MH lighting?

[Anonymous]

I know absolutely nothing about metal halide lighting. I currently have four VHO tube on my 75 gal reef. I'm seriously considering buying a used 180 gal and transferring all my corals into that. Then I'm going to put a trigger in my 75. Anyway, I don't know what to get as far as metal halide lighting goes. I've been checking out mail order places, and I think that maybe I want the 175 watt triple PFO retro kit. I don't know what it is, but it seems appropriate. Also, should I also have a couple VHO actinics on the tank? If anyone knows anything that could possibly help, please feel free to reply. I would be most grateful.

 

[Anonymous]

I agree with elvisdoc what kind of corals if you are thinking of having any sps. corals then metal halide will be best.But there is a guy in tulsa that grows sps corals under vhos and his tank is killer.go to garf web site and look up the old farming news papers and look for when they went to Tulsa and check out his tank.if you are keeping shrooms then vho will be plenty,but then again i have seen them under mh before they just take a little while to adjust.

 

[Anonymous]

Christine,
What corals are you planning to keep? SPS, LPS or both? The answer to this question will help you determine the light needs of your reef.

elvis

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Christine,

I would go with 400watt MH on a 180 gallon tank. With a tank that large, and usually deep, you will want lighting that can penetrate donw to the bottom and provide enough intensity across the whole tank. If the tank is more shallow than a regular 180, you could use several 175watt MH's. The one thing I have learned in this hobby, don't save money by buying the cheapest equipment you can find. You will end of buying the good stuff later on, thus negating the money you saved earlier.

Good luck and Happy Holidays!

 

[Anonymous]

I like mostly LPS, but I'd like to keep one or two SPS. I also really like clams. I have a derasa doing well under my VHO's, but I'd like to try maximas and croceas, so I think MH is the way to go. The guy I'm buying the tank from currently has three 175 watt 10000K bulbs in there coupled with two VHO actinics. He suggested www.aquaticlight.com. Has anyone dealt with them before?

 

[Anonymous]

Christine:
Ditto on what srbayless says! I've got a 180 also with a 3x400wt 6500k PFO system with 2x96wt Power Compact retro for supplemental blue lighting. The PFO systems I got at my lfs and they didn't cost a whole lot more than the ALS system. Plus, I didn't have to do any wiring, just plug and play.