Lighting Upgrade PC to MH Help!!!!!!

Hello everyone,
I am currently running an 110g-reef tank. 40 gallon sump/refugium. Euro-reef skimmer. 1/4 hp chiller. Roughly 180 lbs of live rock and 50 lbs of live sand. I keep very few fish (Clown, cardinal, watchmen goby, blue green chromis) and a few soft, sps, and lps coral. I run Current-USA Power Compact lighting 2 x 65 watt 460nm Actinic, and 2 x 65 watt Dual Daylight 6,700k/10,000k. I got a killer deal for PFO 400 Watt Dual Metal Halide Ballast complete with mounting kit and socket. However, only one bulb. My goal is to continue to maintain my tank and add a few stony corals and 2-3 more fish. The problem is that I think my canopy is to short. Where can I find a canopy for my tank (60" x 18")? How high should the MH be from the water? Is 400 watt MH too much for an 110g tank? Should I include the PC lights with the MH or remove them from the tank all together? And my last question is what bulb should I purchase for the MH?

 

Are you planning to use any actinic supplement lighting? If not then id go with radium 20k lamps.

 

the height above the water depends, in your case, I would say maybe roughly 8-10in. You really have to adjust it as you let it run because if too low, people have trouble with heat build up, too high, and you loss some of the effectiveness.
you could include the pc lighting, maybe get an actinic bulb for that. If you do that, then you can run a 10,000K or maybe 14,000K bulb on the MH to give you a nice total light specturm.

 

You should start out your light at about 15 inches above the tank and gradually lower it to 8 -10 inches. The change from pcs to 400 watts is a very large change for your exisiting corals. Thats why I would start it high up. I would use supplemental actinics as well.

I like the look and growth of 14k bulbs but a 20k to start out in your tank is not a bad idea.

 

12 to 15 k range is a nice mix of blue and white you will get nice growth and nice color 10k is for growth and 20k is for color it is a personal choice of what you like i use 15k of my 125gallon and they hang about 8 inches about the water you will want to lower you light from 12 inches to your final height over a two week period as to not shock and tank

 

With 400w you can go with 20k bulbs and still maintain a good par value, if you like that look.

Here is a good site for lighting information and bulb comparisons.

Manhattan Reefs - Sanjay's Lighting Guide

 

your best bet is to make your own Canopy. that way you can get it perfectly. If that is not possible a lot of LFS have custom carpenters that build then stands and what not. they might know someone.

J

 

I would love to make my own canopy, however i don't have the necessary tools to do so.