72 Gallon Lighting Question

Hi guys and gals,

I am in the process of building a 72 gallon bow tank and am trying to gather the parts i need slowly here and there. The tanks measurements are 48 x 18 x 22 and I need to have lighting that will allow me to have clams on the sand bed and any coral I want through out the tanks. I am thinking is going to be a mostly SPS tank but haven't yet made up mi mind. I know I want to use Metal Halides on this tank and was thinking of using 2 250 watt DE MH with 2 Reef Optix 3 Pendants. As for bulbs either 14k or 20k right now I am kind of leaning towards 20k. Not sure which ballast to use yet either. My questions are would this be sufficient lighting for what i want in the tank? Opinions on these reflectors? Opinions on ballasts to use with these reflectors? Any and all help will be greatly appreciated and thanks for your time.

Regards,

Khalid

 

M/H or a set of T5 with UVL bulbs will do you as for ballast and such ? Clams prefer to upper levels of the water column and lower K then 20 I'd stay with 14 to 15 K to accommodate more animals on average..

 

I would look at one complete unit with one power cord, just me I hate having to mess with the 6 cords + on a powerstrip, and you might get a deal out there some where due to the fact demand is realy slooooooooooow. Tangster is right about the 20k I would go with 14k mh with t5's. Also you can go with a lower wattage with HQI than MB bulbs. I ran 150w HQI's on my 150 AG bowfront for years till I moved and it cracked .

 

yep tangsters right. Lower k for clams, 67k or 10k, ran with actinic lighting. Go with t5 though. My buddy uses 4 t5ho nova, now they come with slr. on a 72 bow and he getts good growth out of zoas even on the bottom. If you got 4 bulbs with the slr you should be good. Get good bulbs though,.

 

Thanks for all the input guys I really appreciate it ;D