Lightning

fish_geek*

fish_geek*

Member
Hello everyone.
I started a reef aquarium not too long ago and im debating about what lightning i should get.
I plan on having anemones and some beginer corals like zoos and mashooms.
Should i get a fixture with 10k and 13k or 20k metal halide bulbs
And for the poer compact a 10k, actinic, 50.50 or 6500k bulbs for a 55 watt power compact
Is a 175 watt metal halite compact enough to keep the corals im planing to?
Thanks for your time,
David
 
copernicus45

copernicus45

Member
What size tank do you have, depending on how deep the tank is, 175w MH bulbs would be able to keep anemones, but enemones are one of the more touchy reef creatures, and before getting one i would make sure my tank is able to keep shrooms, zoos and other coral alive first.
Also know that anemones have a "foot" which they use to move around the tank with, anemones are also very aggresive to corals, and if the anemone starts moving around if it is not comfortable in your tank it may kill your other corals.
 
fish_geek*

fish_geek*

Member
my tank is a 29 gallon (36 x 13 x16).
Can anemones be with other anemones in a tank this size?
I can also swith the 175 watt to 250 if needed.
Thanks for the info,
fish_geek*
 
reckler

reckler

Member
on mh lights the higher the kalvin (k) on a bulb the blue'er it will be. I read an artical on mh lighting and rule of thumb is 150 to 175 good upto 12" deep, 175 to 250 good upto 24" deep, and 400 to 1000 good upto 36" deep.
I will try to find it and post it for you.
I haver good luck with my pc's in keeping soft corals I even keep lps's with pc's. I have a 125 with 779 watts of pc's. that is about 6.5 watts per gallon, which most peolpe don't go by that figure.
 
wangotango

wangotango

Active Member
i would go with T5. you can keep pretty much anything with the right fixture, without the heat issue of halides, plus they're cheaper.
 
fish_geek*

fish_geek*

Member
how about the power compacts?
Im new to reef lightning and any good or important information would be appreceiated
Thanks,
fish_geek*
 
copernicus45

copernicus45

Member
MH lights are hands down the best IMO, On my 55g im running 2 250W MH's along with 2 110 VHO actinic light, my 250W MH are 10k, i feel with 10k MH you get the best growth and with the addition of PC, VHO, or t-5 Actinic light you get great color. 20K MH bulbs are to blue IMO, and 14K MH are just like 10K with actinics, but not as much growth from my experience, plus the 14k bulbs get dull and start losing the blue color after a few months. With a 29g tank you could get away with 1 175W MH, and grow soft corals, LPS and even SPS if you wanted at the top.
 
fish_geek*

fish_geek*

Member
so you think that i should keep the 175 watt , get the 10k bulbs for mh and the sctinct?
Thank you for your time,
David
 
copernicus45

copernicus45

Member
yes, but if you can change to 250w that would also be good if you plan on having an SPS tank only, witht he 250 you could keep SPS on the way bottom, but with the 175w you can also keep SPS, but more light is always better if you can handle the heat. Iv seen great 29g SPS tanks with 175w, iv also seen great 20g SPS tanks with 250W
 
copernicus45

copernicus45

Member
id say its overkill unless you plan on having an SPS dominated tank, no reason to spend extra money if you plan on having a mixed reef
 
michaeltx

michaeltx

Moderator
I say the 250 is overkill for a 29 gallon tank I only had 2 250 watt and 220 watt PC on a 100 gallon tank!!!
if you go 250 you wil have a massive heat issue and wont have that many lower light areas in the tank for lower light corals. I would look at the 175 and PC or VHO atinic bulbs to supplement and for color. I prefer the look of VHO though more intense than PC.
Mike
 
cymbal67

cymbal67

Member
if the 175w MH is HQI (double ended)...i would stay with that one. i have a 150W MH HQI in a 30" deep tank. 10k on MH with 2 65w actinics. great colors and glow. i was thinking about the 250w MH but since my ballast was external and could change that and bulb easily i tried the 150w first knowing i could always switch to 250w. i'm glad i went with only the 150w because i have more freedom on placement in tank with corals. i would have been too restriced on what went where with a 250k to make sure i didnt burn anything
 
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