T5 to Halides.

Hi all, hope you had a fab xmas and sant abrought you what you wanted...

Now the time as come when i have enough funds to purchase myself a halide lighting system, what do you think of these?, bearing in mind my tank is 3 and half foot long and 20 inch deep.

...ARCADIA CLASSICA METAL HALIDE PENDANT DOUBLE 880MM. on eBay, also Lighting, Fish, Pet Supplies, Home Garden (end time 18-Jan-09 09:24:33 GMT)

Also what would be my best combination for my tank eg, 1 250watt or 2 150watt, corals can be seen in my signature?

Thanks in advance.

Stingray...

 

with a 55 I'd keep the T5's, but, if you want to keep clams and other high light stuff. I don't think I'd go over 175 watts. I think it would cause more problems to go higher with heat issues(water temp higher, then needing a chiller), and possibly burning the corals, since 55's aren't that tall. but it's all up 2 u of course! If you're keeping a GBTA successfully with T5's, then you don't need more light. If you are looking for the shimmer effect then get some of those LED strips. Spend the $$ you saved on some more corals.

 

Ok, will stick to my t5's and get some new corals, and maybe some led's for the shimmer effect...
Thanks...

 

You will not burn your corals with 150W MH. Thats an incorrect assumption. They only way you will burn them is if you don't use a glass shield on the double ended bulbs and UV leaks out.

On that ebay link, i don't see a picture of the pendant. Try reefgeek.com instead.

They don't list the brands of the ballast or the pendant. I don't think they include a ballast. For that price you can get a ballast/pendant/bulb combo.

I do agree that they generate a significant amount of heat that will concern you during warmer seasons. The distance of the MH lights from the water makes a big difference in the water temperature.

How you plan on mounting or hanging your lights make a difference. If you don't have a canopy its much easier to cool them. Having MH made a huge difference in my tank. Things start growing at a much faster rate and pH rises quite fast aswell.

Its something to think about. I know plenty of people that have MH and don't have a chiller. I have 2 x 250w MH and no chiller. My temperature goes from 76.3 to 77.1 after the MH have been on for 8 hours. Heat is an issue, but can it be managed? Absolutely. its all about proper cooling design. Keep in mind that my house is quite cool, i keep it around 70F all year long. If the temperature in your house increases, it will directly effect the temperature of the water in your tank unless you have a chiller. But i have a controller that turns off the MH at 79F.

Look at my canopy below. See those squares, thats where the MH's go and the round holes is where the fans go. THe MH are sticking out from the top allowing most of the heat to escape. THe remaining heat is blown away by the fans. THe fans on the side are actually angled so they are blowing directly on the MH glass and the fans in the middle suck the air out from the top. That picture was taken before my canopy was done.

 

I think she was referring to MH's over 175W.

I have to keep softies and lower light corals low in my 40g breeder because of my 250W MH, which is mounted 16 inches above the water line. I don't use a chiller and I can manage my heat issues (I also live in Canada which helps ) As stated before, I wouldn't bother with switching to MH unless you plan on keeping clams and some of the high intensity corals. 20" depth is not that much depth. GL and happy reefing.

 

In any case they will not burn the corals in his tank if he uses a 250W lamp. I don't know the difference in heat between a 150W and 250W. I was told that they get just as hot so i got the 250W.

 

At 8 hours a day I think heat will be an issue despite wattage
GL with the tough decision between T5s and MH - not the first and definately won't be the last time someone goes through this

 

I was against MH in the start... I'm slowly moving to having only MH setups.