lighting question

[chadman]

i am in the process of setting up my girlfriends reef tank...i want to do all types or corals anemones clames the whole 9...i am looking at purchasing the Aqualight pro light fixture....with 150w HQI and 2x65 actinics...for a 50g tank will this be more than enough light? at my lfs the fixture is $430 is this a solid price as well? is there a fixture anyone would reccomend over this fixture?

 

[teen]

i would do the 2x 150w, i honestly dont think the single 150 is enough on a 50 gallon tank.

 

[dejaco]

If the tank is more than 36" long then the one MH in the middle won't be of much help out on the ends. Yet your totall wattage gets you up to 5.6 watts per gallon. Overall it sounds good, but would like to know dimensions of tank.

 

[chadman]

36x15x20 is the dimensions....its a 46g bowfront...we may end up going larger though i am in the process of talking her into it...but currently that is what we are going with...all i can find for a tank that size is fixtures that have one opening in the middle for the MH bulbs...i cannot find one with two openings at either end to spread the light out more....anyone know of any of the top of their heads?

 

[teen]

does this tank have a brace in the middle? if not, i would just go with a single 250w MH pendant. then some vhos or t-5s.

 

[chadman]

can MH's support all aspects of photosynthetic corals needs? or must you have the other spectrums as well?

 

[teen]

mh will do it all, but you have to have enough to penatrate to the bottom.
if you do mh and t-5s, you can do a 10k mh bulb which will help the corals grow, then the t-5s can be actinic so you balance out the colors and it looks more natural.

 

[dejaco]

With the bowfront I think you will be fine. 6 watts per gallon
You just won't be able to put extreme light demanding things out on the very ends of the tank. MH will illuminate about 1 foot either side extremely nicley, so we are only talking about end 6 inches on either side.

 

[chadman]

on my tank i only run pc's so that is why i am not very knowledgeable on MH's and stuff....is MH more of a blue spectrum light?

 

[chadman]

how do two 150w HQI pendants sound? then i could have them centered maybe a foot or so apart from each other so it would illuminate the whole tank?

 

[dejaco]

That would work but as far as spectral output it is a matter of taste,
I prefer 10,000K MH and actinic blue combinations.

 

[acrylic51]

The 150 DE HQI will be more than enough to penetrate the bottom of tank.....Usually a MH will cover a 2x2 area, but if it's centered you should be able to get away with just the single MH........

 

[teen]

Originally Posted by chadman
how do two 150w HQI pendants sound? then i could have them centered maybe a foot or so apart from each other so it would illuminate the whole tank?
thats sounds good. just run 14k bulbs so its not too blue or too white. unless you like the look of blue or white. its all personal preference as stated above.

 

[gatorwpb]

Originally Posted by chadman
how do two 150w HQI pendants sound? then i could have them centered maybe a foot or so apart from each other so it would illuminate the whole tank?
Check out the 36" Sunpod. It has 2x150w HQI 14k bulbs. No actinic, but its a great unit and relatively affordable.