lighting for a 20 gal tank

[ejensen]

Anyone out there haveing sucess with PC on a 20 gal. I'm not looking for other types of lighting but PC. Well my question is should I get a single strip 65 watt 50/50 light or 2 65 watt PC. I also was thinking about getting a 17in 96 watt PowerQuad. It seem pretty cool.

 

[legend]

i have 130w pc over my 20g and everything seems to be going great....of course i dont have any sps though. Mainly shrooms, GSP, xenia and other softies

 

[overanalyzer]

I use both a combo of PC and VHO over my 20 - 150 watts of VHO and 52 watts of PC - 2 65K and 2 Actnics ....
I would go with at least a powerquad 96 watter as a minimum!

 

[ejensen]

I was thinking about getting the Coralife 130 watt 2-65 PC's. Do you think the powerquad is better then that. I'm not going to get anything that requires strong lighting. Well I'm not sure yet on what to get because I'm going to build me a stand and canope so I might just retro fix the PC.

 

[legend]

the more the better.....im happy with my 130w though....

 

[ejensen]

Well I guess I'll just get 2 retro fit 65 watt PC. I wanted to get this light strip that had 1 65 watt pc because I could keep my hood but not sure that it would be strong enough.

 

[brownleaf]

I have 2-65w pc from JBJ w/ fans, everything seem great at this point eventhough not too long for my setup. I'm thinking get one more 55w pc, or maybe that's too much?

 

[bradttu]

I have the 24" Coralife 130W setup on mine. I LOVE it. This is what it looked like when I first started it.

 

[bradttu]

This was at the beginnning of February. It has changed since then. My star polyps, mushrooms, etc. LOVE these lights!!! :cheer:

 

[007]

Over my 20, I have 2x75w VHO . . . . I like it very much. A lot more so than most of the PC set ups that I have seen. Not that I don't like the PC's, I just think that the VHO give better coloration.

 

[ejensen]

Thanks for the info. I have PC on my 55 and really do like them. Now I'm thinking about getting some VHO's. But aren't they alot more than PC. How much did you spend on them? I've heard both sides about one being better than the other. I think they will do the job the same.

 

[jugger]

i have 202 watts of PCs on my 20 gallon and i dont really like them....after seeing MHs i wish i never wasted the money on PCs...but to each his own

 

[ejensen]

ok, I did some research on lights. Looked up hellolight and found some reto fit lights. I really don't want to waste any money on light if I can get the right ones first. I found some MH for not too much. Now here is the big question. How many watts should I get and what kind of bulb. how many k's? Should I get some actnics? I was thinking if I do then some PC because they are alot cheaper.

 

[jugger]

good to see you came to your senses!!!! wish i had backthen.....anyway you will get many different answers on that question...
many different ways you could go
one 250watt 20K pendent>>> but people say they dont have a very high par rating and growth suffers...but it looks nice and blue so you wouldnt need actinics
one 250watt 10K with some PCs or VHOs for actincs and make a hood
if you go with 250 watts then you can always put the bulb and ballast on a larger tank...
or the same combo with less wattage on the MH but more on the PCs or VHOs
i would go with the HQIs
what i plan on doing is getting a 250watt 10K HQI and using my existing 130 PC with both bulbs actinics and make a hood for all that to go in...
but like i said there are many different ways to go...simplest and cheapest would be the 20K pendent hung from the celling

 

[jugger]

btw hellolights is a great site isnt it....$200 for a MH DIY setup is a deal

 

[ejensen]

Well thanks for the info. I think I will go with the reto with some PC. I really don't want to hand anything from my celling. And I like the idea or haveing the option to put on a different size tank.

 

[007]

I would recommend VHO over PC. I would even recommend NO over PC if you are going to use a MH. I think that PC are crap. They break easily, are expensive, and have poor coloration compared to VHO.