MH Lighting Question?

I have been considering upgrading from a T5 to a MH lighting system but here's where the Question comes in? Is it okay to use a metal halide 400 watt compaq bulb. Will that work? or does it have to be one you buy from someone selling them with high prices and a fish tag on them?
Also will I have to put a chiller on my tank if I purchase a light set like this? I have a 72 gallon bow front tank. How many watts should i have on my tank or number of metal halides fixtures?

 

rule of thumb is 5W per gallon.........not sure on your question, 400watt comaq bulb?

Chiller?..all depends after you set up your lights and run them.

I run 765 watts total on my 90 gallon, 2-250w MH, 4-65w CF and the rest of the wattage is LED moon lights. I have never had a problem with increase in water temp.

 

How high off the top of the water are your lights placed?
Also what I ment by the 400 watts MH is can I use a 400 Watt Compaq MH bulb on my fish tank or will it not support corals like the cool named ones by the fish companies?

 

The compact 400 MH you are talking about is a commercial outdoor lighting lamp that does not have the proper spectrum for a reef not even close that lamp is probably a 6000k or something like that in a reef MH lamp you will be looking for a lamp that is between 12000k and 20000k Totally different lamp I am an electrician so I was looking to use something that I could get easily and I found out that the reef MH lamps are totally different than the lamps you see in commercial/industrial lighting.

 

Oh by the way, I have a 120gal and I have 2 250w 12000k HQI MH lamps. my lamps are about 3-4 inches from the top of the water. Behind glass shields of course you do not want the lamp to get splashed by water or ......BOOM!!

 

IC well that helps
Another thing I got to ask is can i use those fixtures at all and just get the right bulbs or will that not work either?

 

You need to match the ballast to the lamp a compact 400 MH ballast can not accept any lamp but a 400 compact MH lamp. If you were to get a regular 400w MH fixture and ballast you could use a 400w MH lamp meant for a reef.

 

IC well I'll have to look more into but if anyone can help I got a 72 gallon tank and I want to best lighting for my tank. Price is not an object, be specific I want metal halides. What bulb spectrum, price, ballast. Pictures or links would be awesome too.

 

This is where i got my metal halide fixture ballast and all. Just look under the Grow Lights and find what you want. It works great just remeber to get a different bulb as those are for growing plants not corals. High Tech Garden Supply