Upgrading to MH

I'm thinking about upgrading to metal halides and I have a few questions for you guys. First of I have a 75 gallon tank knowing that should I go with 2 150 watt pendants or 2 250 watt pendants? Also what k rating do you guys recomend for bulbs? I don't plan on having any pc or t-5 supplements. I think I'm going to order the pendants from here-fish need it;lights; food;Sponge. There was a thread about these here on 3reef and for the price they look real nice. Is there anything else I should know about MH lights?

 

You need to ask yourself.......what kind of corals am I planning on having, now and in the future? If I remember correctly, a 75g is 20" high, if so, I would go with 175w MH. If your planning on installing a chiller, the 250w would be ok. luna

 

You could get away with the 150s, but as Luna said, 175s or 250s may be better, but it depends upon your individual tank. If you are worried about temp. and don't want a chiller, the 150s would be better. As for color temperature, I would go for at least a 14,000K. Although see if you would like a 20,000K bulb. That would be better for color.

 

I plan on doing mostly LPS and softies with some SPS. Would the 150 watts be OK for this?

 

If I got the 14k bulbs would it have to have actinic supplements?

 

I believe so, only thing to remember is that if you do get the 150w any "lighting demanding" corals will need to get placed high on the rocks. As for which K rating, if your not planning on having any PC or T5 for actinics, I would recommend the 20k so you can get that blue-ish hue.



Luna

 

Depending on the bulbs going to 20k for more color it might be better to go 250's since the 20k's sometimes have less PAR, I believe it varies greatly depending on the bulb/ballast though.

I'm no expert on MH so just something to think about and maybe do a little research on to be sure.