Metal Halides

[Masta_Cheef]

After a long hiatus, I'm back (for those who remember/care). Had several other things to do during my long break, etc etc, so now to the point;

I just picked up a 44gal tank and stand for $50 so I'm going to transfer everything from my 12g over to the 44, and I'm thinking about rockin some metal halides. Now, my question is, is one 175W MH bulb going to be sufficient for such a tank? Going for a reef here, easier corals (zoos, xenia, etc). Keep in mind that I am not going to buy a "kit", this is all going to be custom. Tank measurements are 36" long, 12" deep, 24" tall. I've decided on MH because of it being 24" tall, otherwise I would've gone for fluorescents.

Any info would be superb; there's no stickies about lighting.

 

[Cichlid-Man]

Welcome back, sorry i can't help on the lights.

 

[TRe]

if u only want zoos and xenia ect.. id go t5's or pc's otherwise 175w mh would be fine

 

[Joe Fish]

I would think 1 MH would work. I DIYed all my stuff on my tank and my MH and parts came from HelloLights. I also added vho lighting for actinics. Very easy to setup yourself.

 

[TRe]

hey joe how much did you spend fer the whole setup not including the actics from hellolights???

 

[TheFool]

I think a single MH would work fine, and you could keep most anything you want in the future too. It's up to you if you get a single 150 DE, a 175 SE or a 250DE. At 24 inches deep I'd seriously think about the last.

I know you already have it, but a 12inch deep tank is not terribly nice to work with, so think hard before filling it up. You want to do this once, do it right. Once you'v gor some rock in there, with a bit of space in front, you won't have much space in front....

 

[Masta_Cheef]

Aye, thank you for the info, though I already have the 12 up and running, and has been for a year. =)

I was thinking about the 250w, yeah.. Not sure on what color temp I want though. 5500k or 10000k.

 

[Joe Fish]

MH ballast $100 or so each
MH bulbs where $70 each
VHO ballast I got from another reefer $20
MH and vho reflector - 50
Wiring and endcap, maybe 20

 

[1979camaro]

5500 is going to look very yellow...I would go with a 250w DE at 14000k I think. You will get less usable light than the 10000k, but visually it will probably be more to your liking.

 

[Panther28]

I agree with 1979camaro, 5500 will look very yellow. Go with a 250w DE 14000k Phoenix bulb. It will have a nice blue tint to it. I have 2 of them and am very happy with the lighting. I got a retro kit from Hellolights.com, Very reasonable price and fast shipping.

 

[Lorna]

I agree, the 5500k will be not only yellow but at that spectrum you will have a harder time with some algaes etc......go with the 250w 14K you will like the looks much better

 

[Lorna]

Also,......doesn't a 46g have a center brace on the top? if so a single light may be blocked somewhat by the brace wouldn't it?

 

[Masta_Cheef]

Aye, that it does. Nothing that my buddy Dremel can't solve. This one is worn out, as well. Flexes way to much to do be part of the thing's structural integrity.

 

[TheFool]

5500 is pretty much a freshwater bulb. Anything from 6500K up is fine. The higher the K, the more blue, but in reality less usable PAR (PAR is a measure of how much photosynthetically active, useful, light) - anything in the range 10-18K is likely ok, and depends on your tastes. K is a very subjective measure - one manufacturers 10K can be more than anothers 12, and some 18's are less blue than others 14's. With anything above 14K it's a made up number - nobody knows what a blackbox heated ot 50K looks like.
Also be aware that changing ballast can change a bulbs colour, output a bit.

 

[Joe Fish]

I run XM 10000k bulbs and they are extremely white. I also use 2 vho actinics and the XM bulbs pretty much drown out the blue. I would say 14k is a nice mixture of white and blue. Like the fool said, the outputs will vary.