aawww need assistance!

ok so if you have already seen my lighting system under the canopy for the 135 then your ahead of the game, if not then here:
http://www.3reef.com/forums/show-off-your-fish-tanks/135-tank-journal-49346.html


well the lighting under there has (2) 250 watts metal halide bulbs.

then two 48" 40 watt actinics and a 24" 65 watt actinic.

645 total watts. which gives me 4.777

so as far as i am concerned i am good watt wise..
but i was jsut thinking coverage wise. 2 metal halided just wont do it!


so i found a 72" metal halide unit.
it has 3 175 watt metal halide bulbs.
2 180 watt super actinic bulbs. and 12 moon lights.

so that gives me a total of 885 watts
way more
and its 6.55 watts per gallon........


that unit is used for $280 or just keep mine......what do you all think?

 

Sounds like a steal for 280, how old are all the bulbs becasue if you have to replace them your looking at somewhere around 225 top replace them all.

 

wattage aside, the 3 MH's will allow you to keep more than the 2 MH's just because of coverage. I personlly would rather have the 250's if there were 3 of them but there's only two so it's kind of up in the air. :-/

You could do 3 250 watt DIY MH's from Marine depot for the same price and the used fixture you're looking at, use the actinics you are now and you'd be in way good shape to keep whatever you want.

 

yeah, the only thing i am afraid of is replacing all those bulbs :/ cause i have like 4 extra mh bulbs that came with the set up maybe i can add more, idk but i talked to the guy and he said that he would straight up trade for my lighting system???

um its an odyssea fixture, has anyone heard anything about their lighting systems??/

 

I've heard of those but never owned one so I really can't say how good they are. You've got a tough choice. What are you planning on keeping in your tank? Could you add a 3rd 250 MH to the fixture you already have?

 

i am only going to keep clams. lps and softies.. brain corals. idk ..the only sps i think i would keep is just a pink birds nest because its cheap lol. everything else is way too expensive.

 

Well if you are thinking about clams you're going to need some intense light. Don't know if 125's would be enough if the clams were in the sand bed. Might be able to get them up higher on rocks though...

All the other corals should do great under either lights.

 

well i am keeping a derasa under pc's and he ahs been there more a couple months now.

i just like the 175 watts cause it gives more covereage.,.....but i might be able to find a 3rd metal halide thing