lighting Retro

[cousenfl]

I have had a 55gal fish only with some soft corls set up for years and want to convert it to a reef tank. I currently have a hood with 4 65w cf lamps in it but I am thinking of switching to MH so I can keep hard and soft corals. Any suggestions would be very helpfull (how much light, how many hours a day should they be on etc....)

 

[flower]

Originally Posted by cousenfl
http:///forum/post/3133093
I have had a 55gal fish only with some soft corls set up for years and want to convert it to a reef tank. I currently have a hood with 4 65w cf lamps in it but I am thinking of switching to MH so I can keep hard and soft corals. Any suggestions would be very helpfull (how much light, how many hours a day should they be on etc....)

150 X 2 from 12K to 14K if it were me...

I personally love the look of MH lighting. The ripples dancing in the water like the sun shining over it, is so beautiful. I don’t think T5s can't match that.

 

[scsinet]

When I had a 55g reef, I did 2x175, 14K halides and it worked out quite well, for both hard and soft.
If your hood is enclosed, you could mount a retro in it, but with the enclosed canopy that I had, I ended up needing a chiller, but IMO if you can afford it it's a good investment regardless.