Reef Lighting

Im new and i am setting up a tank. I just need one questions answered on lighting.

Ive found " 150W 150 watt 20000K HQI DE Metal Halide Aquarium Bulb" and 70wat/150wat sockets. The lights are thin and long kinda like a long hot dog. Will two of these grow coral fine in a 18" deep 65 gallon tank?

Thank you.

I only have a 8" lift off my hood.

 

I would say you are ok, just watch for temp changes. 300 watts of halides gives you 4.6 watts per gallon which is pretty good.

 

Ok thank you.

Also i bought 10k over 20k (due to i read 20k is sometimes too blue)

 

But 10k will be kind of yellow. 14k is a good choice.

 

Youll be fine,with keeping corals, it just depends on your preference of color and how much flourescing will happen and other really complicated stuff.........

 

Ah, dammit. Well i read that was the preferred color . Haha ok thank you for the heads up.

 

you wont mind it.... color of bulb also depends on ballast! at least fire bulb before returning it

 

Yea i hear a lot of 10k bulbs are crisp white, or is that the HQI bulbs only,i'm not sure but at any rate fire it up and see when you got, you might be surprised besides you still have the option of adding some VHO/T5 actinics Yum(They are absolutely stunning)! Over a 65 gallon they would look sweet i bet.
GL

Edit:I have a 14k HQI in my sunpod and it's a nice blue/purple color.

 

Can anyone recommend me somewhere to get live rock? Cheapest i can find is $3.99 a pound but there really small pieces. Also how bad are bristle worms?

 

Ebay ftw

Ebay has some great prices on LR and there are many vendors if your going for cheap$$, many will tell you that base rock is also a good way to go w/ a little live rock on top to seed it(something to think about).I have yet to buy any LR so i have no real experience with any of the vendors but i plan on buying via ebay when i do.

From what i've read they used to be considered very bad (i hear they have a nasty bite :-/). Nowadays they are considered good and a welcome addition to your CUC!(tho big ones might munch corals,I'm unclear about this.They look scary to me hehehe

I'm sure others will chime in about this as well, ,hope that helps .


/cgi.ebay.com/Fiji-Live-Rock-Super-Premium-Grade-By-the-Pound_W0QQitemZ180222204298QQihZ008QQcategoryZ117437QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I've seen LR as low as 99 cents a pound on Ebay**Warning** who knows how good this is tho!
You really have to shop around on Ebay, prices and quality fluctuate.

But if you have the $$ this place i hear is very good

Live Rock: Premium Aquatics

BTW i don't know if your looking at sand but i know some here have bought from this vendor and it's looks really good.I plan on going this route myself..

30LB ALL PURE & NATURAL LIVE SAND - ULTRA PREMIUM - eBay (item 160206615971 end time Feb-19-08 10:30:00 PST)