Metal Halide Bulb Choice

I would definitely go with 2, worth the money to not have a shadow in the middle IMO. I have 2 250w on my 55 and it is bright everywhere in the tank. Be prepared to deal with heat and evaporation. My tank would go up a degree an hour when I first turned mine on. I cut vents on either end of the tank and mounting 2 110 watt fans on one of the vents and it seems to have taken care of the problem. I also lose close to a gallon a day due to evaporation. This is totally off topic, but just wanted to give you a heads up if you didn't know. As for the questions, we love em, gives us saltwater geeks something to do!

 

Awesome and I didn't know I was going to lose that much water a day. Also I think I'm going to go with two 250 MH so there is no dark spots. Also is coralife a good choice for bulb? Or is there a better brand to choose because I'm not sure which one to go with?

 

Theres so many out there, its basically a personal prefer. but I have heard great reveiws on Reeflux and SPS(South pasific something, I dont remember). Luna

 

I used Spectrum Specialists, they advertise on 3reef. You could also contact Tangster and see what he can do for ya. Now you have to decide what kelvin rating you want... my mh are 14000k, but once again that is personal preference. It all depends on what your looking for. The lower the # the less blue in color they are, the higher the # the more blue they are.

 

Do you have the fixtures now and the ballast ? that would determine the bulbs you need I like the SPS 14 K best bulb I ever ran bar none .. P/M me if you need any help with getting it all together.. But on a 72 I'd go with the 2 250's and I never say any issues with a center brace I have 2 of them on a 135 in Richmond now running for 13 yrs or so and never a shadow . What I'd tell anyone using M/H is if you see a shadow then the bulbs are to close to the water and need to be raised

 

The only reason I have a shadow is because i only hvae 1-400w light instead of 2-250w lights, didnt really have the money to fork out for 2 so i just got one larger watt.

 

Awesome thanks everyone, and Tangster I don't have the ballasts and everything yet, still in the designing stages, I'm actually trying to figure out costs before hand, so I not in over my head

 

P/M me maybe I have somthing for you.. I have a few ballast left