Should i buy this

[aanthony]

Ok, so i have a 45 gallon aquarium, and right now i have about 80 watts, and no corals, but i would like to get some corals, some zoo's, an anemone or two, a few sps frags, etc, ok, but my only problem is that lighting is soo expensive, i saw for 134 dollars plus 34 for shipping, so in total for 168 dollars, a 400 watt metal halide aquarium light
my first question will be is this too much light?
and my second question is, can i really trust a 168 dollar metal halide system?
because i would hate to plug this in and have my house catch fire

 

[ophiura]

I have a 45g and would never consider putting a 400w metal halide on it. And I would probably be wary but you haven't provided enough specifics to know how the price is. Is it definitely the entire fixture?
The "some corals" is the key factor. What kind?

 

[aanthony]

well it does state that it comes with new ballast, new reflector, new light, etc etc, so yes it is the entire fixture, however i cannot post the site because the post will then be closed down, but what i ask is why would you not put a 400 watt on a 45, is it because its too much light, i worry that a 150 or 175 may be too little of light,
and what i mean by some corals, is a few of the soft corals, meaning hammercoral, zoo's, yellow toadstool, things like that, a few sps frags, a crocea clam or two, a rose bubble tip anemone, etc. maybe a monti frag,

 

[ophiura]

I think a 400 W would nuke it - temperature alone. It is just super overkill.
A fixture with 2 150W or 2 175 would be preferable, IMO.
But you do need to decide what kind of corals you want to keep. MH would be very much overkill for soft corals and 400W, IMO, would be a lot of many LPS corals. And you also need to consider anemones - let alone 2 - in a smallish tank with corals. There are a lot of decisions to make. I would not jump at a fixture like that without knowing for sure what you want to keep.
PCs would be great for LPS and soft corals - I would personally go with t5 lighting if I could.

 

[aanthony]

i was wondering, if i were to do the 250 watt metal haide, and have it quite high up, would this cut down on the heat issue? like if it were to be hanging from my ceiling, and put about 12 inches above the tank?

 

[aanthony]

all i am worried about is buying something like a t5, and then figuring out its not enough light for what i want, like i said, majourity of it will be soft corals.
ok, so for soft corals im going to be doing a yellow toadstool, a bunch of zoo's and mushrooms, and some rics.
for lps corals, ill be doing: candy cane, rose bta, bubble coral, frogspawn, brain coral, etc
and for hard sps corals, i may do a few acropora frags
and a clam

 

[dr.vinyl]

I have most of your coral list currently under a tek t-5, 6 -lamp fixture. All with exceptional growth
the tank is a 72 bow
just my .02

 

[aanthony]

6 lamp fixture? so what would that be, roughly 300 watts?, the only thing that stops me from going that route is the fact that if i get a 6 foot tank, then what am i to do with my 4ft t-5's. and also a single metal halide is cheaper, and a lot more universal, i can hang it over a 2 foot tank, or a 8 foot tank.

 

[michaeltx]

um no MH lights dont work that way they only really hit a 2 foot by 2 foot area before the light dimenishes out. so one halide wont cover 8 foot tank.
a 400 watt MH on a 45 is overkill and will probably kill your corals to be honest. I have a single 150 watter over my 58 3 foot tank and you can see where the light hits in the tank when you take pics the ends of the tank are shaded area.
Mike

 

[ophiura]

If you want soft corals, metal halide is excessive, IMO and 400w on such a tank might be downright bad for them. They are not corals that need intense light, such as many SPS.
My dream fixture for my 45g would be a 6bulb T5 aquactinics fixture, hands down.
If you primarily want soft corals, then do not do the MH, IMO. And in that size tank, as I am learning, you don't do many "combinations" of corals (such as soft with SPS) well. Soft corals engage in a good amount of chemical warfare. As they have grown much larger and are somewhat crammed together, I have noticed a definite decline in the health of my LPS corals.

 

[aanthony]

just because i am curious, would you be able to post a picture of your tank?
and i basically found what i want my tank to one day look like
,
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/273101/my-125-reef