grabbitt
Active Member
I am looking to either A) replace the bulb in my 150 watt sunpod HQI over my 30 gal. or B) take the big hit and upgrade the entire setup.
If I go with A)
I am looking at XM's 20000K bulbs, since I've heard good things and I love the blue spectrum they put out.
However, if I do this, I'm concerned about how deep the lighting will penetrate in my tank. From the light to the surface of the water is about 6 inches, and from the surface of the water to the sand bed is about 17 inches. Considering the fact that I keep a little bit of everything (SPS, LPS, softies, etc..), I want to make sure I leave nothing in inadequate lighting. I can place most of my SPS on my frag rack towards the top of the tank, which shouldn't be a problem, but I want to be able to place it at least at the top of my rockwork when it begins to grow out as well.
Will my growth be safe if I go with the bulb I've got my eye on?
As for B)
If I were to upgrade the lighting, I would love to go with something like a 250x1 20000K MH or a 150x1 20000K MH HQI with T5's to supplement and tone down the bluescale. I would be looking at Radiums for the lighting, but I know they only make SE bulbs, so I would have to go with a pendant or hood.
I'm also not keeping an exclusively T5 setup out of the question, but I'm leaning towards MH with supplemental T5 due to past experiences. It would be great if I could just add some T5's to the setup I've got going now, but there is no room, so I would have to buy another setup.
Anyways, before this gets too confusing, I'm just gonna drop it off here and see what you guys think of the options I've picked out.
Also, if anyone thinks I would be making a mistake with Radium or XM, please let me know and why.
If I go with A)
I am looking at XM's 20000K bulbs, since I've heard good things and I love the blue spectrum they put out.
However, if I do this, I'm concerned about how deep the lighting will penetrate in my tank. From the light to the surface of the water is about 6 inches, and from the surface of the water to the sand bed is about 17 inches. Considering the fact that I keep a little bit of everything (SPS, LPS, softies, etc..), I want to make sure I leave nothing in inadequate lighting. I can place most of my SPS on my frag rack towards the top of the tank, which shouldn't be a problem, but I want to be able to place it at least at the top of my rockwork when it begins to grow out as well.
Will my growth be safe if I go with the bulb I've got my eye on?
As for B)
If I were to upgrade the lighting, I would love to go with something like a 250x1 20000K MH or a 150x1 20000K MH HQI with T5's to supplement and tone down the bluescale. I would be looking at Radiums for the lighting, but I know they only make SE bulbs, so I would have to go with a pendant or hood.
I'm also not keeping an exclusively T5 setup out of the question, but I'm leaning towards MH with supplemental T5 due to past experiences. It would be great if I could just add some T5's to the setup I've got going now, but there is no room, so I would have to buy another setup.
Anyways, before this gets too confusing, I'm just gonna drop it off here and see what you guys think of the options I've picked out.
Also, if anyone thinks I would be making a mistake with Radium or XM, please let me know and why.
