Switching Over to MH [Update]

Well, I've been thinking this through a lot and have gone in a slightly different direction. I plan now on using 2 150w pendants with no T5 supplementation. I plan on using Phoenix 14K bulbs too. I've looked at many different pendants/fixtures and will most likely be purchasing Geisemann Nova II pendants. I like them because they are smaller, only about 12" long and look really nice. I know there are less expensive pendants out there, but most look very industrial. I've thought about my future plans for my current tank and future tanks and believe this will be the best solution for my current tank as well as any future tanks. I will be ordering these early next week, and will definitely post pics when I get them setup. I will also most likely create a thread for differences/comparisons of T5s and MH and let you know how my corals react. I will try to keep that as objective as possible.

 

Another question. I've been hearing that 150w MH may not do the trick and that they are pretty weak. Any opinions on these?

 

On my 90g when I upgraded my fixture from 150w to 250w my stuff really took off. I ran halides on low hours thinking I could give too much light.... so I ran 6-7 hours with 2x96w PC supplementation.... Then all my stuff that was doing good started browning out... did some research, ran my halides up to 9 hours and everything took off again. Colors popped like mad. I have locals that actually run 400w over similar tanks for long hours and it does not seem too much. Now I don't know about running 2x400w on my 90g, but it certainly did love 2x250w Pheonix 14K for 9 hours.

So what I am saying is that I think the 150s are underpowered for SPS. My LPS grew well and did not seem to mind, I think it might be too much for softies.... or at least you could get away with 150s with softies. I had several LPS up high and they flourished, and my clam on the sand bed was very happy. So everything did well everywhere.

 

That's kind of what I was hearing from other people, that 150s are good for soft/lps but not the best for sps. This has turned out to be a much better decision then I initially thought. I'm thinking now about going back to the 2x250w 36" fixture. I definitely don't want to spend the money, then realize it's not enough.

 

Ok, after hours of debate and research, I think I am going with 2 Lumen Max 3 pendants by SLS. They can accept 150w or 250w double ended bulbs. I will pair them with Galaxy Select-a-watt ballasts. They enable you to select between 150w, 175w and 250w wattages. This way, I can start with 150w MH, then if I feel they are inadequate, I will just change bulbs and be good to go. I will be hanging these using their hanging kit. They aren't the nicest looking pendants, but this setup will allow me maximum flexibility.

Any thoughts? I will ordering this stuff tomorrow.

 

Flexibility can't be a bad thing. Good chioice, Dave.

 

so your going to do 2 ballasts which is what i would suggest instead of a combo ballast. I happen to like galaxy ballasts, the shop i work for has them and I like what ive seen, also coralvue cant be beat for what they cost.

 

ok just a suggestion. hellolights.com and if your going to do halides you have to do 14k pheonix bulbs. they are blue but not too blue and then you can mess around with t5s and the atinics if you chose to get both. If your going to retrofit your lights (which is what I did then you need to goto hello lights I looked for a good 3 months for cheaper lights but they are awesome. sorry i sound like a salesman. anyways i would say you need fans with your MH. It kind of looks cheezy because now my tank is bout a foot taller above the canopy but I built a custom box to hold the lights 6 inches higher and I just went to target and bought small room fans (about 8" diameter) and put one over each halide. I have read that halides get really really hot without fans and with my setup in is maybe 10 degrees warmer under my lights than in my room. sorry if this was not helpful but I remember how many different ways you can be pulled when looking for lights and thought I would offer some advice.

 

Yea, I'm doing 2 separate ballasts.

 

I won't be putting these in a canopy. They will just hang above my tank. I'm starting with 150w bulbs, so I don't think heat should be a big deal given my specific circumstances, but I have run a fan over my sump/Dt which helps to keep things cool, so I am ready for that.