MH setup for 36g bowfront corner tank

zeromus-x

zeromus-x

Member
Hey all -- I've got a 36 gallon bowfront corner tank set up in my living room. Right now I've just got a few pounds of LR and a handful of fish, but I'm very interested in going reef w/ fish shortly. All my fish are reef safe, so my next step is the lighting.
I've got track lights in my living room, pendant style, and therefore a hanging pendant would be the best solution I can think of. But they come in lots of sizes! 175W, 250W, 400W... then you've got 6.5k, 10k, 20k... I've searched around here a bit but a lot of the information seems a bit vague. So far I've got that I need to look into 10k, because the 6.5k will look a bit yellow and the 20k a bit purple. I've heard mixed opinions on the 175W or 250W option, though. The tank is something like 18 inches deep, which puts it at either-or... I don't want to cook the fish or corals with a 250W, but I don't want them to not get enough light either!
Also, the pendants I see on ---- have a glass cover underneath them. Is this something that needs to be on there?
 
reefer44

reefer44

Member
i would go with the 250 for sps but don't reccomend sps
i would go 175 with all other corals
also i would go with 12k because it will give a little blue tint
also the glass cover should be there cause of UV light
 
zeromus-x

zeromus-x

Member
12k? Everything I saw online was either 10k or 20k... I'll have to look for that. Pardon my ignorance here, but ... SPS? And why don't you recommend them? :thinking: :notsure:
 
reefer44

reefer44

Member
thats alright i was a bigginer once too.....sps are small polyped stony corals...they are very hard to keep
the other corals include Lps, large polyped stony corals, mushroom corals, zoos, and saft corals
if you go on cough** ----
they have 12k and 14k usually
i jsut purchsed 12k
 
bencc

bencc

Member
I would do some more research on the glass top issue. From what I have read It is better to go without a glass top because it defracts the light going into the tank. The only time u need the glass for uv reasons is if you are using an HQI metal halide setup. I would go with the 175 watter. I have a 250 over my 54 corner and I had to lower a few of my corals beacuase the were getting burnt.
 
bencc

bencc

Member
I would recomend a 12k that is also what I have. You may even want to look into a 15k if you aren't going to be running and acinics also.
 
zeromus-x

zeromus-x

Member
"also"? I thought the MH would be all I'd need. :notsure:
The glass I'm referring to is the one that sits inside the bottom of the pendant. Seems like that'd trap in a lot of heat! I'll probably go with eggcrate for the top of my tank (assuming I can find it in black, or paint it... it's an all-black tank, and white eggcrate on the top looks ... well, bad, IMO). I just need to find it small enough that my firefish gobies won't jump.
 
bencc

bencc

Member
Alot of people will have like a 10k MH system and actinic pc or vho's to give the corals a little more colorful look. I have a 250 watt 12k mh and 55 watt pc actinic and 55 watt pc 20k. I do what is called a dawn dusk effect. The pc lights come on a couple hours before the halides and the go off a couple hours after the halides. This way there isn't all this light all at once and then it's gone all at once. The egg crate is a good idea. The halides do get hot and a glass top will trap in the heat. Also not having a top allows the water to take in oxygen and release other gases on the surface better.
 
reefer44

reefer44

Member
It could burn your corals if not in place....do you live near D.C...................cause i know a few reefers that live in upper VA and i would be more then glad to help you out
 
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