MH Lighting Upgrade Questions?

[s10lowrider]

We're a little new to the hobby and are looking to upgrade our current lighting set up. We adopted the tank and it came with pretty out of date pc lighting. Its a 16 gallon tank that is 18" deep (16" to top of substrate). Right now it just has 2 32 watt pc bulbs 10k/dual actinic which just doesnt seem like much lighting. We are looking to purchase a 20" metal halide set up and would like it to sustain just about anything as we buy new stock. We have found 2 kits in the size we need, one is 150w hqi and the other is 250w hqi. Even though its the right size, is 250w overkill on such a small tank? What would be the differences and limitations of each fixture? We are just looking for a few opinions to help choose the right lighting before making the investment. Thanks.

 

[salt210]

you would be good with the 150w one, but you can also use T5's

 

[dragonzim]

Originally Posted by salt210
http:///forum/post/3122399
you would be good with the 150w one, but you can also use T5's

One thing to consider on a tank that small is that the MH's will most likely heat the water pretty quickly. You may be better with T5 just for the cooler running temp..

 

[s10lowrider]

Thanks, good to know about the heat issue that might happen with MH. Can anyone recommend a good plug and play 20" T5 fixture? Would like it to sustain a reef system should we decide to go that route as we gain experience. Thanks for the info.