Halide Lighting

Getting the tank going has been inturrupted by a faulty stand. When we got the stand out of storage, we found that the entire bottom had become a nest for wood ants. While we are waiting for our new stand to be custom-built, we are thinking of going with metal halide lighting this time. Although we don't have much luck with corals, our past choices in lighting mave have been a contributing factor in our failures.

What should we look for in metal halide fixtures? From the research I have done, I think we would like two 250w 12k or 14k lamps. Tank dimensions are 48"x18"x21" (l x w x h). 75 gallon tank.

What are the important features that we should be looking for? What is this thing about "probe start" and is it or an alternative preferred over the other? Are we going overboard with a 250w setup? Any suggestions, hints, tips, or tricks are greatly appreciated!

 

hi rachel,light depends on what inhabitant you want to keep,if you are going for sps corals like acros then 250w light are fine .the most common type to have are 10k for growth with not too much yellow(6500k are better for growth but quite yellow)and actinic suppliments to give a more pleasing to the eye colour.with a tank that 21" you could get away with 150w as i have and still grow acros which i do, but if you up grade your tank in the future you will want 250w,its what you can afford really.

 

Thank you Pasenah!



What do you all think about something like this - http://www.championlighting.com/product.php?productid=18815&cat=596&page=1 (Of the two, I like this one better. I have seen this one in person at the local fish store.)

or

http://www.championlighting.com/product.php?productid=80002&cat=629&page=1 (Husband likes this one. I think it would be ugly with only one light in the center of the tank.)


...or would it be better to go with something like the retro-fit kits and mount them into the top of a canopy?

 

the second one has 2x150 halides if you have the 48" unit ,i think thay have the advert wrong, which is what you would need.also it has a lot more watts on the actinic bulbs .so i would go for the second one. halides mean heat so they are not a good thing to have in canopys,is better to have the top as open as you can.
cheers
ben

 

Even though I don't like PC's much, the second one looks to be a better set-up for what I think you want to do.

IMO retros are the best bet IF your canopy can handle them. Unfortunatly, I doubt you'll find an HQI retro, so go with link #2

 

I agree ;D Second one has more lighting capacity.

You would be surprised at how nice the pendants look. I have seen folks tanks with them in person and they look very clean. One advantage is not having to slide it around on the top of the tank to get in there and work.

 

Gee... Thanks a lot guys. Now my husband is doing his "I told you so" dance.


:beadyeyes




Thank you all for the great advice. Hopefully by this time next week, we will at least have water circulating in the tank. Stand is due to be done Friday. It is going to feel so good to have it back up and running again.

 

I would consider going 250 watts so you can run the higher K rated lamps. Running 14K or higher lamps eliminates the need to run actinics except for dusk/dawn so you don't use any more electricity than running 10K 150's with actinics. Here's a link to a pretty cool site, you can customize the hood with the components you want.

http://www.aquariumlight.com/product_info.asp?dbid=529

 

I like that site! Thank you very much for the link! ;D