Metal Halide Questions

[drew2005]

Thinking of making the switch to MH lighting in my 46 gallon bow. Is actinic lighting also necessary with the MH? I see some fixtures with and some without. I have my eyes on 2 fixtures. One has 2 150w HQI 14000k lights, 6 white and 6 blue moonlights. The other has 1 150w HQI 10000k, 2 96w actinic, 4 moonlights. Both have internal ballasts. Which one do you think I would need? Dimensions of my tank are 36.5x16.5x21. Any suggestions on brands?

 

[reeffer]

no you dont need actinic lights but they make the reef have that great color. You wont get that with just MH.
i just bought a new fixture from Current USA called the Outer Orbit. it has 3-150w MH, 4-96w pc actinics, 8 lunar lights and internal ballasts, cooling fans, seperate plugs for each light, it is a awesome combo.

 

[reeffer]

they make them smaller too, mine in 72"

 

[reeffer]

CU01041 36" 342W 3.00A 1x150W-Dual Daylight /
2x96W-Dual Actinic 4 A 36" x 15" x 4.25"
this one from there site would fit

 

[drew2005]

Originally Posted by reeffer
no you dont need actinic lights but they make the reef have that great color. You wont get that with just MH.
i just bought a new fixture from Current USA called the Outer Orbit. it has 3-150w MH, 4-96w pc actinics, 8 lunar lights and internal ballasts, cooling fans, seperate plugs for each light, it is a awesome combo.
Im actually looking at their new SunPod fixture. Right now i have their dual satellite. I looked at that fixture also. Only thing that bothers me is i have a bowfront and that plastic support beam going right across the middle of the tank. The outer orbit 36" has the 1 150w MH which is right in the middle. I hate the fact some of the light gets lost and shines weird because of that. Thats why the SunPod caught my attention.

 

[reeffer]

good point i didnt think about that, it would def. be to your advantage to try and get something with two lights.

 

[reeffer]

i just looked at the 36" sunpod and that is a nice little set up but your not going to get the most from your colors with just the MH. but it def. would solve your brace problem

 

[drew2005]

Originally Posted by reeffer
good point i didnt think about that, it would def. be to your advantage to try and get something with two lights.
Do you think 300w is too much lighting for a 46 gallon? i have about 75lbs of LR with a few soft corals and 4 fish.

 

[reeffer]

my friend Anthony Calfo, who has wrote a couple books with Bob fenner, has told me "in a reef tank its hard to have to much light no matter what you put above it" so i would have to say no.

 

[drew2005]

Originally Posted by reeffer
my friend Anthony Calfo, who has wrote a couple books with Bob fenner, has told me "in a reef tank its hard to have to much light no matter what you put above it" so i would have to say no.
Is there much of a difference in color between 10,000k and 14,000k? Is one slightly bluer or whiter? Im trying to decide if I want the actinics or not. I really do like the look of them.

 

[drew2005]

Another issue is heat. 2 150w MH might heat up my tank too much. Right now my tank stays between 78-80. I dont run a chiller so I might be safer to go with the 1 150w and 2 96w actinics. :thinking:

 

[lubeck]

What ever you choose make sure you acclimate your corals to the "new" lights, and eventually lowering them over a course of two weeks. As far as the heater goes, I just upgradded to Mh 2-250 10k and 1-150 20k. I don't turn on heater during the day and run a fan. You will have to do something to maintain the temperature. I would say yes to going from 10k to 14k, I think depending on the brand of lighting, 10k is either white or slight yellowish color, next time I need new bulbs I going for the 14k's.

 

[rhomer]

Just a note. You can run Metal Halides without actinics. I do it and get great color. I have 2 20k 175's and 2 55 watt 10ks. I think the pc actinics look like crap and when I had 2 10k MH and 2 55 PC actinics all my corals either turned brown or bleached. When I switched I get some really cool colors on my corals.
To answer I would get the dual 150 watt and run the 14ks they will give you a blue tint. If you want a real blue tint get 20k's
Rob

 

[drew2005]

Thanks for the input. When you say acclimate them to the "new" lights, Im assuming i should lower everything and then gradually raise them up. Right my button polyps are high up, my yellow polyps are mid tank, mushrooms are low.

 

[lubeck]

You really should raise your lights and slowly lower them over two weeks; If you move your corals they might get upset