mh lights over a 10 gal?

[bluelagoon]

ok this is just for future reference, something i'm thinking about for next year or the year after....i was looking to upgrading to a 10 gal tank (now ya don't hear THAT very often lol) from my 5 gal. the reason i'm stuck w/ 10 gal is that's the largest size tank we're supposed to have in our dorm rooms. i was looking at the current sunpod HQI metal halide. the 20 inch length comes in 70 or 150 watt. not too much of a price difference.
so which wattage would be better? if i do get the bigger tank, i want the lights so i can get more corals than just stupid mushrooms.... the number of fish doesn't bother me at all...i'd probably only keep my one fish in it, maybe another, ocellaris.

 

[pchromis]

I don't think MH lighting over a 10g is wise. Those lights are gonna cook that water and whatever is in it. You won't need too powerful lighting because not only of the small tank size, but the tank is not that deep. You might be able to double up on standard flourescents or even low wattage PC (power compact) lighting.

 

[bluelagoon]

thanks for replying! i have heard that before, but i thought that if they made them that small, it should be ok???

 

[murph]

My guess is if you could pack 5 to 8 watts per gallon of PC lighting over a tank like that there probably would not be many limits on what you could keep as far as corals go.
The more limiting factor of course would be the low water volume. You would probably have to go with all stoneys or all soft corals but not both.

 

[bluelagoon]

ok, i really just want to be sure of what i'm getting before i spend $250 on lighting.... that is if i do decide to get this tank.... my only problem then would be will i be able to get rid of my 5 gal? or would i keep it? lol

 

[razelynn]

get a little powercompact. They make minis that would be perfect ( I have customers using them over tanks as small as 5g growing zoos and riccs etc.
Metal halides are hot and your electric bill will go through the roof. I had 3 175w mh over a 300g vat running 6-8 hours a day and my power bill jumped $300

 

[bluelagoon]

oh and has anyone else even looked at these lights? they are new. you find the most info about them on current-usa 's website...

 

[razelynn]

hehe as far as the 5g use it as a fuge under/beside your ten. Same concept as a larger tank, increases water volume, etc.

 

[bluelagoon]

Originally Posted by razelynn
get a little powercompact. They make minis that would be perfect ( I have customers using them over tanks as small as 5g growing zoos and riccs etc.
Metal halides are hot and your electric bill will go through the roof. I had 3 175w mh over a 300g vat running 6-8 hours a day and my power bill jumped $300
i'm not worried about the electric bill... for 9 mo out of the year my tank would be at school... i'll have to check their limits on electrical stuff again...

 

[bluelagoon]

ok, just checked in the handbook... the only thing i could find about number of amps allowed was for refrigerators, and that was 1.5 amps. so electricity is not a problem, at school anyways.

 

[jumpfrog]

A Coralife 96w PC costs less than $100 most places. Less heat, less cost and still plenty of light.
Just a thought!

 

[bluelagoon]

thanks for the suggestion jumpfrog, and everyone else! i really appreciate you guys taking the time to answer my question!
does anyone else have a suggestion?

 

[sweetdawn]

be happy with what you have

 

[db]

You could run a 150w MH on a 10gl. I used to run a 175w on my 10gl. I've never had problem with heat as long as you run a small fan across the water surface. I run 2 DE 250's on my 72gl bow and my electric bill never goes above $90 for my whole house in the winter months. The T5's are on 11hrs and the MH's are on 9 hrs. That's with a sump, skimmer, a bunch of powerheads, etc.

 

[bluelagoon]

sweet, if i stay with what i have i can't get any more corals than mushrooms! you should see me at the lfs, the tanks i stand and gawk at are the coral tanks, and i just glance quickly to see if they have any cool fish... and i would really like to get my ocellaris, herbie, a playmate. but that would be all i'd have fish wise... i have no problem only having one or two fish. i just want more corals!!! lol. oooo and i have a baby mushroom! lol. my one big mushroom that we paid $5 for has just about completely moved off it's little rock and onto my big piece of rock, leaving a little of itself behind, which is now almost a full mushroom!

 

[bluelagoon]

Originally Posted by DB
You could run a 150w MH on a 10gl. I used to run a 175w on my 10gl. I've never had problem with heat as long as you run a small fan across the water surface. I run 2 DE 250's on my 72gl bow and my electric bill never goes above $90 for my whole house in the winter months. The T5's are on 11hrs and the MH's are on 9 hrs. That's with a sump, skimmer, a bunch of powerheads, etc.
thanks for the reply DB! i have currently 2 small fans in my room, one that was bought for my fish tank specifically at the beginning of the school year when it was really warm in the rooms, so it's not being used right now and would be good to keep the tank cool. and these mh fixtures do have a little fan built in to help. there's only a $20 dollar price difference between the 70 and 150 watt!
and has anybody checked them out yet?? current-usa .com. you can't buy stuff directly from there i don't think, so i think it's ok to put on here...