800 watts on a 90 gallon??

[thebigone]

WOuld 800 watts of 10k HQI MH's on a 90 gallon be to much or not, I also have 220 watts actinic PC's??? My hood right now is about 21.25" tall and I ordered 2 of the new coralvue 400watt HQI pendants with custom one piece ballast for both lights!!! I would like to see your opinions.

[Diver_1298]

In my opinion 2 - 250 watt metal halides should be adequate. There are plenty of lighting options (bulbs) at that wattage to do whatever it is you want. You could supplement with your pc's or buy 20k bulbs and not have to use them. I'm using the 250's on my 90 and I have heat problems in the summer time. And it is very bright. I'm not sure what 2 - 400w bulbs would [glow=red,2,300]look like [/glow] or how much heat they would generate. Let us know what you decide and how it turns out (pictures are best)
Jim

[Matt Rogers]

Jim has a good point about heat. 800 watts may not be too much, but it will definitely be hot. What is the depth of the tank?

[hottielover14]

yeah it would be hot but it's not even close to too much. If it's not that deep u can have like up to 1200 watts. i would get like 2 400 watt. MH with coralvue 20K bulbs.

[thebigone]

Well the pendents are in the mail and the ballast should be here the 30th. I ordered both pendants with 10k bulbs and I am going to supplument with 220 watts of actinc PC's!!! My tank is a normal 90 gallon Oceanic 48Lx18Dx24H and I am using a 33 gallon as a sump 48Lx12Dx12H. The fixtures will be about 13 inches from the surface of water w/2- 4 in temp controlled fans. I will take some pictures of before and after. Thanks for your help guys and gals!!!

[Diver_1298]

I am sure that you will absolutely LOVE it
You can put them on timers so the actinics come on first in the morning and turn off last at night.
Make sure your sunglasses are on before firing up the metal halides. You may find that you only have to run them 6 hours a day or more if you like.
Here's wishing you a speedy delivery.
Jim