Metal Halide Q&A

Interestingly, the M59 is a magnetic ballast that overdrives the bulb. That ballast, along with the PFO ballast are used in testing the upper limits of various bulbs. Personally, I would go with the newer electronic ballasts and some nice reflectors. Think about it, the list of important things for your corals goes like this: 1) stable water params, 2) lighting that has PAR above 200 micromoles/s/m2, 3) high enough flow.
A good ballast and nice reflectors arent something to skimp on. The M59 will work but you will be paying a little more in electric due to its inefficiencies...

 

I am trying to build this on a budget, and use a lot of diy stuff. How many 400 watt MH should I use. I was thinking of 3 because the ballasts were free. But if I have to spend $150 or more for each ballast do I really need 3? Again my tank is 60" long.

 

this depends on your reflectors... are you running a canopy? and what reflectors do you have?

 

I will be making a canopy and plan to use polished aluminum DIY reflectors since my company builds parts from sheet aluminum I can pick that up free.

My buddy who is in the HVAC industry builds chillers for super market and restaurants and he will be building a cooler for me.

I plan to build the canopy with fans to help heat venting.

 

sounds good... you can get away with three on a 60" if you keep them up high enough.
also, make sure you search around for some plans for a lumenbrite diy reflector. i know they are out there...

 

What would you suggest as far as lighting this set up? Should I go four 400 watt MH? And would I need to run T5's?

 

I would recommend halides... so what color do you want your tank to be? are you more interested in growth of corals or good looks? the use of t5 depends on what you want (growth or corals to pop)
Im kinda up in the air about 3 or 4 halides on a 60"... 3 halides will suffice, 4 will be a lot but i dont think too much

 

I would like good coral growth. But still want good looks.

 

hahaha well thats what we all want but can never truly have
So good growth comes from 6500k to 10k bulbs, downside is that they are yellow to white so not the colors that POP (XM 10k, ushio 10k)
14k bulbs are a nice in between... you get the growth and a little bit of color (for the lighter 14k look: ushio 14k, middle 14k look: sps 10k, deeper blue 14k look: phoenix 14k)
and then 20k bulbs will give you the least amount of growth but your colors are amazing (radium 20k)

The best looking tanks i have ever seen utilize a mix of 20k and 10k bulbs to give a 15k look. they actually have awesome growth and gorgeous colors... but obviously this takes mannny halides over a tank to make the color uniform throughout.
let me know what your leaning towards from the above choices and ill get some info for you

 

OK here is one. I started my 40g a year ago, I read the lighting/wattage rule of thumb. At that time 5 watts per gallon was adaquat for sps and lps. { Normal tank depth below 24"} This was considered high lighting. Now i just read that lps and sps need between 5 and 8 watts per gallon. My LPS said 1 150 watt mh would be good. But useing the 8 per gallon it is 320 watts. I guess what im asking is who's thumb are we useing? Life long hobbiest, dealers or manufactors.