Decision on Lighting

[Pucker]

I am trying to decide on a new lighting setup for my standard 55 gal tank. I only plan on keeping a few softies down the road and my current Condy. I have narrowed it down to two lighting setups but I am not sure if the MH setup would be overkill. The first choice is a 36” 2x175w MH 2x96PC and my second choice is a 48” 4x96w PC. If I go with the MH how much smaller should the pendant be than the tank?

MH/PC
http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant ... de=PFOshim

PC
http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem. ... ct=CU01031

Thanks,
Greg

 

[Anonymous]

First let me say that this is an opinion. For fact and research you should do some searches on reef lighting. I recommend Sanjay's lighting pages...

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/ ... eature.htm

There are more out there...

My opinion is that you should go with the PC as far as the wavelengths advertized. I am finding that (in my system) 10K 250W MHs are not enough. I really feel that some flourescent light is necessary and that the actinic is the wavelength to choose in flourescent. The first fixture depends on the 14K MHs to provide the shorter wavelengths and I am not sure that is where you want to be with softies.

This is just my opinion and you should do some more research before choosing.

 

[fungia]

i would go with the halides + pc actinics (get true actinics only). all pc lighting is okay, but halides are better in my experience and are not overkill for your size tank. soft corals can do well under pc lighting but most of them do even better under halides. go halides, you will have more flexibilty in the future.

oh, if you tank is 48 inches you should get a 48 inch halide fixture because the manfacturers space the halides evenly in the fixture so the lights are designed to cover the entire length of the fixture. if you get a 36" fixture you might have darkened areas on the sides of the tank, which is okay if you dont mind that.

 

[caryliss]

How about the Aqua Medic pendants http://www.aqua-medic.com/? They have the double ended MH bulbs and either pc (aquaspacelights) or T5 bulbs (Oceanlight combos). I have the Oceanlight and am very happy with it. The one complaint I have heard about the DE bulbs is that the light spread is narrower, which shouldn't be a problem in a narrow 55g.

 

[Anonymous]

I'm gonna say go with the halides also.
I've upgraded lights twice now, and can honestly say, that I wish I had started out with them the first time. One thing you get with the halides that you don't get with pc, is a really nice shimmer. That's the ulitmate in coolness.

 

[bradl.]

:idea: 8)

 

[coralfarmin]

If i were goin to skip halides I would go with 4 Vho with electronic ballasts over compacts.and you would have more than enough light for softies and a condy.just my opinion
I would run 2 O3 and 2 50/50 on seperate ballasts so I could simulate the sun set/rise.