you won't need any extra lighting.
Hope this helps.

 

[thegrog]

Originally posted by MorayM
Or should i just go w/ a Hamilton mini pendant w/ 250w HQI?
Essentially i would like to place the light/housing directly on top of the glass top, i dont want to suspend it over the top and have an open top.
I obviously don't want to overheat the lights or the tank.
can you tell i'm new to upgrading lights, too many aggressive tanks over the years, thanks again.

If you are going with metal halides, you need to suspend them about 8" from the water surface. Putting them directly on the glass will definately overheat the tank, not to mention the light will be too intense and will look like one or two spotlights in your tank rather than the entire tank lit up.
If you are fixed on not suspending a fixture, there are several MH hoods that have feet to raise them the necessary height and they sit directly on your tank.

 

[moraym]

Should I go w/ dual 250w either way, just so I have the ability to upgrade to corals next year?

 

[thegrog]

Originally posted by MorayM
Should I go w/ dual 250w either way, just so I have the ability to upgrade to corals next year?
With dual 250 HQI's, you may have so much light that you may limit yourself to the light-demanding corals as the lower light corals (mushrooms, some polyps & soft corals) will get too much light. The other compromise would be to raise the light higher from the water to lessen the penetration. IMO, not the best way to go about it as you will end up lighting half of your room.