Lighting Question

[rw24]

Right now I have the Current Orbit 260W PC lights. I was thinking about buying a MH pendant light to use with my PC lights to be able to keep the higher light requiring coral. Would say a 150W MH light be good enough to use in conjuction with my PC lights? My tank is 55 Gal and is about 21" deep and 48" long. I also do not use a canopy and the tank has a open top. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[Brandon1023]

I would think youd need a MH for each side of ur tank. Also how would you get the light from the MH into ur tank if ur PC fixture is on top of the tank.......?

[rw24]

I was just thinking in theory, didnt think to much about the functionality of it. I must have a had one those stupid moments when I thought this up , thinks for pointing out the problem with my idea. Would you think 2 150W metal halide pendants would be good for keeping most coral. Would I have to supplement with actinics if I went with the 20,000K or 10,000K. It will probably be awhile before I upgrade ,but just was thinking of how I want to set up the lights when I am ready. The reason it will be awhile is that I am going to start with some easy and low to moderate light coral to begin with so I will not need the MH for those really.

[Brandon1023]

I would think you would be better off going with like 2 200-250W MHs. That way you wouldnt need actinic supplement. The only drawback to that is you can't really do a dawn-dusk effect. Otherwise if you have supplement lighting then 150W should be ok.

[Covey]

150W MH isn't very bright and if your thinking of going after the high color acros I wouldn't go with anything under 250 watters either.

You could also consider a good T-5HO rig as they work out nicely for a tank that size.

[coral reefer]

I wouldn't spend the money on 150 watt metal halide lighting. I have a 175watt metal halide pendant with actinic pc's and the lighting is not very strong. I have Montipora Digitata(green) which has only a green tint in the polyps- Don't get me wrong, the corals are growing and surviving, but the vivid colors will not come out under that low wattage bulbs.
I would suggest the 250 watt HQI metal halides as your better alternative. And if you don't plan on getting the more light demanding stonies like Acroporas and Montiporas sp.., just raise the lights higher above your tank so that your lower light corals won't bleach and die.
You could go with a 14000k bulb which is a crisp blue/white color or the 20000k for a deeper water representation and more fluoresceing with regards to certain corals. With the higher, warmer kelvin bulbs, corals won't grow as fast as they would under say 10000k, but many corals look better.
These are my opinions, but I think you will be happy with the higher wattage bulbs-you just have to determine what color scheme you want to go with as for bulbs.

[Bruce]

I say go with the 4 bulb t-5ho...they are amazing! I just upgraded to them and my acro is turing bright green again and all of the corals look great. T-5ho is the new MH!...well you know what i mean.