Okay, I did some research, but Im still confused.

[poisonmywell]

I figured i'd save this board from any more of my dumb posts by doing a little research. But I did, and it only raised more questions. Im looking at what Im going to have to upgrade my lighting to. I was looking at the power compacts first. What would I need to suffeciently light my 50 gallon? (its 48in. by 12in.)the options include sizes from 15" to 72", and 2 or 4 bulbs of wattage ranging from 28 to 96. I was also looking at the prism metal halide power compact combination pendants. they're only like $10 more than the power compact hood. But would one pendant be able to light the entire aquarium? It says the light band can be adjusted. The pendant comes with 2 28 watt blue owercompact bulbs, and a metal halide bulb of choice between 150-400 watts. What would be good for me?

 

[osakamy]

this depend on what you want your tank to be. If is a reef tank the more light is better. Metal halide is the best but it will make the water temp.go higher.

 

[nm reef]

Now that you've started to narrow your choice down you can see that this is a loaded question...........there are several viable options to choose from......actually depends on what you plan to keep in your reef......and even then you'll have several good options........for me ....this is whats worked on my 55 gal......4x65 watt pc & 2x110 watt vho.....to date I've had success with a rather large selection of corals and I will continue to add more.....but a combination of vho or pc with mh would work also.........on a system your size it really comes down to what type of lighting do you want....and what type of corals do you want....I went pc/vho because on my 55 I decided to avoid the issue of heat with mh plus I decided I could have lighting intense enough for my reefs needs without the mh.................whatever choice you make the important things are to provide enough intense lighting to meet the requirements of the system you plan to develope

 

[poisonmywell]

NM reef,
Was fitting all of that on the tank an issue? How do you have it setup? I just look at my 50 and can't see how i'd fit 6 bulbs on there? Of course Im getting rid of the 2 10 gallon hoods on there now, I was just going to get the glass tops for it. I've found the fixtures for the Power compacts, but I can't seem to find any for the VHO, is there anywhere on the net I can look? i'll try some of the lighting places again.
Also, If I choose the metal halide/power compact combo pendant, What power MH bulb would I need? It comes with 2 28 watt PC, and a choice of metal halide. And how big of an issue id the heat with the halide? hard to battle?
Thanks!

 

[majesticangelfish]

HEY NM REEF,
Can you be more specific what type of lite your using? I would assume that your using.....
4-10000K (PC)
1-Actinic VHO
1-Sun-type VHO
or
4-10000K (PC)
2-Actinic (VHO)
or
Correct me if I assume wrong.
VERY CURIOUS!
Thanks

 

[hondo]

I have the same size 50gal tank you have and currently run 4X55 PC and keep a failrly wide selection of Softies, LPS and even a few SPS without any problems. I would like to have MH to add to this but my canopy is only 6" high and MH bulbs would be something like 2" from the water surface creating heat and bulb explosion problems. If your canopy is tall enough go with a mix of VHO and MH or PC and MH and you will be able to keep any coral you want.

 

[poisonmywell]

Would one MH/PC combo pendant light my tank suffeciently?

 

[majesticangelfish]

Just brinin' em up back top and keep the score rollin'

 

[msb27]

Try hellolights.com , Im in the processing of buying stuff to put a 55 together. Did a lot of looking and they seem to be the cheapest. If anybody else has somewhere to look please advise.
Scott

 

[majesticangelfish]

HEY NM REEFER,
Please please can you be specific with lighting on your 55 gallon? This is because I am planning to order 4 PC with two VHO just like yours. All I would like to get some feedback on the color of lightings and how do it satisfy you.
Look at my post above......
Thanks <img src="graemlins//angel.gif" border="0" alt="[angel]" />

 

[ren]

Well for all us do-it-yourselfers cheap online stuff I've found at <a href="http://www.1000bulbs.com/" target="_blank">http://www.1000bulbs.com/</a>
Also look at the amperage specs of the name brands-icecap for exp has 1500mA and I found some floresent ballasts at lowe's that are 1300 but run 2 bulbs (icecaps is 4 bulbs) $19.00 for the ballast at Lowes and around $150.00 for the icecap!?! Call your local Neon and lighting shops too. Explain the bulbs ya wanna run and they also have ballasts. A little more than Lowes but still half of what I've seen Icecaps goin for.

 

[nm reef]

In answer to a couple of questions about my lights....
I use 2 seperate CSL fixtures(each runs 2x65 watt 10k's)...combined with 2x110 watt uri vho actinic blue 03.....
all the above is installed in a custom designed and built canopy....I've got a friend that is a cabinet maker....the CSL fixtures sit on top(slightly recessed) at approximately a 15 degree angel(outside to inside) and the 2x110 watt vho are in the top center.....make any sense....I guess you'd have to see how we did it to fully understand
majestic sorry it took so long to get back to this..........the lighting I have has been outstanding on my system......the actinic vho comes on 1 hr before the pc's......with only vho's it is very blue(nearly blacklight)...with the pcs its a very natural looking white with just a hint of blue.....water sort of shimmers(not like mh...but I like it).........the combination of lights keep all the corals in the photo album pics alive and healthy so they seem to have been effective....and thanks for the interest..........*_^